JOHN KAVANAGH Heritage

🏭 Heritage-listed building

Built: c.1820 · NIAH rating: Regional

John Kavanagh's public house is a relatively modest early nineteenth-century building, located at the east perimeter of Glasnevin Cemetery. In its current form it is shown on the first edition OS map of 1843. The pub was opened in 1833 within the original house by hotelier John O'Neill in the year following the opening of Glasnevin (originally Prospect) Cemetery; O'Neill's daughter married John Kavanagh, whose name remains over the pubfront, and the premises has remained in the ownership of the family for almost two centuries. It is attached to the original east entrance of the cemetery and is traditionally held to have provided a convenient watering hole for grave diggers working nearby, as well as those attending funerals, becoming popularly known and celebrated as the Gravediggers'. Although rather plainly detailed, with replacement timber pubfrontage in a traditional style, it retains a wealth of historic character and interior fabric, including the timber bar counters and stalls, further enhanced by a vibrant social history. The building benefits from a secluded location on Prospect Square, and is architecturally enhanced by its relationship to the cemetery lodge and gates, and the green space at the centre of the square.

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