Dennis Mausoleum

Freestanding cast-iron mausoleum built on circular ground plan constructed from individual riveted plates/sheets.  Circular drum rising from plinth having a dentiled cornice, dome and urn final.  Square-headed doorway having a bracketed cornice and the Dennis Coat of Arms.  Sliding cast-iron door.  Enclosed by cast-iron railings.

The inscription to the door reads:

Mausoleum/Sacred to the memory of/Col. Maurice Griffin Dennis/1st battalion/60th Kings Royal Rifles/Who fell asleep in Jesus/This mausoleum is …/Elizabeth Dennis otherwise Eyre’.

Architect

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Style

Neo-Classical

Listing

Protected Structure (Republic of Ireland)

Year built

1865

History

Remarkable and unique structure built to house the remains of the Colonel Maurice Griffin Dennis and his wife Elizabeth of Bermingham House, Tuam. Also interred within is Maurices brother, John Dennis, Master of the Galway County Hunt - the hunt is locally referred to as the ‘Galway Blazers’, (d.1869).

Colonel Dennis was an accomplished military officer who campaigned in Africa & India. The mausoleum takes inspiration from the 4^th century choragic monument of Lysicrates, Athens.

It is suggested that the mausoleum may have been cast locally at the Stephens Iron Foundry, Galway city.

Condition

Good Condition – recently conserved and refurbished by the Irish Follies Trust in partnership with Galway County Council and Clonbern Community Development Council.

Sources

Anon. (2008). Dennis Mausoleum. Available: http://www.buildingsofireland.ie/niah/highlights.jsp?county=GA. Last accessed 30th Jan 2017.

Anon. (2011). The Dennis Mausoleum, County Galway. Available: http://www.historyireland.com/18th-19th-century-history/the-dennis-mausoleum-co-galway/. Last accessed 30th Jan 2017.

Maurice & Michael Craig (2009). Mausolea Hibernica. 2nd ed. Dublin. p100-101.

Dr Evelyn Mullally (Editor) (2011). Clonbern Graveyard - Its Monuments & People. Belfast: Irish Follies Trust.

Links

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