Huguenot cemetery gate, Merrion Street, Dublin, Ireland

The cemetery is close to the Shelbourne Hotel on Stephen's Green, Dublin but is normally locked. You can look through the railings and see the gravestones clearly. The Huguenots were French Protestants expelled from France in the seventeenth century and encourged to locate in Ireland due to an Act passed by the (then) Irish Parliament. They were skilled craftsmen who worked and worshipped in Dublin, particularly in the Liberties area (around St Patrick's cathedral). Their influence continues; D'Olier Street was named after Jeremiah D'Olier, Dublin High Sherriff in 1788 while Mercer Street and French Street show huguenot influence. Ireland's most historic bank was founded by a huguenot, David Digges La Touche and Nathaniel Kane in 1713; Digges La Touche fought for William of Orange at the Battle of the Boyne. There was also a small community in Portarlington, Co. Laoise.

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