On This Day / January 21, 1971
Go BackReproduced with permission from The Irish News.
19710121
Reference Date
19710121
Publication Date
Listen Along in Éamons Voice
Summary: On This Day – 21st January 1971, debate flared over the proposed redevelopment of Clifton Street graveyard and the disputed burial place of United Irishman Henry Joy McCracken. Edited by Éamon Phoenix.
On McCracken’s trail| On This Day – 21st January 1971
(Éamon Phoenix editor’s note: In 1971 a proposal to transform Belfast’s historic Clifton Street graveyard, reputed burial place of the United Irishman, Henry Joy McCracken [1867-98] into a children’s playground sparked controversy. In particular Irish News readers debated the exact burial place of the Presbyterian revolutionary, executed for his role at the Battle of Antrim in June 1798.
Letters to the Editor
Sir – I have read about the graveyard where Henry Joy McCracken is buried and of the intention to turn it into a children’s playground. Surely the remains of a man like McCracken who gave so much for his country should now be reburied (for the third time) in Milltown Cemetery beside the Republican Plot where such remains will never again be disturbed. – Is mise, Seamus MacUit, Belfast.
Sir, Some 70 years ago, when told that bones of the dead had been found uncovered on the site of the old Belfast burial-place at the rear of St George’s Church in High Street (where building operations were in progress), the late Mr Francis Joseph Bigger, the antiquarian, proceeded to the spot, collected an armful of the relics and had them placed in the McCracken plot in Clifton Street graveyard, labelling them the bones of Henry Joy McCracken.
With little or no knowledge of the facts, we are now told that McCracken was actually buried there when, of course, he was not. McCracken’s burial may have been in ground now covered by Church Lane or Victoria Street but the burial-place of the ’98 men – his companions – was in May’s Market where the spot was known as ‘The Felons’ Plot’. The whereabouts of this sacred spot is unknown today in the Markets. – Yours, WS Corken, Carolan Road, Belfast.
Sir, When human bones are uncovered, positive identification of the remains are almost impossible to determine. But, taking these facts into fullest consideration, we can, with reasonable confidence, accept the grave in Clifton Street cemetery as the last resting-place of Henry Joy McCracken.
He was hanged in 1798. His devoted sister, Mary Ann was with the small group who witnessed his body being interred in the old graveyard in High Street. This was near the door of the schoolhouse which then stood in the east corner of Ann Street and Church Lane and within the boundary of the churchyard.
Knowing FJ Bigger’s dedication to research and being so close to the generation of ’98, he must have been fully satisfied as to the spot where Henry Joy was buried. It was through his exertions that the bones… were re-interred in Clifton Street [in 1909].
– Yours, etc, Fred Heatley, Belfast.
On This Day – 21st January 1971
Further Reading on Irish History:
List of other On This Day columns
Other resources: National Library of Ireland Irish News CAIN Archive
19710121
Reference Date
19710121
Publication Date
Listen Along in Éamons Voice
Listen Along in Éamons Voice
Summary: On This Day – 21st January 1971, debate flared over the proposed redevelopment of Clifton Street graveyard and the disputed burial place of United Irishman Henry Joy McCracken. Edited by Éamon Phoenix.
On McCracken’s trail| On This Day – 21st January 1971
(Éamon Phoenix editor’s note: In 1971 a proposal to transform Belfast’s historic Clifton Street graveyard, reputed burial place of the United Irishman, Henry Joy McCracken [1867-98] into a children’s playground sparked controversy. In particular Irish News readers debated the exact burial place of the Presbyterian revolutionary, executed for his role at the Battle of Antrim in June 1798.
Letters to the Editor
Sir – I have read about the graveyard where Henry Joy McCracken is buried and of the intention to turn it into a children’s playground. Surely the remains of a man like McCracken who gave so much for his country should now be reburied (for the third time) in Milltown Cemetery beside the Republican Plot where such remains will never again be disturbed. – Is mise, Seamus MacUit, Belfast.
Sir, Some 70 years ago, when told that bones of the dead had been found uncovered on the site of the old Belfast burial-place at the rear of St George’s Church in High Street (where building operations were in progress), the late Mr Francis Joseph Bigger, the antiquarian, proceeded to the spot, collected an armful of the relics and had them placed in the McCracken plot in Clifton Street graveyard, labelling them the bones of Henry Joy McCracken.
With little or no knowledge of the facts, we are now told that McCracken was actually buried there when, of course, he was not. McCracken’s burial may have been in ground now covered by Church Lane or Victoria Street but the burial-place of the ’98 men – his companions – was in May’s Market where the spot was known as ‘The Felons’ Plot’. The whereabouts of this sacred spot is unknown today in the Markets. – Yours, WS Corken, Carolan Road, Belfast.
Sir, When human bones are uncovered, positive identification of the remains are almost impossible to determine. But, taking these facts into fullest consideration, we can, with reasonable confidence, accept the grave in Clifton Street cemetery as the last resting-place of Henry Joy McCracken.
He was hanged in 1798. His devoted sister, Mary Ann was with the small group who witnessed his body being interred in the old graveyard in High Street. This was near the door of the schoolhouse which then stood in the east corner of Ann Street and Church Lane and within the boundary of the churchyard.
Knowing FJ Bigger’s dedication to research and being so close to the generation of ’98, he must have been fully satisfied as to the spot where Henry Joy was buried. It was through his exertions that the bones… were re-interred in Clifton Street [in 1909].
– Yours, etc, Fred Heatley, Belfast.
On This Day – 21st January 1971
Further Reading on Irish History:
List of other On This Day columns
Other resources: National Library of Ireland Irish News CAIN Archive
19710121
Reference Date
January 21, 2021
Publication Date
Listen Along in Éamons Voice *
Summary: On This Day – 21st January 1971, debate flared over the proposed redevelopment of Clifton Street graveyard and the disputed burial place of United Irishman Henry Joy McCracken. Edited by Éamon Phoenix.
On McCracken’s trail| On This Day – 21st January 1971
(Éamon Phoenix editor’s note: In 1971 a proposal to transform Belfast’s historic Clifton Street graveyard, reputed burial place of the United Irishman, Henry Joy McCracken [1867-98] into a children’s playground sparked controversy. In particular Irish News readers debated the exact burial place of the Presbyterian revolutionary, executed for his role at the Battle of Antrim in June 1798.
Letters to the Editor
Sir – I have read about the graveyard where Henry Joy McCracken is buried and of the intention to turn it into a children’s playground. Surely the remains of a man like McCracken who gave so much for his country should now be reburied (for the third time) in Milltown Cemetery beside the Republican Plot where such remains will never again be disturbed. – Is mise, Seamus MacUit, Belfast.
Sir, Some 70 years ago, when told that bones of the dead had been found uncovered on the site of the old Belfast burial-place at the rear of St George’s Church in High Street (where building operations were in progress), the late Mr Francis Joseph Bigger, the antiquarian, proceeded to the spot, collected an armful of the relics and had them placed in the McCracken plot in Clifton Street graveyard, labelling them the bones of Henry Joy McCracken.
With little or no knowledge of the facts, we are now told that McCracken was actually buried there when, of course, he was not. McCracken’s burial may have been in ground now covered by Church Lane or Victoria Street but the burial-place of the ’98 men – his companions – was in May’s Market where the spot was known as ‘The Felons’ Plot’. The whereabouts of this sacred spot is unknown today in the Markets. – Yours, WS Corken, Carolan Road, Belfast.
Sir, When human bones are uncovered, positive identification of the remains are almost impossible to determine. But, taking these facts into fullest consideration, we can, with reasonable confidence, accept the grave in Clifton Street cemetery as the last resting-place of Henry Joy McCracken.
He was hanged in 1798. His devoted sister, Mary Ann was with the small group who witnessed his body being interred in the old graveyard in High Street. This was near the door of the schoolhouse which then stood in the east corner of Ann Street and Church Lane and within the boundary of the churchyard.
Knowing FJ Bigger’s dedication to research and being so close to the generation of ’98, he must have been fully satisfied as to the spot where Henry Joy was buried. It was through his exertions that the bones… were re-interred in Clifton Street [in 1909].
– Yours, etc, Fred Heatley, Belfast.
On This Day – 21st January 1971
Further Reading on Irish History:
List of other On This Day columns
Other resources: National Library of Ireland Irish News CAIN Archive
On This Day is a daily column in the Irish News looking back either 50 or 100 years. The column was compiled by Dr Éamon Phoenix from the mid 1980s until autumn, 2022. The Foundation is very grateful to the Irish News for giving permission to reproduce Eamon’s columns. Funding gratefully received from Ireland’s Department of Foreign Affairs and the Magill Trust.
* The Foundation has worked hard to recreate Eamon’s distinctive voice through AI. Since this is an emerging technology, occasional imperfections may be audible.