St. Patrick's Grave

John Johnson Marshall
1924
Chapter VII (2) - Start of Chapter

The reputed grave of St. Patrick adjoining Downpatrick Protestant Cathedral was marked in the year 1900 with a huge natural slab of Mourne granite on which was deeply cut a suitably incised cross and lettering. Prior to this when the spot was unmarked tourists and others were in the habit of carrying away holy earth from the grave, so much so that the sexton had to replace the earth each season to the extent of perhaps the full of a wheelbarrow.