Catholic Cemetery
The Rt. Rev. Francis X. Gartland, Bishop of Savannah, consecrated Catholic Cemetery in 1853 to provide his parishioners with hallowed ground for burial. At that time, the cemetery located on Wheaton Street was a distant two miles from Savannah and bordered on small farms, plantations, and low-lying bottomland. The cemetery became a pastoral resting place for local Catholics, but it also represented one of the first steps in Savannah’s expansion to the east.
Catholic Cemetery reflects important themes in the city’s history. The many Irish names carved into tombstones recall the Irish emigrants who settled in Savannah during the nineteenth century. Even after decades in their adopted land, they were proud to identify their origins in County Wexford or County Tipperary on their grave markers. Many Confederate soldiers are buried at the cemetery—some who died in combat, others who perished from disease during the conflict, and also veterans who survived the war. At least 560 graves of Confederate soldiers had been identified in 2007, but the total number of burials may be considerably higher. Priests’ Row and Bishops’ Row, reserved for men of the cloth, confirm the long-standing presence of the Catholic Church in Savannah and surrounding parishes. Bishop Gartland, a victim of the 1854 yellow fever epidemic, was in fact one of the first clergymen interred in the cemetery. Several orders of nuns, such as the Little Sisters of the Poor, the Missionary Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate Conception, and the Sisters of Mercy, also bury members of their communities at Catholic Cemetery.
In its more than 150 years, Catholic Cemetery has aged gracefully. The embellished tombstones of the nineteenth century have given way to the simple and spare markers of more modern times. Once a rural cemetery, it now borders residential areas, busy thoroughfares, and even a school and a golf course.
Jasper Greens Monument
Photograph by Geoff L. Johnson.
Courtesy of the City of Savannah Department of Cultural Affairs.
In 1910, this monument was erected to the memory of twenty-eight members of the 1st Regiment, Georgia Volunteers, Irish Jasper Greens who died in the Civil War. The seven-foot high statue on its granite pedestal is easily found overlooking the Magnolia section of the cemetery.
Mother Matilda Beasley
Courtesy of the Catholic Diocese of Savannah Archives.
In 1889, Mother Matilda Beasley founded the Sisters of the Third Order of Saint Francis, the first African American order of nuns in Georgia. She and her fellow nuns cared for the girls of Saint Francis Home, an orphanage established by Mother Matilda. In 1903, Mother Matilda was buried at Catholic Cemetery, her grave identified with a small, simple marker, much in keeping with the humility she practiced in life.
Tombstone at Catholic Cemetery
Photograph by Geoff L. Johnson.
Courtesy of the City of Savannah Department of Cultural Affairs.
Beautiful examples of Victorian-style monuments are plentiful in the older sections of the cemetery where obelisks, crosses, and columns mark gravesites. Symbols such as lambs for innocent children and draped urns to depict a life ended too soon add poignancy to funerary art.
Ironwork at Patrick McDonald Lot
Photograph by Geoff L. Johnson.
Courtesy of the City of Savannah Department of Cultural Affairs.
Typical of Victorian era cemeteries is iron fencing to define family plots. In Catholic Cemetery, the fencing is the often the work of Savannah foundries. This iron gate of oak leaves frames the Sullivan monument directly opposite the McDonald plot in the old section of the cemetery.
Flood Monument, sculpted by Antonio Aliffi
Photograph by Geoff L. Johnson.
Courtesy of the City of Savannah Department of Cultural Affairs.
Considered one of the most beautiful works of funerary art at Catholic Cemetery, the Flood monument sculpted by Antonio Aliffi captures the full expression of grief in the figure of the sorrowing angel. Aliffi’s angels were considered by his admirers as the sculptor’s trademark, exemplifying grace and understated emotion.
Blessing of the Graves, Catholic Cemetery
Photograph by Geoff L. Johnson.
Courtesy of the City of Savannah. Department of Cultural Affairs.
Early in November each year, the Blessing of the Graves takes place at Catholic Cemetery as part of the remembrance of All Souls’ Day. Father P. James Costigan, accompanied by members of the Knights of Columbus, blessed the graves on Priests’ Row with holy water in this 2009 ceremony.
