Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Tombstone Tuesday: Minding the dead: The watch towers of Glasnevin





Click on photographs to view larger version.
Copyright© J.Geraghty-Gorman 2011. All Rights Reserved.
Posted by at
Labels: , ,

2 comments:

  1. Jennifer--What an interesting post! I had never heard of "Resurrectionists" before and was not aware of that practice. Thank you for posting this hsitorical tidbit, now I am curious if this was common in other places, as well.

    ReplyDelete

  2. Given the admonition of both Church and State against desecration of the body after death, grave robbing was often the only way to facilitate the teaching of anatomy, not only in Ireland, but also in such countries as England, Scotland, Italy, and France.

    Such practices are said to have begun in the 16th century, reached their height during the 18th century, and continued through to the 19th century.

    In one of my favourite books by Christine Montross, entitled "Body of Work: Meditations on Mortality from the Human Anatomy Lab", she talks about this practice in relation to her own experiences in medical school.

    Cheers,
    Jennifer

    ReplyDelete

Comments on this blog are always deeply appreciated; however, in the spirit of true collegiality, I ask that you do not write something you could not say to me in person.

When there is a proliferation of SPAM, comments moderation will be in operation on this blog. COMMENTS WHICH LINK TO COMMERCIAL SITES WILL BE DELETED.

Any comments that are mean-spirited, include URLs which are not connected to the post topic, contain misinformation, or in any way resemble advertising, will be removed. Anonymous comments which do not bear the name of the person commenting within the body of the comment, or are clearly generated from fake Google or Blogger accounts will also be deleted.

Cheers, Jennifer

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...