The Jewish Cemetery at Ballybough in Dublin

<plain_text><page sequence="1">Facing v. 143]</page><page sequence="2">the jewish cemetery at ballybough in dublin. 143 The Jewish Cemetery at Ballybough in Dublin. By Bernard Shillman, B.L. Paper read before the Jewish Historical Society of England, July 6, 1925. The subject of my lecture to you tbis evening is a Jewish cemetery, now disused, situated in a district of Dublin city which is, and has been for well-nigh half a century, outside the bounds of the present Jewish Ghetto in that city. This cemetery is of great historic import? ance not only in the annals of the Irish metropolis, where it is regarded as a relic of the eighteenth century, but also for the members of this Jewish Historical Society, one of the main objects of which is to preserve for posterity the records of Anglo-Jewish institutions and communities. Before, however, I proceed to the theme of my lecture, a few preliminary remarks are necessary as to the cemetery's place-name as well as to the local historic interest of the district in which it is situated. The spelling of the place-name, Ballybough, is, like that of many other place-names in Ireland, rather misleading. The place has always been pronounced as " Ballyboc." This pronunciation is due to the fact that its Irish equivalent is " Baile bocht," which in their literal translation mean " the town of the poor." Ballybough is truly a poor district. Situated on the north-eastern aspect of the city of Dublin, its separate entity as a district has now disappeared by its having become merged into the adjoining district of Fairview. In the early Middle Ages Ballybough was an isolated village, situated on the old Irish coast line and washed by the sea waves when they rolled in, pure and undefiled, upon the open Fair view Strand. Within a mile or two of it is Clontarf, a place which has given its name to a celebrated battle fought in the year a.d. 1014. At this battle of Clontarf, Brian Boru, the Irish King and chieftain, defeated the Danes who had invaded Ireland. The fact that, after this battle, a son of Brian Boru was found drowned near Ballybough Bridge, with his hands still clutching the corpse of a Danish foeman, leads me to believe</page><page sequence="3">144: THE JEWISH CEMETERY AT BALLYBOUGH IN DUBLIN. that the field, which was afterwards converted into the Jewish cemetery which forms the subject of my lecture, was actually one of the central points of this great battle.1 How came it that this district of Ballybough, which down to a hundred years ago was a noted burial-place for suicides,2 was chosen by the Jews of Dublin as a place of burial for their dead ? A possible answer to that question is the close proximity of. the place to the sea. For the Jewish cemetery at Ballybough lies within an actual stone's throw of Dublin Bay. And the fact that it was then a seaside district made it a convenient landing-place for foreign invaders. Up till about a century ago, Ballybough was always regarded as a foreign quarter : and that was particularly the case in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The Quakers, when they came to Ireland in 1654, made their first home in that district for a while. So, too, did the French Huguenots when they first settled in Dublin circa 1698. So, too, did the Jews when, early in the eighteenth century, they began to arrive in Dublin. In a word, Ballybough, in the early eighteenth century, was the Soho of Dublin. None of the foreign settlers who arrived at Ballybough appear to have sojourned there for any considerable length of time. The Huguenots soon moved to another district of Dublin called " The Liberties," while the Jewish settlers soon moved centralwards, but still keeping themselves on the north side of the Biver Liffey. For there is evidence of the existence of a Jewish synagogue in Marlborough Street in the year 1746, where some forty families, comprising about two hundred souls, had their place of worship.3 In those days Marlborough Street?which is only about one mile away from the Ballybough Jewish cemetery?was known as Marlborough Green, a fashionable eighteenth-century bowling resort, which lay in the block formed by Marlborough Street, Talbot Street, Gardiner Street and Abbey Street. The synagogue at Marlborough Street was housed in a building which was approached " through the yard of a glass works." 1 See also Chart, The Story of Dublin, John Dent &amp; Co., 1907, p. 326. 2 See Weston St. John Joyce, The Neighbourhood of Dublin, p. 247. 3 Vide Warburton Whitelaw and Walsh, History of the City of Dublin, p. 845.</page><page sequence="4">THE JEWISH CEMETERY AT BALLYBOUGH IN DUBLIN. 145 The whole of that area has since been demolished and reconstructed ; but the consensus of opinion is that the synagogue in question was situated at the junction of the present Marlborough Street and Abbey Street, in the block of buildings formed by the famous Abbey Theatre. Now let us direct our attention to the Jewish cemetery itself. All that is known by the historians, Anglo-Jewish and others, anent this cemetery is founded on information contained in the historical sketch of the community which forms the Preface to a booklet on the Laws and Regulations of the Hebrew Congregation in Dublin, published in 1839 by J. Wertheimer &amp; Co., Finsbury Circus, London. A copy of that booklet will be found in the Mocatta Library of the Jewish Historical Society. It was deposited there by the thoughtfulness of Mr. Ernest Wormser Harris, M.A., LL.D., President of the Dublin Hebrew Congregation from 1900 to 1912, and at present its Hon. Solicitor and Hon. Life Councillor. The following is the relevant information which I have extracted from that booklet: " Before we enter on this Code (i.e. the Laws), we shall subjoin a brief? although, as far as we could trace, a full account of particulars relative to the history of a Congregational Establishment of our nation in this metropolis, containing:?? 1. A document?the oldest and the only one of its kind on record? kept at the Registry Office, Castle, Dublin. 2. Traditional narrative by the natives, who consist only of two f amilies, both esteemed for their sincerity and primitive candour, and well known in this City by their respective names of Cohen (of Charlemont Bridge Road) and Philips (of Aston Quay, Dublin). 3. Our own time, embracing the events of the last eighteen years. First Document. (Copy condensed.) In the year a.m. 5488 an individual named William Philips bought a piece of ground as freehold property at Drumcondra, opposite Ballybough Bridge, in the county of Dublin, for the sum of ?34 : 10s., the title of which he transferred to Joseph Deoderici, who again re-transferred it to Michael Philips. This Michael Philips gave the said ground a free gift to our com? munity, dedicating it exclusively btfX^ TV2 ni"Qp DIpD^j specifying that the portion of that ground should be granted freely without ever charging for the same, for the burial of the remains of any Israelite who, as such, should die at any time in any part of Ireland." VOL. XI. L</page><page sequence="5">146 the jewish cemetery at ballybough in dublin. This is the piece of information taken from the fons et origo of all that has since been written about our Dublin Jewry's history by Anglo Jewish historians. As a result of my researches, I am satisfied that this piece of information is both misleading and inaccurate. To begin with, the document mentioned above is not now kept at the Registry Office of Dublin Castle. It is filed in the Irish Registry of Deeds in the King's Inns, Henrietta Street, Dublin. The document in question is a memorial of a deed of lease executed in 1748, the signatories to which were William Philips and Michael Phillips. It is rather an extra? ordinary coincidence that, although both parties to this document had the same surname, they were in no wise related to each other. William Philips signed his surname to this document with one " 1." I have traced him to be a Gentile. He appears to have been a wealthy man, for he was the son and heir of Thomas Philips, an Alderman of the city of Kilkenny, and he held as tenant in tail, amongst other property, some two hundred acres of land in the neighbourhood of Ballybough Bridge. To this day one of the leading thoroughfares of Ballybough is called Philipsburgh Avenue, and I have no doubt that this Avenue was named after this William Philips. On the other hand, Michael Phillips signed his surname to this deed of lease with a double " 1." This Michael Phillips was a Jew. As stated in the deed of lease, he was a merchant and lived in Crane Lane, off the present Dame Street, Dublin. Crane Lane is of great historic importance in the annals of Dublin Jewry. It was in Crane Lane, in the year a.d. 1660 or 1661, that the first Jewish House of Prayer ever opened in Ireland was established by the Marrano refugees from Portugal? Manuel Lopes Pereira, Francisco Lopes Pereira, and Jacome Faro.4 As for the document to which William Philips and Michael Phillips were the signatories, it is, as I have stated above, the memorial of the deed of lease of the Jewish cemetery at Ballybough. That deed was executed on August 17, 1748, and the registered number of the memorial in the Irish Registry of Deeds is 130-326-89243. The 4 For an account of these Marranos see Lucien Wolf's Jews in the Canary Islands, Introduction, p. xxxvii; see also Mr. Wolf's Postscript to this lecture, pp. 163-4.</page><page sequence="6">THE JEWISH CEMETERY AT BALLYBOUGH IN DUBLIN. 147 original lease itself is, for reasons which will afterwards be explained, filed in the archives of the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue at Bevis Marks, London, in an envelope marked " Purchase of the Beth Haim at Dublin: Anno 1748." A copy of the lease is given in Appendix I. There is, however, in the Registry of Deeds, another memorial of a deed to which the said William Philips was a party and which was executed at about the same time as the Jewish cemetery deed. This other deed was executed on June 15, 1748, and its registered number is 133-61-89156. By its terms, some 36 acres of land in the Ballybough area were leased by William Philips to a Mr. Joseph Dioderici. Although a parcel of the lands therein leased is designated in the memorial as " fields called the Jewes fields," this deed has no reference whatever to the Jewish cemetery property itself, but to lands which are immediately adjacent to it. I would not have made any mention of this deed at all, were it not for the fact that it has been confused with the Jewish cemetery deed of lease. This Joseph Dioderici (not Deoderici as stated in the old law book) was not a Jew. He was a brewer, and was butler and wine servant to a great Dublin potentate called Luke Gardiner, Baron Mount joy, who built the whole of Gardiner Street, Dublin. In any case, neither he nor the deed to which he was a party concerns us, save only for the purpose of pointing out the inaccuracy made by the Jewish historian who wrote the Preface to the Book of Laws of the Hebrew Congregation in Dublin in 1839. The true facts, then, of the transaction are as follows. By a deed of lease, dated August 17, 1748, and made between William Philips, a Gentile, and Michael Phillips, a Jew, " on behalf of himself and the rest of the Jewish Congregation for the time being and to come into the Kingdom of Ireland," a small field of about " half a rood and five perches " was leased to the Dublin Jewish Community for a term of one thousand years at an annual rent of a peppercorn. This field was leased for the sole use and benefit as a burial place for the Jewish Congregation who then resided in Dublin or who should come into the Kingdom of Ireland during that term. And the consideration for the grant of that lease was the payment of ?3410s. in cash and the surrender of an earlier lease.</page><page sequence="7">148 THE JEWISH CEMETERY AT BALLYBOUGH IN DUBLIN. What was this earlier lease ? It is described as a lease " formerly made by Chichester Philips of the said City of Dublin Esq. since deceased late grandfather of the said William Philips unto Alexander Felix, Jacob Do Porto, David Michado and Sequeira and Abraham Meirs, then of the said City Merchants on behalf of themselves and the Jewish Congregation of Dublin aforesaid bearing date the 28th Day of October 1718 for the term of 40 years from the 29th September then last past." I regret to state that, although I have made diligent searches, I have been unable to trace that lease either in the Registry of Deeds or elsewhere. Nor could they who, in the year 1746, wanted to examine the lease trace it (see Appendix II., Letter III.). Nevertheless, as the matter stands, it is possible from a perusal of the second (or 1748) lease to make the following deductions : (1) Portuguese Jews, the earliest of whom, as I have stated above, arrived in Dublin in 1660, were still to be found resident in Dublin in the year 1718. This is evident from the fact that the Portuguese Jews named above are described as merchants " of the said City." (2) The place had already been " known by the name of the Jews burial place " even before the grant of the second lease, 1748. It must have been leased for that purpose by the Dublin Jewish Congre? gation in the year 1718. (3) The actual plot of ground used for burials was " inclosed with a stone wall," thus partitioning it from the other portions of " the Jewes fields." It is clear that separate leases of the two partitioned portions were then granted in the year 1748 by the freehold owner, William Philips. The lessee of one portion (together with other adjoining lands) was Joseph Dioderici, and the lessee of the other portion (comprising the Jewish cemetery itself) was Michael Phillips. With regard to (1), I am indebted to Mr. Lucien Wolf for having supplied me with the following particulars, respecting the Portuguese Jews who were parties to the earlier or 1718 lease. Mr. Wolf points out that the name " David Michado and Sequeira " in the lease appears to be a copyist's error for David Machado de Sequeira. This man was in London about 1708, and in 1734 he was living in Bordeaux, where he preached a sermon which was afterwards printed in Amsterdam. He also wrote poems. Jacob do Porto was the second son of Antonio</page><page sequence="8">THE JEWISH CEMETERY AT BALLYBOUGH IN DUBLIN. 149 alias Abraham do Porto by his wife Sarah, the only daughter of Gomes Rodrigues. After a residence of some years in Dublin as a merchant of that city, Jacob do Porto returned to live in London, where, in the year 1747, we find him denying " to the best of his knowledge " that he ever had anything to do with the burial ground at Dublin, but only with that of Cork (vide Appendix IL, Letter III.). One of Jacob do Porto's nephews was Sampson Gideon, the great banker of the eighteenth century. Alexander Felix, says Mr. Wolf, was a member of one of the most respected Marrano families of his time. His real name was David Penso, a diamond merchant, and he was the son of Isaac Penso, who escaped from death in the Lisbon Inquisition. Of Abraham Meirs, the last of the signatories of the 1718 lease, nothing of his personal history has, up to the present, been discovered.5 With regard to my second deduction, I consider that I am fairly entitled, on the evidence submitted, to arrive at the decision that the property was first acquired for the purpose of a Jewish burial ground in the year 1718. And although it was used for that purpose until the year 1898?there being no other Jewish cemetery in Dublin until that year, when the present burial ground at Dolphin's Barn was acquired?the last internment at Ballybough did not take place until the year 1908 with the burial of the remains of Mrs. Juliette Harris (daughter of the late Aaron Joseph of London, whose brother, Solomon Joseph, was the father of the late Mrs. Herman Adler). 1718 to 1908 ! Here is a long record for a little cemetery, the whole area of which measures thirty-five perches, or less than one quarter of an acre. There are a few Jewish cemeteries in London 6 which were acquired before 1718. It was in February 1657 that the lease of the Ancient Burial Ground of the Sephardi Jews in rear of the Beth Holim, 253 Mile End Road, London, was granted to Antonio Fernandez Carvajal and Simon (or Jacob) de Caceres, two of the earliest Jews to settle in England after the Cromwellian sanction. And Mr. Wilfred S. Samuel 7 points 5 For a fuller account of the above-mentioned Portuguese Jews, see the Postscript to this lecture, by Mr. Lucien Wolf. 6 If the date usually given, viz. 1725, for the acquisition of the Alderney Road (Mile End, London) Jewish cemetery by the Great Synagogue, London, is correct, then that cemetery would come after the Ballybough cemetery in Dublin. 7 Vide his letter on " The Hambro' Synagogue " in the Jewish Guardian for March 13, 1925.</page><page sequence="9">150 THE JEWISH CEMETERY AT BALLYBOUGH IN DUBLIN. out that the old Hoxton cemetery (next to the well-known Hoxton House, in Hoxton Street, London), which was acquired by the Hambro' Synagogue in March 1707, is the oldest original possession of any Ashkenazi Community in the British Empire. But I doubt whether there is any other Jewish cemetery in the whole of the British Empire that can show such a record of one hundred and ninety years of use as the Jewish cemetery at Ballybough. With regard to the third matter, the 1748 lease describes the boundaries of the cemetery " as the same was then inclosed with a stone wall." The erection of this stone wall around the cemetery, thus partitioning it from the rest of the freehold owned by William Philips, is the subject of an interesting episode which is narrated in the historical sketch forming the Preface to the 1839 Book of Laws mentioned above. The episode is as follows. " At a time when there were only a few families to form a congregation, they (i.e. The Dublin Hebrew Congregation) made application to several Kehilloth (Polish and German) in London to procure pecuniary assistance for the purpose of raising a wall round the cemetery ; but were refused such assistance till they applied to the Portuguese Kehillah in London. These, with praiseworthy zeal, immediately commissioned and sent a special person with instructions and provisions to contract for the building of such wall, and to stop in Dublin until it was finished, at their expense. The same wall is seen to this day round the cemetery, Ballybough Bridge." In this connection, my attention has been directed by Dr. Cecil Both to some correspondence which was sent to Dublin from the Portuguese Synagogue in London during the years 1746 and 1748, copies of which had been entered in the old Minute Books of that Congregation for those years. By the courtesy of Mr. Paul Goodman, Secretary of the present Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue, at Bevis Marks, London, I have been permitted to gain access to these Minute Books, and to make copies of these letters. There are six such letters, and they are here reproduced in Appendix II. It will be noted that this correspondence is ex parte, comprising only letters which issued from London, but not the replies which were received thereto. But the correspondence, such as it is, reveals a tale which helps to supple? ment the episode narrated above. It would appear that in the year 1746 the Jewish Community in Dublin were threatened with a prose</page><page sequence="10">THE JEWISH CEMETERY AT BALLYBOUGH IN DUBLIN. 151 cution for the recovery of rent due in respect of the 1718 lease of the property (vide Appendix II., Letter L). Application having been made to the Portuguese Congregation in London for pecuniary assistance, that Congregation promptly ordered a Mr. Jacob Phillips of Dublin to draw upon them for the amount due, viz. ?7 10s. (vide Letter II.). And the debt was duly discharged (vide Letter III.). Then the Portuguese Congregation in London began to consider the desirability of purchasing the reversion of the 1718 lease, on which there was still an unexpired period of eleven years to run. So they accordingly requested this Mr. Jacob Phillips to make an enquiry into the possi? bility of their acquiring the freehold (vide Letter III.). There the matter appears to have rested for about a year and a half until May 1748, when the question of purchase was again raised by Mr. Michael Phillips (vide Letter IV.). It must have been during this period that the wall was erected round the cemetery. The cemetery having been thus completely partitioned, the Portuguese Congregation in London were prepared to purchase the fee simple (vide Letter V.). But William Philips, the freehold owner, was, as I have already stated, only tenant in-tail of the property, and could not make a grant of the fee simple. Accordingly, the cemetery was purchased by the Portuguese Congre? gation (acting through, and in the name of, Michael Phillips) as a leasehold property, the term being for one thousand years at the nominal rent of one peppercorn. And that is how the original lease of this Dublin Jewish cemetery came to be deposited in the archives of the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue, at Bevis Marks, London. I stated at the outset of this lecture that the Jewish cemetery at Ballybough has a local historic interest and that it is regarded in Dublin as a relic of the eighteenth century. It would be opportune at this stage to quote excerpts from local books which refer to this subject. In an old and anonymous book called Excursions through Ireland, printed in or about the year 1816, I find the following : " On the road leading to Ballybough there is a Jews' cemetery, a piece of ground enclosed by a high wall and planted with shrubs and trees : it is much larger than the population of that sect, which has dwindled, would seem to require did they not adhere strictly to the precepts of their rabbins who teach that it is not lawful to disturb the repose of the dead by opening the same grave twice. Here appear a few tombstones inscribed with Hebrew</page><page sequence="11">152 THE JEWISH CEMETERY AT BALLYBOUGH IN DUBLIN. characters : and they were formerly much more numerous until stolen to be converted into hearthstones and to other purposes; the people of the neighbourhood not appearing to consider it any species of sacrilege to plunder the grave of a Jew, though they would be very scrupulous in violating that of a Christian. A curious anecdote of this nature is told. A Jew paying a visit a short time ago to a Christian friend in the vicinity of Ballybough Bridge found him in the act of repairing his house. Examining the improve? ments he perceived near the fireplace a stone with a Hebrew inscription intimating to the astonished Israelite that the body of his father was buried in the chimney. In 1746 the Jews of Dublin amounted to only 200 individuals, and at present (circa 1816) consist of only two families not including a dozen persons. A singular contrast in this respect is afforded by the City of Amsterdam, the population of which does not much exceed that of Dublin, yet includes not less than 40,000 people of that persuasion." This interesting excerpt from that anonymous book is reproduced in The History of the City of Dublin, by Warburton Whitelaw and Walsh (1818), who add (at p. 846) : " Their bodies are laid side by side, with some space between ; and never one above the other : and hence they require more space in their cemeteries, than any other sect. All the Jewish rites of sepulture are still carefully observed by this scanty remnant; under the head of the corpse is placed a bag of earth, the face is cautiously turned towards the east, and the mourners retiring from the grave, pluck the grass and strew it behind them. Near the west wall are erected some tombstones, all of which are inscribed with Hebrew characters, on one of them is the device of two raised hands. It belongs to a family of the name of Kohen,8 now resident in Dublin, and is the emblematic device of the tribe of Levi to which he belongs." There appears in the Jewish Chronicle for October 4, 1850, an article which is entitled " Jewish Antiquity in Ireland." There is a head-note by the Editor that the article has been extracted from the 8 In the Dublin Gentleman's and Citizen's Almanack for the year 1790, and also for the year 1800, the following entry appears among the " Merchants and Traders " :?" Cohen (Barnaby), Black-lead-pencil maker, 5 Pembroke-court." " Pencil " Cohen, as he was called, is alleged to have been the inventor of pencils, by the manufacture of which he amassed a fortune. His son (or other near relative) Abraham Cohen, pencil-maker, of Charlemont Street, Dublin, who died in January 1854, leaving a fortune of ?45,000, made a bequest to the Dublin Hebrew Congregation. This is the " family of the name of Kohen " referred to above.</page><page sequence="12">THE JEWISH CEMETERY AT BALLYBOUGH IN DUBLIN. 153 second number of the Inspector, a Dublin paper, " conducted by a gentleman we know to be of the most liberal principles." This paper is now no longer in circulation; and, though I have made some enquiries, I have been unable to trace either the name of its editor or any of its issues. The gist of that article?be it remembered that it was written by an Irishman, and in the year 1850?is to contrast English bigotry with Irish tolerance ! The writer begins by referring to the fact that Baron de Rothschild, although chosen twice?the second time by an immense majority?by the electors of the City of London to represent them in the legislature of the country, had been refused admittance to Parliament on " a shabby technicality." He cannot understand the policy which excluded from that right a man of such " first-rate standing in society, of great intelligence and excellent personal character " as Baron de Rothschild, who with his family had contributed, during the Irish famine of 1847, ?10,000 towards the relief of the suffering Irishmen. He then directs his thoughts to Ireland and, as an example that that country is " wholly untainted by this iniquity," points to Ballybough cemetery. " Here," he says, "for a period of one hundred and twenty-three years the Israelitish people have had in this country a place of sepulture and a home, at a time when they did not, and could not legally, enjoy a similar advantage in the prouder country of England to whose wealth and mercantile importance they have so largely contributed." The whole of this article is so full of interest that I have reproduced it here in its entirety in Appendix III. The present Laws and Regulations of the Dublin Hebrew Congre? gation (effective since 1905) provide that the burial ground at Ballybough, " of historic interest," is to be kept and maintained in proper order by the Congregation. The rule under reference (No. 60) adds that " the graves of those who were the Founders of the present Congregation shall be kept sacredly in order and repair." In accord? ance with that rule, extensive repairs of the wall round the cemetery, then in a dangerous condition, were effected in the year 1919. This operation was carried out under the supervision of the late Alderman A. W. Harris, J.P., Mr. Jacob Elyan, J.P., and Mr. Hoseas Weiner. The booklet containing the Laws as effective in 1839 says : " the on the d^W jv3 was built by the brothers Cohen, at their expense, in</page><page sequence="13">154 THE JEWISH CEMETERY AT BALLYBOUGH IN DUBLIN. the year rupnn-" The word in this passage puzzled me for a long time ; but I have made up my mind that, if the word has not the literal meaning of " hall" then it is a printer's error for ^ntf, and probably refers to the erection of a temporary structure or hut by the Cohens (this must be the celebrated " Pencil" Cohen family) in the year 1798. This hut is not now to be seen. It was probably demolished and replaced by the present cottage, occupied by a caretaker, at the entrance to the cemetery. On this cottage are the words " Built in the year 5618 " in big, bold letters so that the Gentiles who pass by may read it?and wonder ! With regard to the names of the persons whose mortal remains lie buried at Ballybough, I hardly think that this society, in inviting me to come to London to deliver this lecture, expected me to produce a complete list of the deceased who are interred there. Such a task is beyond my power. Firstly, I have not been able to lay my hands on the register. I will not say it is definitely lost; but the fact is, I have made some enquiries respecting its whereabouts and my searches have so far proved fruitless. Secondly, I am a jni and cannot therefore visit the cemetery myself. Moreover, I am informed by those who have paid visits to the cemetery that the inscriptions on many of the tombstones are so much obliterated as to make them impossible to decipher ; while other tombstones, as stated above, have been stolen. I may be permitted, however, to mention a few of the interred. Mr. Wilfred S. Samuel has directed my attention to the following extract from vol. x. of the Scots Magazine (p. 102) : " Moses Jacob Cowan, the little Polander, 2J feet high, born in Polish Prussia, died in Dublin, Feb. 16th, 1748, aged 65." The fact that this little man's funeral in Dublin is said to have attracted much attention makes it almost certain that it was a Jewish funeral and that it w^as at Ballybough. The remains of the first Jew to enter public life in Ireland, namely Mr. Lewis Harris (1812-1876), who in 1874 was elected Alderman for the South Dock Ward in the City of Dublin, are also buried there. A member of this Society, Dr. A. Cohen, of 14 Manstone Road, Shoot-up-Hill, London, informs me that his late mother (died 1877) is buried at Ballybough. She was Jette Cohen, the daughter of the late Reb Shlomah Levin, the well-known Chazan of Rogasen, and the wife of the late Mr. Wolf Cohen, Vice-President of the Dublin</page><page sequence="14">THE JEWISH CEMETERY AT BALLYBOUGH IN DUBLIN. 155 Hebrew Congregation from 1870 to 1874 and President from 1874 to 1876. It may be of some interest to note that there lies at Ballybough the remains of at least one Roman Catholic. Some forty years ago, the Spanish and Portuguese Consul at Holyhead?he was a Portuguese national?died. On his deathbed he expressed a wish to be buried among Jews. Accordingly his remains were brought over from Holyhead, by the late Mr. Lewis Aronson of Bangor, and were interred at the Ballybough Jewish cemetery. But the compilation of a complete list of the names of the persons who are interred at Ballybough is a task which has yet to be done. I do not think that such a list would run into more than a couple of hundred names. The task is, however, one for another historian: and if I have, by the contribution of this lecture, stimulated him to the venerable labour I shall feel amply rewarded. For the present, I am satisfied with the privilege of being the first to have placed before this Society a somewhat detailed account of a historic Jewish cemetery which has been mentioned by James Picciotto (Sketches of Anglo Jewish History, pp. 76-7, 168-9), the late Rev. Isidore Harris (article on Dublin in the Jewish Encyclopcedia), A. M. Hyamson (A History of the Jews in England, p. 285), Leon Huhner (in volume v. of this Society's Transactions), Lucien Wolf and Joseph Jacobs (Bibliotheca Anglo-Judaica, p. xxiv), and I have no doubt by other historians. In conclusion I wish to acknowledge the invaluable assistance which I received, in the preparation of this lecture, from Mr. George Huband, a courteous official of the Registry of Deeds of the Irish Free State. I also wish to express my indebtedness to Mr. Lucien Wolf and Dr. Ernest W. Harris (of Dublin) for their great encouragement and help. APPENDIX I. Copy op Deed of Lease for 1000 Years of Jews' Burial Place at Ballybough at a Peppercorn Rent. This Indenture made the 17th day of August in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and forty-eight Between William Philips of the City of Dublin Esquire of the one part and Miehae Phillips of Crane Lane in the Parish of St. Warbrough in the said City of</page><page sequence="15">156 THE JEWISH CEMETERY AT BALLYBOUGH IN DUBLIN. Dublin Merchant on behalf of himself and the rest of the Jewish Congregation for the time being and to come into the Kingdom of Ireland of the other part Witnesseth that the said William Philips for and in Consideration of the surrender of a lease formerly made by Chichester Philips of the. said City of Dublin Esquire since deceased late Grand-father of the said William Philips unto Alexander Felix, Jacob Do Porto, David Michado and Sequeira and Abraham Meirs then of the said City Merchants in behalf of themselves and the Jewish Congregation of Dublin aforesaid bearing date the twenty-eighth day of October one thousand seven hundred and eighteen for the term of forty years from the 29th day of September then last past And for and in Consideration of the sum of Thirty-four pounds and ten shillings sterling to him the said William Philips in hand paid by the said Michael Phillips at or before the Sealing hereof the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged and the said William Philips thereof and of every part thereof Doth acquit release and discharge the said Michael Phillips his heirs Executors and Administrators by these presents and of the rent hereinafter reserved Hath demised granted sett and to farm lett and by these presents he the said William Philips Doth demise grant sett and to farm lett unto the said Michael Phillips all that ptott of ground part of the lands of Dromcondragh in the Barony of Coolock in the County of Dublin called or commonly known by the name of the Jews burial place as the same is now inclosed with a stone wall containing by estimation half a Rood and 5 perches (be the same more or less) now in the possession of the Congregation of Jews and by them used as a burial place and lying near the North end of Ballybough Bridge bounded on the South with the Strand and on all other parts with lands demised by the said William Philips to Mr Joseph Dioderici with its appurtenances to have and to hold the said plott of ground hereby demised and granted with its appurtenances unto the said Michael Phillips his Executors Administrators and Assigns from the twenty-fifth day of March last past for and during and unto the full end and term of one thousand years from thence next ensuing fully to be compleat and ended Yielding and Paying therefor and thereout yearly and every year during the said term unto the said William Philips his heirs and assigns on every twenty-fifth March the yearly rent of one peppercorn only if demanded which said demise and grant hereby made to the said Michael Phillips is hereby declared and agreed to be upon trust nevertheless and to and for the sole use and benefitt of the Congregation of Jews inhabitting and which shall during the said term inhabitt reside or be in the Kingdom of Ireland for a burial place And whereas the said William Philips did as of Easter Term last past levy in due form of law one fine upon acknowledgement of the Right and so forth and did also as of Trinity Term last past suffer a Common Recovery of the said lands of Dromcondragh Now it is hereby declared and agreed that the said fine and Recovery so levyed and suffered, as to the said Plott of Ground hereby demised, shall be</page><page sequence="16">THE JEWISH CEMETERY AT BALLYBOUGH IN DUBLIN. 157 and enure and so shall be Construed adjudged deemed and taken to be and enure to the only use benefitt and behoof of the said Michael Phillips his Executors Administrators and Assigns for and during the said term of one thousand years in trust as aforesaid And the said William Philips Doth hereby for himself his heirs Executors Administrators and Assigns Covenant promise and agree to and with the said Michael Phillips his Executors Administrators and Assigns in manner following that is to say that he the said William Philips his heirs and assigns all and singular the said Plott of ground hereby demised unto the said Michael Phillips his Executors Administrators and Assigns against all persons whatsoever shall and will warrant and defend during the said term hereby granted And that he the said William Philips now hath at the time of sealing hereof in himself good right full power lawfull and absolute authority to demise and grant the said Plott of ground hereby demised and granted unto the said Michael Phillips his Executors Administrators and Assigns in manner aforesaid And that the said Plott of Ground now is also free and clear of and from all and all manner of tithes charges burthens and Incumberances whatsoever And that he the said Michael Phillips his Executors Administrators and Assigns paying the said hereby reserved yearly rent shall and lawfully and may peaceably and quietly have hold occupy possess and enjoy the said Plott of Ground hereby demised for and during the said term hereby granted in trust as aforesaid without the lawf ull Jet hinderance or denyal of him the said William Philips his heirs or Assigns or of any other person or persons lawfully claiming or to claim by from or under him them or any or either of them And that he the said William Philips his heirs and Assigns shall and will at any time hereafter within the space of ten years from the date hereof at the reasonable request proper Cost and Charges in the Law of the said Michael Phillips his Executors Administrators and Assigns make do seal levy acknow? ledge execute and suffer all and every such further and other reasonable act and acts thing and things Conveyances and Assurances in the law whatsoever for the further better and more absolute assuring sure making and conveying the said Plott of ground hereby demised unto the said Michael Phillips his Executors Administrators and Assigns for the then remainder of the said term hereby granted as by the said Michael Phillips his Executors Administrators or Assigns his or their Councill learned in the Law shall be reasonably devised advised or required. In Witness whereof the said parties have hereunto put their hands and seals the day and year first above written W. Philips (Seal) Mich. Phillips (Seal).</page><page sequence="17">158 THE JEWISH CEMETERY AT BALLYBOUGH IN DUBLIN. APPENDIX II. Copies of Original Letters relating to the Jewish Cemetery at Ballybough, from Minute Books in the Archives of the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue, Bevis Marks, London. Letter I. London, Novro 20 : 1746. Dublin : Mr Jacob Philips Through the hands of messrs. Abm &amp; Jacob Franco we have been acquainted with a prosecution Intended agt. the holders of the Jews burring ground at that place, we wish the ace. had not come in so general terms, as to Leave us Ignorant of the particulars of it and Since Sued for. in these Circumstances we replied by the Same Conveyance desiring to know the State of the afair which has not had the wished for success whe aprehend is Incumbent upon the Gentlemen in the Spot to avoid that misfortune as much as in them Lyes, and represent the matter fully, and early to both Kehiloth here, that either Jointly or Separately a remedy may be aplyed proportionable to the necessity of the exigency, and our own Circumstances, there fore hope In answer to this to have a relation of this bussiness from the Gentlemen who serves for Parnases there, or in whose names this ground is in; as the Letter received only makes mention of your name we have troubled you with this remaining Yr. humble servant the Parnases of Saar a Samaim singened by Abm Osorio. Letter II. LondD. 22 Novro. 1746. Dublin: Jacob Phillips. Sir I reed, your favor of ye 13 th Instant derected to the Elders of the Portugues Jewish Nation which I comunicated to our Maamad &amp; by their orders do desire you will discharge the rent due upon the Bethahaim at Dublin, which you say amounts to seven pounds ten shillings which sum you may draw on me at Sight and your Bill shall be punctually paid I am Singe by Abm Osorio.</page><page sequence="18">THE JEWISH CEMETERY AT BALLYBOUGH IN DUBLIN. 159 Letter III. Londn. 8th January 1746/7. Dublin : Jacob Phillips Sir I received yours of the 4 Dec.1 Last with advise of your drawing upon me a bill for ?7 : 10 :?Sterling. I have discharged, observe you could not directly examine into Leeses of the ground but reff er us to Jacob Porto here, who says, that to the best of his knowledge he never had anything to do with the buring ground at Dublin but only with that of Cork Now I desire in mine, and my Bretheren Parnasses behalf to know the measure of the ground; how many people is burried in and what room is Left for burrials, and above all what sort of tenure it's for its our purpose in this Inquire to See whether it can be made free to us for ever either totaly, or paying a Smal fine in Consideration of a Sum of money for the purchase of the reversion with this we have opened our thoughts to you, and pray you to use yr. best Intiligence, discretion, and Secrecy in this afair and transmit to us what you Can find will forward this our Intention directing yr. Letters to Abm de Castro burry Street London we need not enlarge upon the Conveniency it will acrue to the Jews dwelling in that City by such a purchase therefore hope you will nott neglect procuring the needfull Inteligence specialy the tenure, and w* may be the purchase money for as there are Eleven year to Come, we aprehend it will not be much &amp;c. Singe by Abm Osorio. Letter IV. London 12 May 1748. Dublin: Michael Phillips Your favor to us (without a date) we he Received &amp; observe the Contents, but we cannot give you any posetive answer In purchaseing the burriall place tell we know how much we paid annually therefore desire on Receipt of this you'l advise us the totall sum, aliso lett us know if our paying a pepper corn a year makes any alteration of our Injoying the said burriall Place for ever : when you have advised us these difficultys we will give our posetive orders as well as for buying the land as for the Repairs Required tell then we are Sir, yr. most humble servt. firmado by Ja Bh Louzada Gabay. P.S. with your answer pray give us your opinion on the affair if the sum they may ask be not to much because we can buy Lands here much Cheaper than 25 years Purchace also tell us how much Land there is.</page><page sequence="19">160 THE JEWISH CEMETERY AT BALLYBOUGH IN DUBLIN. Letter V. London 15th July 1748. Dublin: Michael Phillips Your letter of the 31 May last came duely to hand the Contents of which have communicated to the conserns and for answer we desire you'l purchase the Burrial place as cheap as posible but not Exceiding the ?37 : 10 :?you mention and lett the Tittle be made in your Name which we desire you'l strickly Enquire into in order it may be good &amp; save firther disputes our attorney advises us to Leave out the word (peper Corn) &amp; in it Stead say (fee simple) which we desire you'l observe, but if cannot be done so finish it (as pepar Corn) with a term of 1000 years to Come which Serves for your Government &amp; let it be done as Soon as posible, we desire when you have a Tittle you'l Signe us an acknowledgement that the Ground is bought with the money of the Portugues Jews of London &amp; Remains for there use &amp;e which acknowledgem* you'l send us with your advise of your drawing for ye pay? ment of ye Ground as we desire you do, as to Repairs in our next mitting Shall come to a Resolucion to have it done &amp; when have yr. answer Shall give you firther directions concerning it Singned by Jacob Bh Louzada Gabay. Letter VI. London 8 th August 1748. Dublin: Michael Phillips Your favour of 21 ultimo came duely to hand &amp; in Consequence to your advise have given due honour to your bill on me in payment for the Burrial place you bought for our Nation weh. is ?37 : 10 :? The acknowledgement you make us is not Sufficient In the time to Come therefore we shall get One made here and send you to Execute but we cannot do it tell you advice us of whom you bought the Land, how much Land &amp; the Situation of the Same which in one word is the Substance of your bill of Sale in order we may recite the Same in your acknowledgem1- this we desire youil do as soon as posible then Shall give you directions as well for the 2 Guines Charges as the Repair of the Same firmado Ja: Bh Louzada Gabay.</page><page sequence="20">THE JEWISH CEMETERY AT BALLYBOUGH IN DUBLIN. 161 APPENDIX III. From the Jewish Chronicle for October 4, 1850. Jewish Antiquity in Ireland. (We extract the following interesting article from the second number of the Inspector, a Dublin paper, conducted by a gentleman we know to be of the most liberal principles. We have no doubt the journal will meet with the encouragement which we do not hesitate to say it richly deserves.? Ed. Jew. Chron.) Had we been capacitated to express our opinion upon a great question, we should have ardently sustained the efforts made by the Baron de Rothschild, during the last session of Parliament, to take that place to which the most important constituency in the Empire had twice elected him ; for it will always be with us a pleasing duty to confirm by our acts the motto we would choose?civil and religious liberty throughout the world. We should have been solicitous to tear away the last remnant of the robe of intolerance under which bigotry finds shelter, the exclusion of the Jews from the legislature of the country. In the old Catholic times they did enjoy that right, and, for our part, we cannot understand the policy (for reason there is none) which excludes them from that right now. The City of London is no bad exponent of the public opinion of the Empire, and when we find that this community has elected twice?the second time by an immense majority?the Baron de Rothschild, we necessarily inquire what are his qualifications for the position to which he has been chosen. We find this baron to be a man of first-rate standing in society, of great intelligence, excellent personal character, and, as a financier, that he holds the first place in England. These are surely excellent materials for the formation of a senator : it is only to be regretted that so few of those who at present repre? sent us should exhibit them. Still, notwithstanding, we find him rejected by a bigoted majority, who, when principle and reason failed, had recourse to a shabby technicality. Upon this point, however, we shall have again an opportunity of expressing an opinion: and we shall only add at present, that, as Irishmen, we do not forget that the Baron de Rothschild and his family contributed, during the recent famine, ?10,000 towards the relief of our suffering countrymen; a sum far beyond the joint contributions of our Devonshires and Hertfords, Landsdownes, Fitz Wilhams, and Herberts, who annually draw so many times that amount from our resources. That the Jews have been the object of persecution in many lands is an historical fact upon which we do not care to dwell. Few nations, or even sects, have failed to think that such a course was hallowed : but we are proud VOL. XI. M</page><page sequence="21">162 THE JEWISH CEMETERY AT BALLYBOUGH IN DUBLIN; to say, that Ireland, we believe, and we have made some inquiry on the subject, stands nearly, if not entirely alone without the category, and is wholly untainted by this iniquity. And we have not lacked among us soj ourners of the Hebrew race for many centuries past. There is a remark? able proof of this, one not uninteresting to the Christian either, in the circum? stance that that ancient nation possesses, and has long possessed, a burial ground in Dublin. This piece of ground, situate at the foot of Ballybough Bridge, may be called in a sense, a " no man's land," for it has been set apart during many generations as a burial place for persons of the Jewish persuasion who die in Ireland, and in this endowment all Jews have a right of sepulture free of all expense. The deed conveying the land for this purpose was discovered some years since in the Birmingham Tower in Dublin Castle, and an abstract from it will, we doubt not, be interesting to the antiquary. It is said to be the oldest document of its kind on record :? In the year 5488 (corresponding to the year 1727 of our era) an individual named William Philips bought a piece of ground, as a free-hold property, at Drumcondra, opposite Ballybough Bridge, for the sum of ?34:10:?, the title of which he gave to one Joseph Deoderici, who again re-transferred it to Michael Philips. This Michael Philips gave the said ground a free gift to the Jewish Community, specifying that a portion of that ground be granted freely, without ever charging for the same, to the burial of the remains of any Israelite who, as such, should die at any time in any part of Ireland. Thus it will be perceived, that for a period of one hundred and twenty-three years the Israelitish people have had in this country a place of sepulture and a home, at a time when they did not, and could not legally, enjoy a similar advantage in the prouder country of England to whose wealth and mercantile importance they have so largely contributed. The people of Ireland are thus entirely dissevered from that persecution of the Jewish nation by which so many others have disgraced themselves, and yet position and circumstances would more excuse recourse to harshness and exclusion. But to apply for us, as my Uncle Toby observes, in a case somewhat alike, " We had suffered persecution, and had learned mercy." POSTSCRIPT. By Lucien Wolf. Note on the Early History of the Dublin Hebrew Congregation. The tradition referred to by Mr. Shillman, that a small Jewish congregation was founded in Dublin by some Portuguese merchants who arrived in that city about 1660, has recently been confirmed by the discovery of a deposition in the records of the Canariote Inquisition, in which, under date of 1662, two</page><page sequence="22">THE JEWISH CEMETERY AT BALLYBOUGH IN DUBLIN. 163 Portuguese judaisers are denounced as living and practising Jewish rites in Dublin. Their names are given as Manuel Lopes Pereira and Jacome Faro.9 As will presently appear, they were not the only Portuguese judaisers at the time. Indeed, Mr. Salmon, in his very diffuse history of the Jews in Ireland, roundly states that in 1656 Cromwell invited some Portuguese Jews to form an establishment in the Irish capital in order to act as a barrier against the Catholic population10 ; and it is an interesting coincidence that in that year John Harrington proposed that Ireland should be farmed to the Jews on cer? tain conditions.11 The Cromwell story is no doubt one of the many Royalist inventions to which the famous Whitehall Conferences gave rise ; but at any rate the discovery of Pereira and Faro in Dublin about this period shows that there is a nucleus of truth in the original legend, and justifies the suggestion that they, together with Pereira's brother Francisco, were the founders of the little congregation which is alleged to have assembled and prayed in Crane Lane in 1660. It is at any rate certain that wherever Manuel Lopes Pereira took up his abode, he would have found some means of practising Judaism. He came of a family of resolute Marranos. His father, David Lopes Pereira, fled from Portugal to Bordeaux early in the seventeenth century, whence the family wandered successively to Rouen, Antwerp and Middelburg.12 Manuel was born in 1633 in Rouen, where there was a small Marrano com? munity of which no less a person than Antonio Fernandes Carvajal was at the time an earnest member.13 The spiritual guide of this secret community was the well-known poet and Rabbi, Juan, alias Moseh Pinto Delgado, and it is significant of the pious associations of the Lopes Pereira family that one of Manuel's brothers, Gaspar de Vitoria, was a godson of Juan's father, Gonzalo Delgado Pinto, also a secret Rabbi, who afterwards lived in Antwerp and Amsterdam.14 In the year of Manuel's birth the Marrano community in Rouen was broken up owing to its denunciation to the French authorities, and its members fled, partly to the Netherlands and partly to England. Manuel passed his early life in Antwerp and Middelburg, but in 1655 he came to London 15 and was one of the local Marranos who, with the assistance of Menasseh ben Israel, conquered the right of the Jews to resettle in England after a banishment of three and a half centuries. Here he settled down as a merchant. Like all the Marranos of his time he had many aliases. In the Synagogue he was Isaac Raphael Haim Pereira, in Holland he was Jacques 9 Wolf, Jews in the Canary Islands, pp. xxxvii, 182-4, 196-7. 10 Belfast Evening Telegraph, Sept. 25, 1916. 11 Oceana, pp. 35-6. 12 Wolf, op. cit., pp. 182-95. 13 Belgian State Archives, Office Fiscal, dossier 924 bis. 14 Ibid. ; Kayserling, Bibl. Espan. Port. Jud., p. 41 ; Wolf, op. cit., p. 194. 15 B.M. Add. MSS. 34015.</page><page sequence="23">164 THE JEWISH CEMETERY AT BALLYBOUGH IN DUBLIN. Vanderperre, while in his transactions with Portugal and the Indies he prudently passed as Manoel de Velasquez.16 When he first arrived in London he lodged with Domingo Vaes de Brito in Creechurch Lane, but in 1660, when he was joined by his brother Francisco, he moved a few doors off to some rooms belonging to " a plumber." 17 It must have been soon after this that the brothers betook themselves to Dublin, for their denunciation to the Canariote Inquisition referred to events which could not have been later than some time in 1661. Of their career in Ireland we know nothing, but it is probable that they established a solid business there, seeing that in 1718 one of Manuel's grandsons, Eliau Lopes Pereira, was still in Dublin, continuing the tradition of the family both as a good Jew and an enterprising merchant. In that year he got married there to Ester, the daughter of David Penso, and he took care to register his Ketubah in his grandfather's old Synagogue in Bevis Marks, where it may still be seen. Manuel and his brother Francisco were back in London in 1677 and went into housekeeping in Duke's Place.18 They were now married, and Manuel had a family of one son and three daughters. The son, David, afterwards migrated to Leghorn, but returned to London on his father's death to take charge of his business affairs.19 Meanwhile Manuel had prospered. His two banking accounts?one in his own name and the other in that of Jacques Vanderperre?are still preserved among the muniments of Alderman Backwell. In the Synagogue he was an active worker and rose to the dignity of Warden in 1694. He was one of the signatories of the Ascamoth of that year.20 He died in London in February 1709.21 It is curious to note that he was en denizened no fewer than three times?in 1662 in Ireland and in 1679 and 1688 in England.22 In his Irish denization, which was shared by his brother, both described themselves as " foreign Protestants," a fact which illustrates very clearly the insecurity of the budding Jewish congregation in Dublin. Of the careers of Francisco Lopes Pereira and Jacome Faro very little is known. Neither took any part in the work of the London Synagogue. Francisco, who had married in London, returned to Holland with his wife in 1692.23 Faro also retired to Holland in 1691,24 but appears to have afterwards emigrated to the West Indies. 16 Will, Lond. Beg., 92 Lane ; Wolf, op. ext., p. 184. 17 B.M. Add. MSS. 34015, 29868, ff. 15, 16. 18 Collection of the Names of the Merchants in the City of London (1677). 19 Wills, Lond. Beg., 92 Lane ; 78 Glazier. 20 Gaster, Hist, of Ancient Synagogue of Span. &amp; Port. Jews, pp. 29, 53. 21 Beth Holim Burial Begister, 9th Carrera. 22 Pub. Huguenot Soc, vol. xviii. pp. 122, 210,338. 23 S. P. Dom., Warrant Book 36, p. 313. 24 Ibid., p. 94.</page><page sequence="24">THE JEWISH CEMETERY AT BALLYBOUGH IN DUBLIN. 165 The stirring events of 1689-90 must have given a considerable impetus to the little Jewish congregation in Dublin. The war brought a number of Jews to the city. Isaac Pereira, of the great Dutch firm of Machado &amp; Pereira, who enjoyed the friendship and confidence of the British Commander, the Duke of Sch?mberg, was appointed Commissary General to the Army in Ireland, and all the rich members of Bevis Marks, including Sir Solomon de Medina and Alfonso Bodrigues, helped to finance him in the victualling of the troops.25 Pereira seems to have employed a good many London Jews in his responsible work, and it is probable that at this period David Machado de Sequeira and Jacob do Porto took up their residence in Dublin. David Machado was a relative of Pereira's partner and Jacob do Porto was a nephew of Alfonso Bodrigues, the eldest son of Gomes Bodrigues, alias Abraham Israel de Sequeira, who was the richest man of his day in the London Jewry. They were apparently leading members of the Dublin Congregation in 1718 when, as Mr. Shillman shows, the first known lease of the Ballybough cemetery was acquired.26 Machado was an accomplished man and a very public-spirited Jew. He was in London in 1707-8, engaged on a plan for bringing some relief to the persecuted Marranos of Portugal.27 It was in connection with this work that in 1708 he published in English the first edition of the Noticias Reconditas of Antonio Vieira, which when published in 1722 in Spanish and Portuguese was erroneously attributed?and is still so attributed?to David Nieto. On retiring from business in Dublin Machado settled in Bordeaux, where he preached in the Synagogue and wrote poetry. One of his sermons was published in Amsterdam in 1734.28 Jacob do Porto was the second son of Antonio or Domingo, alias Abraham do Porto, by his wife Sarah, the only daughter of Gomes Bodrigues.29 He was connected with the best families in the Anglo-Jewish community of his day. His father was a colleague of Carvajal at the time of Menasseh ben Israel's Mission, and was a witness in the famous Robles Case, which first revealed the existence of a Marrano community in London.30 In 1681 Abraham went to India with his wife and eldest son, and became one of the first freemen of Madras.31 He died there in 1690.32 Jacob married Sarah Lobatto of the Abudiente or Gideon family, by whom he had three sons and one daughter.33 25 Cat. S.P. Dom. (1689-90), pp. 401, 436, 506, 509, 543; (1690-1) pp. 51, 279; (1691-2) p. 50. 26 Supra, p. 148. 27 Henriques de Castro Collection (MSS.), No. 499. 28 Kayserling, op. cit., p. 100. 29 Will, Lond. Reg., 145 Reeve. 30 Trans. Jew. Hist. Soc, vol. i. pp. 79, 84. 31 S.P. Dom., Entry Book 51, f. 390 ; /. O. Factory Records (Fort St. George), vol.iv,f. 219. 32 Admon. July 1690. 33 Will, Lond. Reg., 7 Brook.</page><page sequence="25">166 THE JEWISH CEMETERY AT BALLYBOUGH IN DUBLIN. One of his nephews was Sampson Gideon, the great banker of the eighteenth century, and father of Lord Eardley. Of Jacob's further history nothing is known, and but for the appearance of his name on the lease of the Ballybough cemetery it would perhaps go entirely unrecorded. I now come to the first name among the Jewish signatories of the Ballybough lease. Alexander Felix has hitherto had no place in Anglo Jewish history, and his appearance as the senior member of the Jewish Congregation of Dublin in 1718 is at first sight not a little perplexing. As a matter of fact he was a person of considerable repute and experience, and on this ground his prominence in the negotiations for the acquisition of the cemetery is understandable. Alexander Felix was in short the David Penso already referred to as the father-in-law of Eliau Lopes Pereira, who was married in Dublin in the same year that the Jewish cemetery was acquired. But he was more than that. He was a member of one of the most respected Marrano families of his time. His father, Isaac Penso, or Isaac Penso Felix, had a romantic career as a martyr of the Lisbon Inquisition. He managed to escape from his dungeon and take refuge in Middelburg, where, on the day of his arrival, in obedience to a vow he had made in prison, he publicly embraced Judaism and was duly initiated into the Covenant.34 Isaac had four sons, of whom the most illustrious was Joseph Penso de la Vega, the prolific Spanish and Hebrew poet, whose fame has been eloquently sung by De Barrios.35 The two younger brothers of Joseph?David and Raphael Penso?settled in London towards the end of the seventeenth century, whence some years later David transferred himself to Dublin. Before leaving London, where he was a diamond merchant, David served an active career in the Sephardi Congregation, of which he and his brother became members some time before 1693. Their signatures may be seen on the Ascarnoth of 1693, 1700 and 1704. They were also generous contributors to the Building Fund of the Bevis Marks Synagogue in 1700-1701.36 Hence when David Penso?he was not then known as Felix?went to Dublin, he had a long communal experience which must have proved very useful in the work of reorganising the Dublin Congregation, of which the new cemetery was the sign. But how do we knowT that David Penso was Alexander Felix ? The story is rather curious. It has already been stated that the Marranos, for the purposes of their trade with countries in which the Inquisition operated, were compelled to assume fictitious names. This was the case with tl*e firm of David and Raphael Penso, as will be seen from the following extract from the Court Minutes of the East India Company : 34 Kayserling, op. cit., p. 85. 35 Ibid., pp. 19, 85-7. 36 Gaster, op. cit., pp. 29, 30, 74, 76, 77, 91, 93, 94, 96, 105.</page><page sequence="26">THE JEWISH CEMETERY AT BALLYBOUGH IN DUBLIN. 167 " 26 Nov. 1697. The Committee of the Treasury are desired to deliver a Bulse of diamonds, consigned to Alexander and William Felix, by the Mary, to David and Raphael Penso; Mr. Alphonso Rodrigues and Mr. D'Costa certifying, That those names were made use of by them." 37 Here then is the proof that David Penso was the Alexander Felix of the Lease, though why he assumed that name in Ireland when previously in London he had only used it in his secret correspondence with Portugal and the Indies, must remain a mystery.38 As for the remaining Jewish party to the Ballybough lease?Abraham Mears?I am afraid I have no information ready to hand. It ought not to be difficult to find out something about him, as he was apparently a man of substance; but I do not find him in my own collections, on which I have exclusively relied in the preparation of this Note. 37 1.0. Records, Court Book, vol. xxxvii. p. 214. 38 The only other occasion on which he used it was in the Kethubah of his son-in-law Eliau, where he is described as " David Penso Felis."</page></plain_text>