My Town Shoot Out - Graveyards

Well, this week I made it, on time even. Earlier today I found out that one of the bloggers I follow has cancer, and it bums me out. I know he'll be ok and his path will be his, but still I wish there was more I could do. He is also a participant in the My Town Shoot Out Challenge, so send your good vibes his way!

This week is all about our home town graveyards. There is only one in Dublin, and it is behind Old St. Raymond's Church (which was a part of the Churches a few weeks ago). I have photographed many cemeteries, and I find them to be generally very peaceful places. They can sometimes be kind of spooky, and sometimes very sad but overall, I find them a great place to wander around.

Here is the sign at the official entrance:

The Historical Marker for the cemetery:

A shot of the back of St. Raymond's:

Some picnic tables along the creek, with a view of the graves:

One of the older and repaired headstones:

I think this is a lovely plot with the flagstone walkway and bench in the shade of a tree:

There are quite a few very large, very old trees that provide a mostly shady environment:

I found the difference in ground cover selection to be interesting:

I am fascinated by this iron cross and have taken several photos of it. In fact, every time I am here, I take a shot of it.

The founding families each have these carved wooden signs at their family plots. The signs detail the family origin and involvement in Dublin's history. I thought a slideshow would be a good way to show them to you:

As the majority of the founders were of Irish origin, I had this song going through my head the whole time:

I also wanted to include a few shots that were published in a book that included photos of National Cemeteries, and essays from famous Americans. I took these photos of Golden Gate National Cemetery and San Francisco National Cemetery. The profits from the book go toward scholarships for children of Veterans injured and killed in battle.