National Register of Historic Places

Holyhood Cemetery

Brookline, Norfolk County, Massachusetts
Listed
October 16, 1985
Type
Site
Period
Listed
Ref No.
85003275

About this property

Holyhood Cemetery is a cemetery located in Brookline, Massachusetts. Laid out in 1857, the cemetery was designed to reflect the rural cemetery movement begun at Cambridge's Mount Auburn Cemetery. It was the first such cemetery in Brookline. The cemetery was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985. Most of the cemetery has the layout typical of rural cemeteries, with winding lanes and attractive landscaping. One section, known as the "German Acre" and located near the entrance, has a more traditional rectilinear form; it was laid out for a congregation of predominantly German Catholics. The cemetery chapel, built 1859–62, is set on a hill near its center, and was designed by Patrick Keely, an architect of Catholic churches. It is a Gothic Revival structure, built out of puddingstone. Holyhood Cemetery is best known for being the final resting place of Joseph and Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy (parents of U.S. President John, U.S. Attorney General Robert, and U.S. Senator Edward). Their daughter Rosemary Kennedy is also buried here, along with several other family members. Joan Bennett Kennedy is buried here too. The last child born to President Kennedy and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, Patrick Bouvier Kennedy, was also buried at Holyhood Cemetery, until being removed to Arlington National Cemetery, along with a stillborn daughter originally buried in Newport, Rhode Island, following their father's assassination and burial there in 1963. Holyhood is also the final resting place of former Boston mayor and U.S. representative Patrick Collins, with a memorial sculpted by Cyrus Edwin Dallin; Cardinal John Wright; golfer Francis Ouimet; baseball player George Wright; Irish poet and journalist John Boyle O'Reilly; author, poet, journalist and diplomat James Jeffrey Roche; and lightbulb pioneer and engineer Martha J. B. Thomas. John Geoghan, an American Roman Catholic priest and serial child rapist is also interred there. The cemetery contains one Commonwealth war burial, of an American-born Royal Air Force Cadet of World War I, William Becker Hagan. National Register of Historic Places listings in Brookline, Massachusetts Media related to Holyhood Cemetery (Brookline, Massachusetts) at Wikimedia Commons

Location

Brookline, Norfolk County, Massachusetts
42.32045, -71.16662

Categories

LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTUREARCHITECTURE
National Register nomination ›
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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The Civil War
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Native Heritage
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Settlement
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Nearby Historic Sites

House at 41 Middlesex Road
Industrial
0.4 mi
Roughwood
Industrial
0.4 mi
Hammond Pond Parkway
Industrial
0.5 mi
Chestnut Hill Historic Distric
Listed
0.5 mi
Old Chestnut Hill Historic District (Boundary Increase)
Listed
0.6 mi

Nearby Battles

Siege of Boston – Roxbury Lines
1775Revolutionary War
3.5 mi
Siege of Boston – Cambridge Lines
1775Revolutionary War
4.7 mi

Questions about this property

When was Holyhood Cemetery listed on the National Register?

Holyhood Cemetery was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 16, 1985.

What type of historic resource is Holyhood Cemetery?

Holyhood Cemetery is classified as a site in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for Holyhood Cemetery?

The period of significance for Holyhood Cemetery is recorded as the listed era.

Can I research the history near Holyhood Cemetery?

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