Page:The Gael Vol XXII January to December 1903.djvu/308

October, 1903. the present surface of the yard. It was opened at each end, to expedite the examination and to remove the necessity for disturbing the contents, and in addition the concrete and refuse filling in the original stone steps were cleared away so that a depth was reached nearly to the level of the vault floor.

The vault contained four coffins, two of which were in a fair state of preservation; on two of these were coffin-plates bearing different names and from the dates it was thought that these bodies were among the last buried before the prohibitary law went into operation and the conclusion was reached that this had been the receiving vault of the church. After a search of five days nothing was found in connection with the Emmet family. The vault was carefully closed but before filling in the trench where the concrete had been removed, at different points the ground beneath in every direction was sounded by means of an iron bar introduced to a depth of several feet.

It was the opinion of all if another vault had been below it would certainly have been found by this means, while in no instance were the remains in any grave dusturbeddisturbed [sic] nor even reached by the iron bar from above. It is proper to state during the whole time of exploration Mr. Quaid or Mr. Robert Emmet, with one or more of the other gentlemen present at the beginning, attended and directed the work.

On the following day, after completing the search first undertaken, Mr. Robert Emmet, thinking an additional exploration might be in accord with Dr. Madden's statement, directed that another trench be extended along the south wall of the church to the right of the church entrance but nothing was found. The only conclusion to be drawn from this investigation is that, if other vaults were formerly situated in this portion of the church-yard, the tops, with a portion of the side walls must have been broken down and the vaults then filled in. The broad stone which Dr. Madden described as covering the Emmet vault must have been buried elsewhere, after the destruction of the vaults or it certainly would have been found by means of the iron bar and, as a proof of this supposition, one large fiat stone with the inscription perfect and portions of broken ones were found which had been used to fill in with.

The earnest effort to find the Emmet family vault in St. Peter's Church-yard was not pursued simply for the purpose of determining its site, however gratifying such a result might have been, but in the firm belief that if it ever be found the final resting-place of Robert Emmet will be demonstrated.

In a work just published by G. P. Putnam & Sons, New York, "Ireland under English Rule, a Plea for the plaintiff," I have detailed at some length In the Appendix my reasons for believing that Robert Emmet's body was finally placed with the remains of his father, mother, brother, sister and other relatives in the family burial-place but to enter on any consideration of this subject would be out of place here.

At my request Mr. Fuller took charge of my application to make the exploration in St Michan's Church-yard and on his report I beg to acknowledge my thanks for the courtesy and promptness with which the needed permission was granted. The charge of this examination was but a just tribute to Mr. Fuller who had felt justified, on the testimony collected by him, in the belief that this spot was the burial-place of Robert Emmet. As a distant connection, through the Mason family, of Robert Emmet's mother, Mr. Fuller long cared for this grave which he had enclosed and covered with a mablemarble [sic] slab bearing only the inscription—"September 20th, 1803."

After my departure from Dublin this uninscribed grave was opened on Saturday, August 3d, 1903. In the presence of Messrs. Fuller, Quaid, two church-warders of the church, and others. Before the excavation had been completed Sir Lambert Ormsby, M. D., the President of the Royal College of Surgeons, Dublin, attended, and to him was submitted for examination the remains here found, after they had been photographed. It was decided best to obtain the services of Professor Alec Fraser in addition before the examination was made and, in accord with this agreement, on the following day these gentlemen attended and their conclusion was so readily reached that the remains were soon replaced, the grave refilled and the original uninscribed stone was put back in the same place it had occupied so many years.

Mr. Fuller had also discoveredediscovered [sic] in the receiving vault under St Michan's Church a skull, having a piece of crape tied around it to hide the eye cavities. It has been believed by many that the elder Petrie had carried Emmet's head away to take a plaster cast and that Petrie did not return with it until after the coffin containing the body had been removed by the Rev. Mr. Gamble of St. Michan's Church, from the Gate House at Bully's Acre on the night of Emmet's execution.

With a knowledge of this tradition and that in this vault it was supposed the Rev. Mr. Gamble had deposited for some time Robert Emmet's body, the possibility suggested itself that this might be Emmet's skull which Dr. Madden or some one else knowing its history had placed there. On being submitted, however, to the judgment of the above-mentioned gentlemen, it was decided at once that the skull could not have been that of Robert Emmet.

Before the reception of the report of these gentlemen my son, Mr. Robert Emmet, who had a medical training, and I reached the same conclusion from a careful inspection of the photographs sent us of this skull and our testimony is offered in corroboration.

The following reports I have received from these gentlemen and I wish to express my sincere thanks not only for the sonalpersonal [sic] favor but for the great service rendered by them to the public in determining beyond question that this uninscribed grave, so long cherished as the hallowed spot, does not contain the body of Robert Emmet.

REPORT ON THE SKELETON AND OTHER BONES SUBMITTED TO ME FOR INSPECTION IN ST. MICHAN'S CHURCH-YARD, DUBLIN, BY MR. J. F. FULLER, F. S. A., ARCHITECT, AND MR. DAVID A. QUAID, SOLICITOR, AUGUST 3D, 1903:

N Monday, August 3d, I met by appointment at 4.30 P. M., both the above named gentlementgentlemen [sic], and they submitted to me for my inspection and opinion several human