Filed Under Antebellum & Civil War
O'Rorke Catholic Cemetery
Prominent layman John O’Rorke donated land to the Catholic Diocese for this cemetery, the oldest historic resource in the city associated with Raleigh’s Catholic community. Established at a time when prevailing Protestant thought often made life difficult for Catholics, the cemetery retains twelve monuments and plot borders dating from 1865 to about 1931. The cemetery operated as Raleigh’s Catholic cemetery from 1858 to 1931; in 1938 the cemetery was ceded to the city for the burial of itinerants and the “less fortunate.” Beginning in 1941 the city operated the property as a paupers’ graveyard until the cemetery was fully utilized in 1986.
Date: 1858
