City soil in Carson’s grave

The grave of the iconic Dublin Unionist at St Anne’s Cathedral was infilled with earth from each of the six counties of Northern Ireland and also from the city.

Mr Copleand told MLAs: “In the corner of St Anne’s Cathedral in Belfast stands a stone font.

“It is all that remains of the parish church of St Anne that existed on that site prior to the construction of the cathedral.

“I know that because my grandmother was christened in that font in 1899. Just a few feet from the font lies a grave. “An unremarkable grave, it is ordinary in many ways, even plain in some. It contains earth from the six counties of Ulster that now comprise Northern Ireland and earth from the city of Londonderry. In that grave lies Sir Edward Carson, later Lord Carson of Duncairn.”