A short, yet very steep hike along the Wildcat Ridge Trails in Hibernia, New Jersey lies a large cemetery high in the mountain forest. So remotely hidden, the only reason to find it would be by mistake while hiking along the trails or by word of mouth, discovering it on the internet, books and magazines.

 

 

When hiking the trail, I always take the longer trail for there's more to see. it starts out through an abandoned and ruined Hibernia Mining Village which was one of the most productive Iron mines in New Jersey. Continue walking further and you'll past the largest Hibernation Cave for Bats in New Jersey which was formerly a mine shaft. Two fascinating pieces to visit filled with history that you can also read about here on this site. Continue onto the white marked trail that is a steep uphill climb containing many loose rocks until it levels off at the top. Just a bit further is where you'll discover the St. Patrick's Cemetery.

 

 

 

After the hike up the mountain, I pondered: "Why would anyone place such a cemetery that contained some very large and heavy headstones along with lugging the deceased way atop this mountain away from the town?" The Sacred Ground of St. Patrick's Cemetery which was established in 1869 is exactly that, remotely away from the rest of the World.

 

 

 

 

The cemetery has sadly been heavily vandalized throughout the years with broken and knocked over headstones of which many are completely missing except for their base. Small wooden homemade crosses painted white took their place. As even they are mostly ripped out of the ground and scattered about. The remaining headstones reveals clues by their names that say they were from Eastern Europe as well as some of the epitaphs were written in their ethnic language.

Now to answer my own question as to why the St. Patrick's Cemetery was so remotely placed high up in the mountain forest… Back when the cemetery was being used, it was very close to the former Mining Village that I suggest you should walk through to get here. There was at one point a Roman Catholic Church built near that burnt to the ground in 1910. Today it leaves very little evidence that it ever was. What was once a thriving village now remains with just a few traces of it's existence.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A vandalized headstone that caught my eye that simulated a tree log was upside down. Not sure if the placement of the cross was deliberate by Vandals or someone else placed it, knowing it belonged to that plot, unable to set it right ended to stay put.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The wind was calm, but the tops of the trees were swaying back and forth as if a storm was brewing. I have heard rumors of graves being dug up many years ago and evidence shows depressions in the ground of where they might have been. If this is true and where the graves went is uncertain. Also encounters of Paranormal Activity here have been witnessed at the St. Patrick's Cemetery, though I never experienced any until my recent visit

Never have I felt energy in any other cemetery as I have here… There was a heaviness in the air that was indescribable as well as that cliché saying: "Felt like someone was watching me!" Not to mention that when every time I tried to video tape something, my camera would shut off after a few seconds of recording. Could this be the Spirits of those who lay to rest here for they are angry of what Vandals have done to their final resting place in the past? Unanswered questions that intrigue the mind and stimulate the senses.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gifts for Loved Ones

St. Patrick the Patron Saint of Ireland

 

Rosery Beads without Rust or Decay

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"MAY THEIR SOULS REST IN PEACE"