The cemetery owes its name to a small farm-house 90 metres to the West, known to the British troops as "Irish House". It was begun in June, 1917, by the 16th (Irish) Division, and used at intervals until September, 1918. In Row A are the graves of 33 Officers and men of the 1st Gordon Highlanders, killed in action in December, 1914 (in the 3rd Division's Attack on Wytschaete), and reburied here by the 11th Royal Irish Rifles in June, 1917. The ground was in German hands from April, 1918, to the end of the following August.
There are now over 100, 1914-18 war casualties commemorated in this cemetery. Of these, over a third are unidentified and a special memorial is erected to one Australian soldier known to be buried in the cemetery. The cemetery covers an area of 569 square metres and is enclosed by a low rubble wall.
Burials (Commonwealth War Graves Commission):
- United Kingdom: 103
- Australia: 14
- Total Commonwealth: 117
- Other Nationalities: 4