The graves and tombs of many leading lights in recent Irish history are collected together at Dublin’s Glasnevin Cemetery, one of the city’s most popular attractions.
More than 1.5 million people have been interred in the grand necropolis since 1928, with the rich and famous lying alongside paupers, politicians, artists, heroes and warriors.
It was established in 1832 by Daniel O’Connell, the famous political leader who campaigned for Catholic emancipation in the 19th Century.
He is one of the many famous residents of Ireland’s largest cemetery, his tomb handily signposted by a modern replica of a round tower. Others include nationalist leader Charles Stewart Parnell, revolutionary Michael Collins, writer and painter Christy Brown and human rights activist Roger Casement.
Glasnevin was designed to be a resting place for people of all faiths, a response to the refusal of Protestant cemeteries to bury Catholics, and its history is told in compelling detail through its own award-winning museum.
It charts the eventful social and political history of Ireland through the lives of the people buried at Glasnevin. The City of the Dead exhibit focuses on burial practice and religious beliefs, while the Milestone Gallery features a 10-metre long timeline based on the lives of the cemetery’s most famous residents.
Get the most out of your visit by joining one of the daily tours, led by guides full of charm and banter who are desperate to share fascinating stories of grave diggers and grave robbers, outbreaks of disease and the horrors of war.
