Glasnevin Cemetery

Glasnevin Cemetery is a cemetery that is in Glasnevin, Dublin, in Ireland. This was the first place that the tour visited as they had a café that served breakfast. We had to wait for our rooms to be ready for us as we arrived in Dublin before 10 am.

Glasnevin Cemetery has a very special place in history because of the circumstances in which it was established. It was created in 1832 under the influence of Daniel O’Connell. Prior to this cemetery, the Catholic people had nowhere that they could bury their dead according to their rites. The Catholic priests had shortened their service in the protestant cemeteries to alleviate problems with the authorities, but that was not good enough for some people. There were people who felt that either the dead had to be buried in accordance to the Church of Ireland rites or not be buried in consecrated ground.

Daniel O’Connell felt otherwise. Daniel was part of an influential family who was fairly prominent in politics. He also became active in politics and was elected to Parliament in 1828 but could not take his seat because of the oath of supremacy. Eventually, King George IV was convinced to emancipate the Catholics and give the Catholics and the Presbyterians the right to be able to sit in Parliament without swearing the oath of supremacy. However, this was not retroactive and Daniel had to be re-elected before he could take his seat.

Daniel was known as The Liberator or The Emancipator. Later politicians questioned about the titles, but Daniel did do some good work for the Irish Catholics.

One of the good works was the cemetery in Glasnevin. You cannot miss the monument to Daniel O’Connell. It is the tower that is seen from the road and can be seen from a distance. The tower is right over his grave. Unfortunately, I was not feeling very well when we were there and missed being able to go closer.

There is a tour of the cemetery that you can take. There are a number of Irish notables that are buried there, many of them being leaders from the hunger strike, the Easter Rising, the War of Independence, and government leaders. There are also writers, art collectors, artists, and many others from all walks of life.

Each burial plot has a story. Some of the stories are about the famous and some are about those who lived their lives the best way that they could. Many of the burial plots have headstones that are reminiscent of the history of Ireland and there are also many more modern headstones.

This cemetery has Catholics, Presbyterians, and Anglicans buried within its walls. If the people of Ireland prior to 1922 could not live peaceably together in Dublin, they rest peaceably together in this cemetery.

If you go to Dublin, you should try to include Glasnevin Cemetery as part of your itinerary. It does have a peaceful feel to it. Take the time to be part of a tour to gain a full understanding of the significance of this piece of Ireland. Then wander at will to make discoveries of your own.