Overview
More people are buried here than are alive in Dublin. Glasnevin holds the remains of over 1.5 million people across 124 acres on the city’s northside, 3 km from the centre, which makes it Ireland’s national cemetery and one of the largest in Europe. The grounds are open year-round and free to enter, and they sit right beside the Victorian National Botanic Gardens, so the two combine easily into a half-day.
History
The cemetery exists because Catholics had nowhere proper to bury their dead. Under the Penal Laws they were interred in Protestant churchyards, often without a ceremony, and a public outcry in 1823 prompted Daniel O’Connell, the ‘Liberator’, to campaign for a non-denominational ground. The original nine-acre plot was consecrated on 21 February 1832, and the first burial, of eleven-year-old Michael Carey, took place the next day.
It grew fast to its present 124 acres, taking in the dead of the Great Famine, cholera epidemics and the 1916 Easter Rising. Among those buried here are Michael Collins, Éamon de Valera, Charles Stewart Parnell, Countess Markievicz, the writer Brendan Behan and the musician Luke Kelly. The site holds the world’s largest collection of Celtic crosses, and also contains extensive mass-grave sections alongside a dedicated Angels Plot for still-born infants. High perimeter walls were constructed in the 19th century to deter body-snatchers, with watchmen and dogs once patrolling the grounds at night.
The O’Connell Tower, a 55m round tower over the Liberator’s crypt, was first opened in 1869, destroyed by a bomb in 1971, and meticulously restored before reopening in 2018. A spiral staircase of 222 steps leads to the summit. The museum itself opened in 2010 as the world’s first cemetery museum and won Thea Awards for its approach to heritage storytelling.
Tours and experiences
The graves repay a guide; the headstones tell you names, but not the stories. Glasnevin runs several themed tours alongside self-guided options:
- Irish History Tour – the 1916 Rising, the War of Independence and the Civil War, stopping at the graves of Collins, Markievicz and the O’Connell crypt.
- Women in History Tour – figures including Maud Gonne, Countess Markievicz and the poet Rosa Mulholland.
- Dead Interesting Tour – lesser-known lives, among them Maria Higgins, buried twice, and Francis de Groot, the Sydney Harbour Bridge engineer.
- Extra-Ordinary Lives Tour – remarkable stories, from the lion-tamer killed by a lion to Brendan Behan.
- O’Connell Tower Tour – the tower’s history and O’Connell’s legacy, then a climb of 222 steps for views over Dublin, Wicklow and the Irish Sea.
- Self-guided audio tour – book online or at reception and walk at your own pace.
- Virtual tours – parts of the cemetery and the crypt can be explored online.
Book ahead. The specialist tours fill quickly, and turning up on spec can leave you with the grounds but no story.
What to see
- O’Connell Tower – the climb up Ireland’s tallest round tower, ending on the views. The 222-step spiral staircase is not suitable for visitors with limited mobility.
- Glasnevin Museum – interactive exhibitions including The City of the Dead and Extra-Ordinary Lives. Touch-free stylus pens and audio stations make the two-floor gallery accessible for all ages.
- Notable graves – the political leaders, artists and writers, marked on the tour maps. Collins’s grave consistently receives the highest volume of floral tributes.
- The grounds – landscaped lawns and the Celtic-cross collection, quiet to walk.
- Rose Memorial Garden – a garden and crematorium space for the interment of urns, opened in 2024.
- Genealogical records – a digitised burial archive going back to 1828. A paid specialist research service is available at the on-site genealogy desk for those tracing Irish ancestry.
Stories from the ground
The gravestones and archives hold several unusual tales:
- The Seapoint Tragedy – A family fell ill in the 19th century after eating mussels from a contaminated local pond; five children died. The incident appears in coroner reports and was later referenced in James Joyce’s Ulysses.
- The Brick Coffin Scam – A man staged a burial by filling a coffin with bricks and claiming his wife had died. Six years later the “wife” reappeared, the deception was uncovered, and the grave was exhumed.
- Brendan Behan’s birthday – Visitors regularly leave a pint of Guinness on Behan’s grave on his birthday. It has become a quiet annual ritual, often mentioned on guided tours.
- Michael Collins’s grave – His resting place consistently receives the highest volume of floral tributes of any grave on site, a measure of his enduring place in Irish public memory.
Practical information
- Location: Finglas Road, Glasnevin, Dublin D09 (2.5 km north of the city centre).
- Getting here: Dublin Bus routes 4, 9, 27, 31, 31A, 40, 83 and 140 stop nearby. The Luas Red Line (Broombridge) and the DART at Drumcondra (about a 20-minute walk) also serve the area.
- Parking: Limited on-site for around 30 cars (about €2). More street parking across the road.
- Bikes: Secure stands beside the museum entrance.
- Opening hours: Grounds daily 9.00am–5.00pm. Visitor Centre daily 10.00am–5.00pm, subject to seasonal change.
- Tickets: Grounds entry is free. A self-guided audio guide is €8 and includes museum entry. The O’Connell Tower climb is €10 (adults), €8 (children). Themed guided tours are €15 (adults), with student, senior and family rates. Book online.
- Facilities: Accessible paths, a wheelchair-friendly tower lift, café, gift shop and toilets near the museum entrance.
- Accessibility: Visitor Centre fully wheelchair accessible; tours wheelchair-friendly except the O’Connell crypt (stairs only).
- Events: an annual Bastille Day ceremony, National Drawing Day, an Easter Sunday commemoration with guided talks and walks, and seasonal family workshops during school holidays for ages 7–12. Parts of the cemetery and crypt can also be explored via virtual tours on Google Arts & Culture.
Nearby
Next door is the National Botanic Gardens, 48 acres of plant collections and historic glasshouses, free and easy to fold into the same visit. A short walk north brings you to Croke Park and its stadium museum.