Arbor Hill is definitely not one of Dublin’s most glamorous cemeteries, but if you’re interested in the 1916 Easter Rising and / or Irish military history, you can’t help but go here. You must not. However, if you only have a passing interest and are limited in time … don’t miss out. The “view” as such is nothing to write home about, to be brutally honest, it has been sanitized and the only thing worth seeing is the 1916 memorial to the executed leaders. It is the final resting place of fourteen executed nationalist rebels. of the unfortunate rebellion, so if you start your tour in the GPO, walk to St.
Stephen’s Green, then visit the National Museum at Collins Barracks before going to Kilmainham Gaol and finally ending here… you’ve really followed the course of the Easter Rising.
Pros and cons
Arbor Hill Cemetery is an essential visit for anyone interested in the 1916 Easter Rising, simply because it is “holy ground” in both a religious and political (nationalist) sense. Although there are some interesting British military gravestones on the site, most of them have been neglected, relegated to a minor role in the legend of the Irish rebellions.
As Arbor Hill is quite out of the way (unless you’re visiting Collins Barracks nearby), for most visitors with a passing interest in historical events, it will be a side street too far. To be fair, it is generally not a “must see!” as such
Arbor Hill Cemetery was originally used by the British Dublin garrison; The many interesting tombstones from these times can still be seen and may be of interest to the antiquarian. However, their place in Irish collective memory was instantly created by another event, as in 1916 the executed leaders were buried anonymously together, in a mass grave and a quicklime pit, within the confines of the military installation (which did not have public access at the time, thus avoiding the creation of an instant pilgrimage site).
Only later did the Irish government turn the military cemetery into the place of remembrance it is today.
Some reflections on Arbor Hill Cemetery
Arbor Hill used to be a graveyard, is now more of a park, thanks to the Irish government’s dedication to ‘clean up’ the site and focus attention on the fourteen leaders executed from 1916. Which makes sense, since the bodies after all they were unceremoniously thrown into a well, covered with quicklime, their graves were not even marked. As was the custom of traitors … which today leaves the exact location of the individual bodies without a doubt, barring a complete CSI-type exhumation and reburial, nothing can be done to remedy this.
And although Roger Casement’s body was repatriated from an English jail after decades (and exhumation), there appears to be no such plan in place for the 1916 rebels buried here.
When Ireland gained sovereignty over British military installations, it was almost inevitably decided to remodel the anonymous mass grave into a sanctuary, which it is today. Complete with names and a massive memorial with an excerpt from the text of the proclamation of the Republic of Ireland. At the same time, the British tombstones were removed, the cemetery was turned into a park, the much older monuments stored along the outer wall. For the historian, many of these monuments may be more interesting than the modern monument to the rebels …
for the patriot, of course, even having the oppressor next to the oppressed in a graveyard could be a fly in the ointment.
Incidentally, the park is guarded by a rather interesting church, today used as the chapel of the Irish Armed Forces and decorated with military flags and emblems. A massive concrete wall with a modern watchtower also sticks out like a sore thumb. This is part of Arbor Hill Prison, where some notorious Irish criminals are locked up. Accessible through a gate in the back wall is a memorial to Irish and Gardai soldiers killed in UN service, the centerpiece of its own little park.
A final verdict?
Is Arbor Hill worth visiting? Yes for the completist and historian, not for the casual tourist. Although access is relatively easy (the cemetery is just behind and signposted from Collins Barracks), it can be an unnecessary detour for most visitors.
