Glasnevin Cemetery

Lonely Planet review

Make sure your visit coincides with one of the free tours ( 14:30 Wednesday and Friday), which are provided by Dublin's most entertaining, informative and irreverent tour guide, the inimitable Lorcan Collins, who'll bring you around all the most interesting sights in Ireland's largest cemetery - sometimes referred to as 'Croak Park'.

It was established in 1832 as a cemetery for Roman Catholics, who faced opposition when they conducted burials in the city's Protestant cemeteries. Many monuments and memorials have staunchly patriotic overtones, with numerous high crosses, shamrocks, harps and other Irish symbols. The single most imposing memorial is the colossal monument to Cardinal McCabe (1837-1921), archbishop of Dublin and primate of Ireland.

A modern replica of a round tower holds the tomb of Daniel O'Connell, who died in 1847 and was reinterred here in 1869, when the tower was completed. Charles Stewart Parnell's tomb is topped with a huge granite rock. Other notable people buried here include Sir Roger Casement, who was executed for treason by the British in 1916 and whose remains weren't returned to Ireland until 1964; the republican leader Michael Collins, who was assassinated during the Civil War; the docker and trade unionist Jim Larkin, a prime force in the 1913 general strike; and the poet Gerard Manley Hopkins.

There's a poignant 'class' memorial to the men who starved themselves to death for the cause of Irish freedom over the last century, including 10 men in the 1981 H Block hunger strikes. The most interesting parts of the cemetery are at the southeastern Prospect Sq end. The towers were once used to keep watch for body snatchers. The cemetery is mentioned in Ulysses and there are several clues for Joyce enthusiasts to follow.