October 2001

The burial grounds and graveyards of Dublin are a reservoir of Ireland's extraordinary past - a fascinating treasury of history, biography, archaeology and human interest. Dublin is studded with graveyards, churchyards and cemeteries dating from the early Christian period right up to those still in use at the beginning of the third millennium. Though many of these burial grounds are still well known, the existence of others has passed from public awareness.

Bully's Acre in Kilmainham is one of Dublin's oldest burial grounds dating to the time of St. Maigneann in the sixth century. It has survived centuries of change in Ireland and it is not the only such place around the country's capital. It was not until the nineteenth century that the development of the large multi-denominational graveyards, such as Glasnevin and Dean's Grange, began outside the city limits. Consequently, many of the older sites left behind within the inner city have been forgotten or often 'paved over'. But there is still much to be found if you know where to look.

This book is a guide to 72 of the 200 or so sites that are to be discovered in and around Dublin city, from Killiney to Taney, from Kilbarrack to Howth. Spanning centuries of social, political and religious upheaval and development, this book recalls pivotal events in Irish history - Viking and Norman invasions, the reformation, penal times, Catholic emancipation and the various rebellions - as well as revealing how some of the country's various inhabitants - great and unknown - contributed to the nation or simply lived and died.

Rich with illustration, discovery and fascinating detail. This book gives a rare insight into an invaluable but often neglected part of Irish heritage.