Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
organ case is distinguished by the fine oak carving of 17 entwined musical instruments on
its front. A skull on the floor on one side of the altar is said to represent Oliver Cromwell.
On the opposite side is the Stool of Repentance, where 'open and notoriously naughty liv-
ers' did public penance.
The tours of the underground vaults are the real draw, however. The bodies within are
aged between 400 and 800 years, and have been preserved by a combination of methane
gas coming from rotting vegetation beneath the church, the magnesium limestone of the
masonry (which absorbs moisture from the air), and the perfectly constant temperature.
The corpses have been exposed because the coffins in the vaults were stacked on top of
one another and some toppled over and opened when the wood rotted. The guide sounds
like he's been delivering the same, albeit fascinating, spiel for too long, but you'll defin-
itely be glad you're not alone down there.
ARBOUR HILL CEMETERY
( 01-821 3021;
www.heritageireland.ie
;
Arbour Hill; 8am-4pm Mon-Fri, 11am-4pm Sat, 9.30am-4pm Sun;
25, 25A, 37, 38, 39, 66, 67, 90 or 134 from city centre, Museum)
F
Just north of Collins Barracks,
this small cemetery is the final resting place of all 14 of the executed leaders of the 1916
Easter Rising. The burial ground is plain, with the 14 names inscribed in stone. Beside the
graves is a cenotaph bearing the Easter Proclamation, a focal point for official and nation-
al commemorations.
The front of the cemetery incongruously, but poignantly, contains the graves of British
personnel killed in the War of Independence. Here, in the oldest part of the cemetery, as
the gravestones toppled, they were lined up against the boundary walls where they still
stand solemnly today.
CEMETERY
KING'S INNS
(
www.kingsinns.ie
; Henrietta St; 25, 25A, 66, 67, 90 or 134 from city centre, Four Courts)
Home to Dub-
lin's legal profession (and where barristers are still trained), King's Inns occupies a clas-
sical building built by James Gandon between 1795 and 1817 on Constitution Hill, with
Francis Johnston chipping in with the cupola. A fine example of Georgian public architec-
ture, the building itself is alas only open to members and their guests.
HISTORIC BUILDING
GARDEN OF REMEMBRANCE
(Parnell Sq; 8.30am-6pm Apr-Sep, 9.30am-4pm Oct-Mar; 3, 10, 11, 13, 16, 19 or 22 from city centre)
This
rather austere little park was opened by President Éamon de Valera in 1966 for the 50th
PARK
