The Office of Public Works

Arbour Hill Cemetery

The military cemetery at Arbour Hill is the last resting place of fourteen of the executed leaders of the insurrection of 1916. Among those buried there are Patrick Pearse, James Connolly and Major John McBride. The leaders were executed in Kilmainham and then their bodies were transported to Arbour Hill, where they were buried.

The graves are located under a low mound on a terrace of Wicklow granite in what was once the old prison yard. The gravesite is surrounded by a limestone wall on which their names are inscribed in Irish and English. On the prison wall opposite the gravesite is a plaque with the names of other people who gave their lives in 1916.

The adjoining Church of the Sacred Heart, which is the prison chapel for Arbour Hill prison, is maintained by the Department of Defence. At the rear of the church lies the old cemetery, where lie the remains of British military personnel who died in the Dublin area in the nineteenth and early twentieth century.

A doorway beside the 1916 memorial gives access to the Irish United Nations Veterans Association house and memorial garden.

Each May the Annual 1916 Commemoration Ceremony is held at Arbour Hill, hosted by the Minister for Defence. Irish political parties also host commemorative ceremonies at the cemetery.

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Plan a Visit

Opening hours, location, transport and more.

Learn More

Read about the history of the cemetery.

Browse

Modern and historical images of the cemetery.

Contact

Get in touch with any questions or comments.