parklandheritage

Glasnevin & the Botanic Gardens: glasshouses and the great dead

Turner's curving glasshouses, the round tower over O'Connell's grave, and a wall between them.

Photo: Miguel Mendez / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0

Drafted by Claude — the editor hasn’t walked this one yet. We’ll update this notice once it’s been verified on the ground.

Distance

3.6 km

Time

~ 85 min

Difficulty

Easy

Start

Botanic Road (Dublin Bus 9/83/140)

End

Glasnevin (Dublin Bus 40/140)

Best at

morning

Right now

23°C· Clear

Open in Maps for turn-by-turn, or take it offline as GPX.

Two of Dublin's great institutions share a wall in Glasnevin: the National Botanic Gardens on one side, the cemetery on the other, the living and the dead with a gate between them. It's the best value walk in the city — the gardens are free, the air in the glasshouses is its own weather — and it works in rain as well as sun, which is rare here.

Start through the Botanic Road gate into fifty acres founded in 1795, and make straight for Richard Turner's Curvilinear Range, the wrought-iron glasshouses by the engineer who built Kew's Palm House. Walk their full length, then down to where the River Tolka forms the boundary and a gate in the wall drops you into Glasnevin Cemetery. The round tower over Daniel O'Connell's crypt rises first; beyond it lie Collins, Parnell, de Valera, Maud Gonne — modern Ireland in granite. Collins still gets fresh flowers every day.

End out the front gate at the Gravediggers, John Kavanagh's pub against the cemetery wall, pouring since 1833. A pint in the front bar is the only proper finish. Buses to town stop nearby.

The route

On the map.

A soft dashed line, numbered stops. It’s a suggestion, not a turn-by-turn.

Elevation

↑ 22 m·↓ 20 m·22–31 m ASL

Stops along the way

Things to notice.

01
1
National Botanic Gardens — the gate
Enter free off Botanic Road into nearly fifty acres of glasshouses and planted grounds, founded in 1795. Pick up nothing, plan nothing; just start walking the gravel toward the curved iron and glass ahead. Bring a coffee in, leave the hurry out.
01
National Botanic Gardens — the gate
Enter free off Botanic Road into nearly fifty acres of glasshouses and planted grounds, founded in 1795. Pick up nothing, plan nothing; just start walking the gravel toward the curved iron and glass ahead. Bring a coffee in, leave the hurry out.
02
2
The Turner glasshouses (the Curvilinear Range)
Richard Turner's wrought-iron Curvilinear Range — the same engineer who built the Palm House at Kew — restored to its 1840s self. Walk the full length under the glass; the heat and the smell of wet leaves change the air completely. The Palm House next door is taller and just as good.
02
The Turner glasshouses (the Curvilinear Range)
Richard Turner's wrought-iron Curvilinear Range — the same engineer who built the Palm House at Kew — restored to its 1840s self. Walk the full length under the glass; the heat and the smell of wet leaves change the air completely. The Palm House next door is taller and just as good.
03
3
The Tolka river walk
Follow the path down to the far end of the gardens, where the River Tolka forms the boundary and the planting goes wild — the rose garden, the herbaceous borders, the water. A gate in the wall here leads straight into the cemetery; that's the route.
03
The Tolka river walk
Follow the path down to the far end of the gardens, where the River Tolka forms the boundary and the planting goes wild — the rose garden, the herbaceous borders, the water. A gate in the wall here leads straight into the cemetery; that's the route.
04
4
O'Connell Tower, Glasnevin Cemetery
Through the wall into the largest cemetery in Ireland, and the round tower over Daniel O'Connell's crypt rises first — the tallest of its kind in the country. You can climb it on a paid tour; from the top the whole city lays out. The crypt below is open and quiet.
04
O'Connell Tower, Glasnevin Cemetery
Through the wall into the largest cemetery in Ireland, and the round tower over Daniel O'Connell's crypt rises first — the tallest of its kind in the country. You can climb it on a paid tour; from the top the whole city lays out. The crypt below is open and quiet.
05
5
The graves of Collins, Parnell and the rest
Walk the avenues to find Michael Collins, Charles Stewart Parnell, Éamon de Valera, Maud Gonne — modern Irish history, plotted in granite. Collins's grave still gets fresh flowers daily. Don't try to see them all; pick the names that mean something to you and let the rest be.
05
The graves of Collins, Parnell and the rest
Walk the avenues to find Michael Collins, Charles Stewart Parnell, Éamon de Valera, Maud Gonne — modern Irish history, plotted in granite. Collins's grave still gets fresh flowers daily. Don't try to see them all; pick the names that mean something to you and let the rest be.
06
6
Glasnevin village and the Gravediggers
Out the front gate to the village, where John Kavanagh's pub — 'the Gravediggers', open since 1833 and run by the same family — sits against the cemetery wall. A pint in the old front bar is the right way to end. Buses back to the centre stop nearby.
06
Glasnevin village and the Gravediggers
Out the front gate to the village, where John Kavanagh's pub — 'the Gravediggers', open since 1833 and run by the same family — sits against the cemetery wall. A pint in the old front bar is the right way to end. Buses back to the centre stop nearby.

Glasnevin & the Botanic Gardens: glasshouses and the great dead

On the map.

Things to notice.

National Botanic Gardens — the gate

National Botanic Gardens — the gate

The Turner glasshouses (the Curvilinear Range)

The Turner glasshouses (the Curvilinear Range)

The Tolka river walk

The Tolka river walk

O'Connell Tower, Glasnevin Cemetery

O'Connell Tower, Glasnevin Cemetery

The graves of Collins, Parnell and the rest

The graves of Collins, Parnell and the rest

Glasnevin village and the Gravediggers

Glasnevin village and the Gravediggers

Two more, on similar days.

Henrietta Street: Dublin's first and grandest Georgian street

O'Connell Street: the great boulevard and its monuments