The Glasnevin Museum Was Officially Opened Thursday, 8 April, 2010

Extract from Speech by the Taoiseach, Mr. Brian Cowen:

"The Museum celebrates almost 180 years of Glasnevin - 180 years of Irish history - of the social, historical, political and artistic development of modern Ireland. It contains over 1.5 million archived burial records covering everyone buried here, including most of Ireland's revolutionary leaders, such as Eamon DeValera, Michael Collins, Constance Markievicz, Cathal Brugha - other towering figures in Irish history like Daniel O'Connell, Charles Stewart Parnell and Arthur Griffith - - famous poets and writers like Gerard Manley Hopkins, Brendan Behan and Kate Cruise O'Brien - great sportsmen like Michael Cusack and Liam Whelan - soldiers from every war since the 1830s - victims of the Famine - the Angels - and all those who lived ordinary lives, many of them extraordinary people in their own way, and who found their place of rest in Glasnevin - 1.5 million lives who once were part of the life of this country and whose memory we honour in this hallowed place.

The detailed burial records, which are preserved both in the original handwritten journals and online, will enable visitors to quickly locate the resting places of ancestors and loved ones. They also constitute a fantastic resource for researchers.