Editing Glasnevin Cemetery (section)

==History and description==
Prior to the establishment of Glasnevin Cemetery, [[Irish Catholic]]s had no cemeteries of their own in which to bury their dead and, as the repressive [[Penal Laws against Irish Catholics|Penal Laws]] of the eighteenth century placed heavy restrictions on the public performance of Catholic services, it had become normal practice for Catholics to conduct a limited version of their own funeral services in Protestant churchyards or graveyards. This situation continued until an incident at a funeral held at [[St. Kevin's Church, Camden Row, Dublin|St. Kevin's Churchyard]] in 1823 provoked public outcry when a Protestant [[sexton (office)|sexton]] reprimanded a Catholic priest for proceeding to perform a limited version of a funeral mass.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.glasnevintrust.ie/glasnevin/|title=Glasnevin – Daniel O'Connell|year=2010|publisher=Glasnevin Trust|access-date=15 February 2010|archive-date=1 March 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100301154545/http://www.glasnevintrust.ie/glasnevin/|url-status=dead}} pg 2 of 3</ref> The outcry prompted [[Daniel O'Connell]], champion of Catholic rights, to launch a campaign and prepare a legal opinion proving that there was actually no law passed forbidding praying for a dead Catholic in a graveyard. O'Connell pushed for the opening of a burial ground in which both Irish Catholics and Protestants could give their dead dignified burial.

Glasnevin Cemetery was consecrated and opened to the public for the first time on 21 February 1832. The first burial, that of eleven-year-old Michael Carey from Francis Street in Dublin,<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.irishcentral.com/roots/history/ten-most-famous-people-buried-in-dublins-glasnevin-cemetery |title="Dublin's Glasnevin Cemetery held its first burial on this day in 1832", ''Irish Central'', June 6, 2017 |access-date=8 January 2020 |archive-date=23 April 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180423001042/https://www.irishcentral.com/roots/history/ten-most-famous-people-buried-in-dublins-glasnevin-cemetery |url-status=live }}</ref> took place on the following day in a section of the cemetery known as Curran's Square. The cemetery was initially known as Prospect Cemetery, a name chosen from the townland of Prospect, which surrounded the cemetery lands. Besides the famous interred at Glasnevin, nearly 800,000 people have been buried in Glasnevin in unmarked mass graves due to the death toll from the [[Great Famine (Ireland)|Great Famine]] of the 1840s and a later cholera epidemic.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.independent.ie/life/the-final-resting-place-of-the-nations-great-and-good-30477728.html |title=Corless, Damian. "The final resting place of the nation's great and good", ''Independent'', August 6, 2014 |date=6 August 2014 |access-date=8 January 2020 |archive-date=5 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170705054257/http://www.independent.ie/life/the-final-resting-place-of-the-nations-great-and-good-30477728.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

Originally covering nine acres of ground, the area of the cemetery has now grown to approximately 124 acres. This includes its expansion on the southern side of the [[Finglas]] Road with the section called St. Paul's. The option of [[cremation]] has been provided since March 1982.