Glasnevin, though a cemetery and museum, can also be looked at by way of memorialization. All cemeteries, to a certain extent, can be considered memorials since one of the primary purposes of a cemetery is to commemorate the deceased. Commemoration and memorialization are common themes used in museology today. Most often memorials are created to represent human rights violations or to commemorate soldiers who fought in a war. Glasnevin cemetery ties these two themes together. Within the cemetery, there are many buried who fought for Irish and Catholic rights during various wars and periods of turmoil. There are also those who fought on the opposing side of these events. By the very nature of their actions and aspirations these men and women are seen as heros, no matter which side they fought on, by numerous people. This is an issue that Paul Williams explores in his book Memorial Museums: The Global Rush to Commemorate Atrocities (1) in one chapter he looks at the expectations that the public have for memorializations and the meanings they give to them.
Often when gauging the success of a museum, we assess whether or not a message was successfully delivered and whether or not the experience was enjoyed. However, in terms of Glasnevin Cemetery and Museum, what I find to be the most educational is the meaning that visitors’ ascribe to the objects of their visit. This is most evident when looking at the various grave sites and how the public react to them. I was fortunate enough to see in person how people interact with the graves and therefore can say that the meaning ascribed to the graves is what makes them so important in the first place. Furthermore, the interactions that people have with these graves sites can tell us much about how the graves are viewed and understood in a larger context.
The following videos explore the relationships and responses people have with some of the more prominent grave sites in Glasnevin Cemetery.
Often when gauging the success of a museum, we assess whether or not a message was successfully delivered and whether or not the experience was enjoyed. However, in terms of Glasnevin Cemetery and Museum, what I find to be the most educational is the meaning that visitors’ ascribe to the objects of their visit. This is most evident when looking at the various grave sites and how the public react to them. I was fortunate enough to see in person how people interact with the graves and therefore can say that the meaning ascribed to the graves is what makes them so important in the first place. Furthermore, the interactions that people have with these graves sites can tell us much about how the graves are viewed and understood in a larger context.
The following videos explore the relationships and responses people have with some of the more prominent grave sites in Glasnevin Cemetery.
* Most of the images of the cemetery in the videos were taken by myself during my internship at Glasnevin museum, while some haven been taken from the Glasnevin Museum facebook page and other various websites due to a lack of sufficient images.