Glasnevin remembrance ceremony

A Remembrance Day dedication ceremony has taken place at Glasnevin Cemetery for 43 Irishmen and women who fought in the two world wars and are buried in unmarked graves.

The ecumenical service was attended by relatives of those who died, by the ambassadors of the UK and Germany, the Minister for European Affairs Dick Roche, the former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, representatives of the Royal British Legion in Ireland and the Commonwealth Graves Commission.

They, along with a number of relatives, laid wreaths to commemorate those who had died.

The 43 men and women all served in the British Army. None died in combat, but most died of illness or injuries they sustained while in the service. All had been buried in unmarked graves in Glasnevin Cemetery.

The headstones were all paid for by the Commonwealth Graves Commission which was set up to ensure that every British soldier who died in the World Wars is commemorated somewhere.

The gravestones were laid underneath a yew tree adjacent to the visitors centre in Glasnevin.

Following a public appeal last month, the relatives of nine of those buried in Glasnevin Cemetery came forward for the ceremony.

Glasnevin Trust chairman John Green said those who were being commemorated had left Ireland to fight as heroes and returned “by the back door”.

He said the need for the ceremony was best summed up by an Irish Times editorial which stated: “They are part of our history too”.