Sustainability

With hundreds of acres of land under our care, we have a strong sense of our environmental responsibilities, and we are committed to sustainability at all of the sites operated by Dublin Cemeteries Trust.

Dardistown, Palmerstown and Newlands Cross were designed as “Lawn Cemeteries”, which creates a grid-like layout, dominated by grass. While there is still much work involved, these cemeteries are relatively easy to maintain from an environmental perspective. However, we still deploy many of the eco-methods outlined below in these lawn cemeteries.

Glasnevin Cemetery, and the much smaller Goldenbridge, are “Victorian-style” and, as such, they have a much greater range of features than lawn cemeteries. Various species of trees, hedging and flora and fauna are arranged across distinct sections which make up the site.

Across all our sites, our Grounds team have implemented various developments that contribute to environmental best practice. These include:

Membership of the All-Ireland Pollinator Plan, a project which aims to reverse the decline in the bee population of the country.
Development of a wildflower meadow within Glasnevin Cemetery which contains a large diverse range of native flowering plant species and is an important food source for many species of pollinating insects and bees. 40 native apple trees have also been planted within the meadow.
In total, Glasnevin Cemetery is home to 150 native Irish plants and perhaps the finest examples anywhere of the Irish Yew tree.
The Grounds crew has reduced their use of herbicides, only using them when they are absolutely necessary.