Roger Casement’s remains should be moved from Dublin’s Glasnevin Cemetery to Murlough Bay in County Antrim, according to a campaign group in Belfast.
The Roger Casement Commemoration and Reinterment Association, operating as a branch within the Casement Social Club in West Belfast, has formally applied to Dublin City Council to shift the historical gravesite. The association is currently waiting on a decision from the council regarding the application.
“It was a wrong that we intend to right,” Alan Daly, chairperson of the association, told RTÉ’s This Week. “It should never have happened. It was wrong back then and it’s wrong ever since.”
Casement is remembered as an Irish nationalist hero, though his legacy spans international humanitarian work and rebellion against the British Crown. He received a knighthood from the British King in 1911 in recognition of his investigations into brutal human rights abuses in the Congo Free State and Peru.
Over time, Casement’s political convictions shifted entirely against British rule in Ireland. He traveled to Germany in 1914 to mobilize and arm Irish separatists for an independent nation.
His attempt to smuggle weapons to Irish rebels ahead of the Easter Rising failed, leading to his arrest and transport to London. British authorities hanged him as a traitor in August 1916 at Pentonville Prison, where he was initially buried.
Nearly five decades later, in March 1965, his remains were brought to Glasnevin Cemetery following negotiations between the British and Irish governments. The current gravesite sits near the cemetery entrance, directly in front of Daniel O’Connell’s Tower.
“Roger Casement would definitely be one of the better known of the 1.6 million people who were buried in Glasnevin Cemetery,” said Peter Gallogly, chief executive of Dublin Cemeteries Trust.
Gallogly said that while Casement would certainly be missed if his remains left the grounds, the trust has received no formal communication in the last 12 months regarding a reinterment. He added that ownership of the remains ultimately rests with the Irish Government, making any removal a decision for state authorities rather than the cemetery trust alone.
Despite resting in the capital, Casement’s final written wishes pointed north. Just over a week before his execution, he wrote a letter from prison to his cousin containing a clear instruction about his resting place.
“Don’t let my body lie here,” Casement wrote. “Get me back to the green hill at Murlough, by the McGarry’s house.”
The proposed destination is more than 260 kilometers away across a modern border that did not exist in Casement’s lifetime. Daly’s association has spent years assembling their case, securing consent from Casement’s closest living relative, James Casement, who resides in Arizona.
Patrick McCarry, who owns the land at Murlough Bay and is a grandnephew of Elizabeth McCarry—a friend of Casement—welcomes the potential reinterment. An old church site dating back centuries overlooks the bay from the family farm.
“I think it’s only fitting,” McCarry said. “The man’s last request should be honoured.”
Logistical and practical steps are already mapped out by the campaign. An undertaker and forensic anthropologist are on board to facilitate the practical arrangements, and Laurence O’Neill of O’Neill’s Funeral Directors in Belfast will be the undertaker who takes Roger Casement’s body if the application is successful.
Political sensitivities previously stalled similar proposals raised as early as the 1930s and during the decades of the Troubles. However, Daly insists the modern political climate makes the transfer possible.
“That political climate no longer exists,” Daly said. “What they did in 1965 was bring Casement halfway home. Now we are going to bring him the rest of the way and bring the journey to its final conclusion.”
Dublin City Council and the Irish Government did not respond to requests for comment regarding the application.
