Tuesday 6 November 2012

Three more Skibbereen area graveyards surveyed

The West Cork Graveyard Survey (WCGS) has completed another three graveyards in the area. They are Caheragh Old Graveyard and the Abbeymahon and Chapel Lane graveyards of Skibbereen. The latter featured in the etchings by James Mahony that were published in the Illustrated London News in 1847.

Previously the WCGS volunteer group has photographed and transcribed the headstones in the old graveyards of Drimoleague, Drinagh, Creagh (1810 and Old), Kilcoe (19th-century RC and Old) and Aughadown (Upper and Lower), so there are now eleven graveyards fully surveyed in the area.

In addition to recording the inscriptions in the graveyards, the local community was involved by providing information on those who had been buried either without a headstone or with an uninscribed stone marker.

The survey results have now been added to Skibbereen Heritage Centre's website where they are fully searchable and free to access. Follow the link to the Graveyards Database.

The project was undertaken by a team of local volunteers with support from the Heritage Council.