Tuesday 22 December 2015

Meath & Kildare graveyards: free database launches

If you have family connections to South Meath and North Kildare, you'll want to check out this new database: www.enfieldgraveyards.com. Launched at the tail end of last month, it holds details and headstone transcriptions from graveyard surveys carried out by the Baconstown Heritage Group.

This group, with help from Heritage Officers from both counties and with sponsorship from Enfield Credit Union, has been busy surveying graveyards in Enfield Common Bond Area for some years. To date, they have completed surveys of more than 30 graveyards, photographing, mapping and transcribing all the monuments, and gathering local knowledge relating to the graveyards and the people buried in them.

The area covered straddles parishes on the borders of Meath and Kildare. Some are very old burial places with no ruins visible. Others are of more recent use, complete with church. They include Agher, Ardenew, Ardkill, Ballinadrimna, Broadford, Broadford Church, Cadamstown, Castlerickard, Clonard (C of I), Clonard RC, Cloncurry, Clondalee, Croboy, Dunfierth, Gallow, Jordanstown, Jordanstown Church, Kilglass, Kill, Kilrainey, Kilshanroe New, Kilshanroe Old, Ladywell, Mylerstown, Newtown, Nurney, Rathcore, Rathmolyon, Templadooath, The Moy and TíCroghan. The results of surveys for Grange and Drumlargan will follow shortly.

I don't know how many names are included in the database but I'd guess there are several thousand. It is searchable by name, by date or by graveyard. Along with a photograph, transcription and outline of an individual monument's location within the graveyard, the search return provides a graveyard description and a link to a Google map showing its location. It is also possible to download a pdf map of the graveyard showing all its monuments.

The database is free to search and view, and will be enormously helpful to family historians researching in the locality.

Many thanks to William Casey of Skibbereen Heritage Centre, who was involved in the development of the new database and site, for letting me know of its launch.