Clare Cemetery or Graveyard

Hi:

I just did a quick search for you.  If you go into the website:  www.clarecountylibrary.ie and click on genealogy resources, you will see the list of parishes & a map feature.  Ballyquin beg is located in the parish of Killokennedy.  If you click on that parish link (I believe it is 50 or 51), one of the tabs that comes up is photos.  There are a number of photos shown and there are graveyards listed therein.  Good luck!!

Jane.

Thanks Jane,

Thank you for that information but I had already done an exhaustive search of the Clare Library site. It's the first port of call for those us in other countries who want information on Clare.  A brilliant site and only getting better by the day!

 My ancestors came from a little place called "Blackhill" which was aparently near Ballyquin Beg and the period I am looking at would be around 1820 to 1880.  My problem is, that though I realise these places are in the Killokennedy Parish, I am not sure how many graveyards or cemeteries would have existed in that Parish back then.  Some of the little churches which were spread across Ireland in those very small towns no longer exist so it makes it difficult.  Are you of the view that everyone in the Killokennedy parish would have been buried in the same place?  If so, that puts me on the right track.  Or might there have been several cemeteries or Church graveyards in that one Parish? If so I would need to know the name of all of them so I can begin another detailed search. As far as my research has shown (and I am reliant on the Internet for my research for the most part as I am on the othe side of the world) there are not even any ruins remaining of the town of Blackhill or even Ballyquin Beg?  Perhaps you or someone else might be able to correct me on that. 

With around 30 or so little townlands in the Parish I would have thought that there might have been more than one burial place.  What do you think?  I would really appreciate some help with this.  I guess some of these townlands would have been very small indeed by the look of the 1901 Census.  Some of them only seem to have just a handful of families living in them.

Thanks for your reply Jane - your interest is much appreciated.  If you can assist me futher with this, I would be most grateful.

skyrish2us

My apologies.  I was not sure whether or not you knew about the Clare County Library website.  You're right--it is a fantastic place to start and there is always new information being added to it  all the time.

From my own personal research, I live in Tulla where there are 71 townlands, 1 main church, 2 small chapels and only 1 graveyard.  It is probably different in every parish.  However, I think that in your case as Kilseily and Killokennedy are known as Broadford parish, it might be worthwhile looking a little further afield.  I know that Clonlara is close to Killokennedy and it is possible that that might hold some answers for you.  It is not completely fool-proof to say that if your ancestors lived in Killokennedy, they were buried there.  For example, my great-great grandparents lived in Tulla, but are buried in Quin! 

Did you every look at the 1842 Ordinance Survey Maps on the Library website?  They are invaluable as to the location of graveyards.  I also had a quick look for you and I found 2 websites that might be of some interest to you:

1.  www.from-ireland.net/photographs/thumbnailsphp?album=86.  This appears to be a website where someone has done a research project into the graveyard in Broadford.  It is well worth a look.

2.  East Clare Heritage contributed to a Historical journal.  That link is:  eastclareheritage.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Sliabh-Aughty-vol4-PDF.pdf.  There is an article there about Broadford and that might be of some use.

If there is anything else that I can do, please let me know.  Tulla has signed up to the historic graves project being conducted by an archaeologist nationwide.  It is digitalisation of graveyards throughout the country and it will be of huge benefit.  They have a website www.historicgraves.ie where the graveyards that they have done are listed. 

The best of luck to you!!

Jane

Hi Jane,

Thank you so much for that detailed reply.  I had a bit of trouble at first with the links but finally broke through (was redirected).

That link to the photographs of all the graves is EXCELLENT, however they are not labelled with names as far as I can see.  What a shame. There are over 15,000 photographs of headstones etc on the site and I was quite prepared to go through every photograph but found that, because they are not labelled, many of them are to difficult to read off a computer.  Names on worn headstones are impossible to see on the screen.  Am I doing something wrong?  Are they in fact labelled and I am just not using it properly?  There are so many great photographs there but useless to anyone unless one knows which name is on the headstone.

I actually found my 2xgreat grandparents about whom I knew nothing, just by trawling through pages and pages of epitaphs on an Irish website so I was quite prepared to do a similar search again but without the names, it is not going to work.

Incidentally, regarding the Clare Library website, a wonderful gentleman answered a rather obscure message I had posted there on the message board where I said I was searching several surnames. This chap knew someone with one of the surnames and mentioned it to him.  It just happened to be a living cousin whom I didn't even know existed!!!!  I am now in touch with one side of my hitherto lost Irish family!  Thus,the values of these websites which try to reconnect us with our lost relatives cannot be overstated!  And thank goodness that gentleman went to the trouble of mentioning it to someone just on the basis of the same surname!  A lesson for us all.

As far as this search goes, I was only looking at local graveyards as I took into consideration the problem of transporting bodies along inhospitable roads before refrigeration had been invented.  But now that you have said your 2xgreat grandparents were buried farther afield than their local area, I will have to change my thinking. I have been reading about Irish wakes that lasted for three days with the body on view for everone to see - how on earth did they cope with the deterioration etc?  Any ideas?  I know it's gruesome but I am curious now as to how the Irish dealt with such problems. I realise that you don't have the hot conditions there that we have here, but THREE DAYS!!!!

I will keep plodding away, Jane, and hope that there is stll yet more to be found on my ancestors.

Hi:

I was delighted to hear that you were able to find more information.  You're right--the people in the ClareCounty Library are wonderful.  They are real treasures to all of us doing research.  

I went back onto the graveyard link and I was able to zoom in on the headstones.  You should be able to do that too.  They were very clear to me--the ones that I looked at, but I'm sure that there are others that are impossible to read having faded over time.  

As to Irish wakes, I was surprised to learn that they lasted 3 days!  I know here the custom that is being done is to wake in the house (although the funeral home is still common) for a night and a day with the burial the following day.  The neighbours normally help dig the grave for the family.  

The best of luck to you and so nice to meet you on the XO website.  This project is really great.  Have you signed up to your parish?  It is not too far from Tulla.  We are planning a Week of the Welcomes in this area next June.  If your parish doesn't have an active profile, please feel free to join us!

jane

Hi

Blackhill is very close to where I was born in County Clare. The nearest graveyard now is in Kilbane - I don't know when the graveyard was opened. If you do a search online "Kilbane graveyard" you can get a list of the people buried there and also photos of the headstones.

If you want to come back to me with your relatives names I might be able to be help - I think one of my very distant relatives came from Blackhill (his name was Vaughan) and there is a Cosgrove family living close by.

Jim Vaughan. 

Hello Jim, Thank you so much for your reply to my message. I have been able to get photos of most of the graves in the Kilbane churchyard (I think).  The problem is that in most cases, the graves I think might be connected to my family don't hold enough information on them to identify them positively.  A date of death, for instance, is not of much use in identifying a person if you don't know how old the individual was when they died.  I am pretty sure that most of the graves I have identified as being those of my relatives are ones for which I am searching but without knowing more information about the person on the headstone it is a little difficult.  Even though one might be reasonably sure that this is a relative, without an age or date of birth, one can't be sure which generation the deceased belongs to. My main name of interest is HOGAN (oh dear - SUCH a common surname!). My Hogans married Larkins, O'Hallorans, and Moroney's so, as you can see, I have quite a few options in this Churchyard. I see there are a lot of Vaughans there as well but I don't believe there are any Hogans from Blackhill who married into the Vaughan famiy.  Thank you for your interest Jim, it is very much appreciated.