Headstones can tell a tale

It may be considered by some to be a morbid pastime but I love visiting older graveyards that can instantaneously transport us into the past and reveal generations of forebears that resided in a particular district. In Ulster, each region has its distinctive surnames. Sometimes graveyards can be located in beautiful surrounds such as the graveyard attached to Drumgooland Presbyterian Church in Co Down at the foot of the Mourne mountains (below).
DRUMGOOLAND PRESBYTERIAN GRAVEYARD
I was struck by one headstone in Drumgooland erected by Hugh Stuart to the memory of his four beloved children in the Famine year of 1847.
ERECTED BY HUGH STUART IN MEMORY OF HIS CHILDREN
A number of headstones had fallen and were placed against the graveyard wall. A number were broken.
ERECTED BY HUGH PORTER OF MONEYSLANE (BROKEN)
Such memories of a by-gone age need to be preserved for posterity and thankfully transcriptions now exist for the majority of older graveyards in Ulster undertaken by interested local history groups and genealogical societies. Of course, the majority of people in previous generations could not afford to erect headstones due to financial constraints many living a subsistence lifestyle. Those with the means often erected headstones as memorials to their existence such as John Lowry - his headstone can be found in Killinchy Presbyterian graveyard.
LOWRY HEADSTONE KILLINCHY PRESBYTERIAN GRAVEYARD
ERECTED 
BY JNO LOWRY
OF B:McCREELY
HE 92 YEARS
DID TELL AND BID 
THE BUSY WORLD 
FAREWELL 
He died the 17th February
1832




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Hearth Money Rolls 1660s

Image
The hearth tax was the first of a new wave of taxes brought in shortly after the restoration of King Charles II in 1662 and continued for 27 years until 1689. Collected twice yearly at Michelmas (29th September) and Ladys Day (25th March) copies of the returns of payments were sent to the exchequer and to the local Quarter Sessions.   The first Hearth Money Act was passed in the Irish Parliament in 1662. It provided that 2 shillings should be paid on every hearth or ‘other place used for firing’.  Arranged by county, parish and, usually, townland, the Hearth Money Rolls list the names of householders who were liable to pay tax at the rate of two shillings on every hearth or fireplace they had. Some people were exempt from the tax and, of course, others managed to evade paying it.T he lists are not a complete record of every householder in a townland. Those exempt included p ersons living on alms, or persons not able to work, or persons who had a house or lands worth less than eight pou
Read more

Limavady street names from the past

Image
LIMAVADY STREET NAMES FROM THE PAST: Limavady was known as Newtownlimavady until 1870 when the council decided to officially shorten the name.  The new town of Limavady was a plantation settlement built by the servitor Sit Thomas Phillips who was given a large estate in the Roe valley in 1610. Phillips had settled at the old O'Cahan stronghold at Limavady on the banks of the River Roe. He decided to build a new plantation town a mile further downstream, which he called Newtowne. Raven's map of 1622 shows  'Sir Thomas Phillips buildinge at Newtowne, a mile from Limna Vadde, a village of 18 small houses, at a cross roads, with a stone cross at the centre''.  Up until the time of the famine Limavady remained a relatively small town with essentially four main streets. The town grew substantially with the post-famine influx and as a result new houses and streets were constructed to meet the growing demand. New streets and new names came into existence. Thi
Read more

The Siege of Derry 1688-1689

Image
The Siege of Derry/Londonderry The walls of Derry were completed by 1619, eight metres high and nine metres wide and 1.5 km in circumference. By the time of the siege the population inside the walls was estimated as 2500. Four gates allowed access to traffic going in and out of the city. The river Foyle came up close to the walls on the waterside an effective barrier from attack. he Siege of Derry was the first major event of the Williamite Wars in Ireland. The Gates of Derry were initially closed in December 1688 by 13 apprentice boys who seized the keys and locked the gates upon the approach of the Earl of Antrim's forces. The real action did not begin until April 1869 when the Jacobite forces arrived in substantial numbers. It is estimated that during the siege the population inside the walls swelled to over 30,000 people. Over 7000 of these were troops and the rest civilians who had fled to the safety of the walled city. The Jacobite force was estimated at some 15,000 and
Read more