Doagh Graveyard

Doagh graveyard is located on the south side of the village. Now in the care of Newtownabbey Borough Council, it was once the site of a medieval church known as the Church of St Mary of Doagh (Ecclesia Ste. Marie de Douach). By the early 1600s this church was in ruins. Only a portion of the west gable, standing to around 7 feet in height, still survives. Several mature trees stand at the east end of the graveyard, which is well maintained and in good order.

In 1839, James Boyle of the Ordnance Survey described the graveyard as follows (Ordnance Survey Memoirs, vol. 29, p. 79):

The burial ground includes a quadrangular space of 109 by 133 feet, pretty well enclosed by a quickset fence with a small iron gate. The graves are very numerous, but are kept in rows without being crowded. Its surface is tolerably level and it is altogether rather decently kept. There are not any old tombs or headstones. No particular family, nor one of any note bury here. It is the usual place of interment for the people of the neighbourhood.

Shaw grave
Shaw grave

Within the graveyard is a low-walled enclosure topped by metal railings marking the resting place of members of the Shaw family. The first name on the large gravestone within the enclosure is that of Edward Shaw who died in 1761 aged 86. His son William predeceased him, dying in 1759 aged 38.

William’s son, James Blair Shaw, a linen draper in Doagh, died in 1818 aged 70. In his will of 1816, James Blair Shaw, probably the leading full time resident in the village at that time, requested to be interred in the ‘Family Burrying Ground’ in Doagh, with the following stipulation (PRONI, D300/1/5/48):

I order that a tombstone be purchased by my trustees and laid over my grave, raised on stone and lime, and also a wall built around the said family burying ground, also with lime and stone, all at the expense of my legatees.

This graveyard is also the burying place of the Alexander family of Holestone. James Alexander died in 1887 aged 75. His son William (1845-1919) studied medicine at Queen’s College, Belfast, and went on to become a successful and highly respected surgeon in Liverpool, pioneering several innovations in operating procedures. In his retirement he moved to Heswall where he gave the name 'Holestone' to his residence in tribute to his original home.

There are several Hunter headstones, one of which commemorates Annie Elizabeth Hunter, wife of David Hunter, who died on 1 March 1898. There was a strange occurrence at her burial. It was found that the coffin was too large for the grave and so the gravedigger, John Gilmore, went in to enlarge it. Some of those standing by noticed that the sides of the grave were about to collapse and called out to Gilmore to warn him. However, before he could exit the grave he suddenly dropped dead (Belfast Newsletter, 4 March 1898).