Gravestone Inscriptions

The value of gravestone inscriptions for ancestral research has long been recognised. The discovery of a single gravestone may provide more information on the history of a family than could be gleaned from documentary sources. We have many collections of gravestone inscriptions in our library, both published and unpublished.

Since 1966 the Ulster Historical Foundation has produced 21 volumes of graveyard inscriptions for Co. Down, 4 for Belfast and 4 for Co. Antrim. A number of these volumes include source guides for the respective locality. We also have recordings of gravestone inscriptions for many other graveyards in Ulster transcribed as part of a youth training programme in the 1980s.

We also have volumes of gravestone inscriptions published by genealogical societies, including some of the branches of the North of Ireland Family History Society. In addition, some of the journals in our library, such as the Clogher Record, include transcriptions of gravestones, as do a number of the local histories volumes.

Many Ulster inscriptions appeared in the Journal of the Association for the Preservation of the Memorials of the Dead in Ireland, published between 1888 and 1934 and the Foundation has a few of the issues of this journal in our library. These recordings are particularly useful if the gravestone can no longer be found.

Booklets of inscriptions from graveyards in counties Cavan, Donegal, Fermanagh, Monaghan and Tyrone have been produced by the Kabristan Archives and have many of these in our library. We also have most of the volumes of inscriptions produced by Brian Cantwell covering graveyards in counties Dublin, Waterford and Wexford.