Irish Immigrant Graveyard Restoration Project

[Mary]

There are hundreds of old Irish immigrant cemeteries dating from the Famine era which are untended and overgrown, and will be lost to us and to future geneology researchers if we don't take steps to preserve them now.<br>Anyone living in or near a city or town with a large famine era Irish population should identify the cemetery or graveyard where these immigrants were buried. Find out if there is a local preservation effort going on and team up with them. If there is no preservation effort, start one!<br>Let's preserve our past while we still can!
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UStridh@aol.com

[Paul]

: There are hundreds of old Irish immigrant cemeteries dating from the Famine era which are untended and overgrown, and will be lost to us and to future geneology researchers if we don't take steps to preserve them now.<br>: Anyone living in or near a city or town with a large famine era Irish population should identify the cemetery or graveyard where these immigrants were buried. Find out if there is a local preservation effort going on and team up with them. If there is no preservation effort, start one!<br>: Let's preserve our past while we still can!<p>That's a very good suggestion, Mary. There was an old Irish graveyard in Hopkington, Massachusetts. It was totally neglected and was on the way to being just part of the surrounding woods. You almost couldn't see it. I was wondering what would happen to it. Someone else apparently also thought so too. Some Irish group got together and restored the place. It contains the graves of people mostly from Limerick but also from most other counties. (Hopkington in the mid-1800s was the shoe-making capital of the US; a major fire occurred that burned down most of the wooden factories; the town was mostly dormant until the EMC Corporation started operations there about 15 years ago.) Anyway, the graveyard looks like a small park now, and the engravings on the stones are quite interesting (some with very sad stories, too). Around New England, I noticed that most of the old Irish cemeteries are in good shape, but there are some that losing out to urban decay or to the forests. They should be saved. (I even found one in Maryland, in the woods, a place called Sligo Park, with Irish graves dating to the 1600s.) In any event, you do see a lot of stones that indicate the people came from Roscommon and Leitrim.<p>

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[Susie Baker]

Can you describe where exactly in Sligo Park the Irish graves are? I live a block from one section of Sligo Park, which is a very long skinny park/bike trail. I would love to go take a look. I could write down the names and dates and post them to the list.<p><br>: : There are hundreds of old Irish immigrant cemeteries dating from the Famine era which are untended and overgrown, and will be lost to us and to future geneology researchers if we don't take steps to preserve them now.<br>: : Anyone living in or near a city or town with a large famine era Irish population should identify the cemetery or graveyard where these immigrants were buried. Find out if there is a local preservation effort going on and team up with them. If there is no preservation effort, start one!<br>: : Let's preserve our past while we still can!<p>: That's a very good suggestion, Mary. There was an old Irish graveyard in Hopkington, Massachusetts. It was totally neglected and was on the way to being just part of the surrounding woods. You almost couldn't see it. I was wondering what would happen to it. Someone else apparently also thought so too. Some Irish group got together and restored the place. It contains the graves of people mostly from Limerick but also from most other counties. (Hopkington in the mid-1800s was the shoe-making capital of the US; a major fire occurred that burned down most of the wooden factories; the town was mostly dormant until the EMC Corporation started operations there about 15 years ago.) Anyway, the graveyard looks like a small park now, and the engravings on the stones are quite interesting (some with very sad stories, too). Around New England, I noticed that most of the old Irish cemeteries are in good shape, but there are some that losing out to urban decay or to the forests. They should be saved. (I even found one in Maryland, in the woods, a place called Sligo Park, with Irish graves dating to the 1600s.) In any event, you do see a lot of stones that indicate the people came from Roscommon and Leitrim.<p>
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strashila@ucdavis-alumni.com

[Joan Ogg]

Great idea! Last summer I was in Boyle, Co. Roscommon and went to the cemetery where my ancestors are buried. Unfortunately, upkeep of the cemetery is up to the families and I was overwhelmed that the grass and thicket had overgrown so high, you couldn't even attempt to walk through it with out a blade of some sort.<p>I am currently trying to locate the addresses of my relatives to ask them if they would consider finding the graves and cutting the mass away. It was my hope that if I could locate the stones, I may have been able to find their date of death, but I couldn't even get close to where one of my relatives pointed out that they were buried. I would even offer to make payment to someone who would be willing to do this. Hopefully, one of my younger relatives in the Boyle area will volunteer for this task.<p>Being the archivist in my family, I make every attempt to get to the cemeteries here in Mass. at least once a year to clean up the plots; especially the older ones where the ground is growing over the flat stones.
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joan.ogg@att.net

[Paul]

: Can you describe where exactly in Sligo Park the Irish graves are? I live a block from one section of Sligo Park, which is a very long skinny park/bike trail. I would love to go take a look. I could write down the names and dates and post them to the list.<p>Susie, I just came across it in the woods. That was about 30 years ago. You may have to check with town or county officials. If I recall correctly, there were ruins of an old church there also. At the time I lived and worked in Greenbelt, MD. A fair number of the stone (there were not a lot of them, though) were legible. Hope you can find it. The names/places/inscriptions would be very interesting. Paul<p>: <br>: : : There are hundreds of old Irish immigrant cemeteries dating from the Famine era which are untended and overgrown, and will be lost to us and to future geneology researchers if we don't take steps to preserve them now.<br>: : : Anyone living in or near a city or town with a large famine era Irish population should identify the cemetery or graveyard where these immigrants were buried. Find out if there is a local preservation effort going on and team up with them. If there is no preservation effort, start one!<br>: : : Let's preserve our past while we still can!<p>: : That's a very good suggestion, Mary. There was an old Irish graveyard in Hopkington, Massachusetts. It was totally neglected and was on the way to being just part of the surrounding woods. You almost couldn't see it. I was wondering what would happen to it. Someone else apparently also thought so too. Some Irish group got together and restored the place. It contains the graves of people mostly from Limerick but also from most other counties. (Hopkington in the mid-1800s was the shoe-making capital of the US; a major fire occurred that burned down most of the wooden factories; the town was mostly dormant until the EMC Corporation started operations there about 15 years ago.) Anyway, the graveyard looks like a small park now, and the engravings on the stones are quite interesting (some with very sad stories, too). Around New England, I noticed that most of the old Irish cemeteries are in good shape, but there are some that losing out to urban decay or to the forests. They should be saved. (I even found one in Maryland, in the woods, a place called Sligo Park, with Irish graves dating to the 1600s.) In any event, you do see a lot of stones that indicate the people came from Roscommon and Leitrim.<p>

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[Mary]

: : Can you describe where exactly in Sligo Park the Irish graves are? I live a block from one section of Sligo Park, which is a very long skinny park/bike trail. I would love to go take a look. I could write down the names and dates and post them to the list.<p>: Susie, I just came across it in the woods. That was about 30 years ago. You may have to check with town or county officials. If I recall correctly, there were ruins of an old church there also. At the time I lived and worked in Greenbelt, MD. A fair number of the stone (there were not a lot of them, though) were legible. Hope you can find it. The names/places/inscriptions would be very interesting. Paul<p>: : <br>: : : : There are hundreds of old Irish immigrant cemeteries dating from the Famine era which are untended and overgrown, and will be lost to us and to future geneology researchers if we don't take steps to preserve them now.<br>: : : : Anyone living in or near a city or town with a large famine era Irish population should identify the cemetery or graveyard where these immigrants were buried. Find out if there is a local preservation effort going on and team up with them. If there is no preservation effort, start one!<br>: : : : Let's preserve our past while we still can!<p>: : : That's a very good suggestion, Mary. There was an old Irish graveyard in Hopkington, Massachusetts. It was totally neglected and was on the way to being just part of the surrounding woods. You almost couldn't see it. I was wondering what would happen to it. Someone else apparently also thought so too. Some Irish group got together and restored the place. It contains the graves of people mostly from Limerick but also from most other counties. (Hopkington in the mid-1800s was the shoe-making capital of the US; a major fire occurred that burned down most of the wooden factories; the town was mostly dormant until the EMC Corporation started operations there about 15 years ago.) Anyway, the graveyard looks like a small park now, and the engravings on the stones are quite interesting (some with very sad stories, too). Around New England, I noticed that most of the old Irish cemeteries are in good shape, but there are some that losing out to urban decay or to the forests. They should be saved. (I even found one in Maryland, in the woods, a place called Sligo Park, with Irish graves dating to the 1600s.) In any event, you do see a lot of stones that indicate the people came from Roscommon and Leitrim.<p>Susie, A good website to try would be: www.savinggraves.com. They have information on 'at risk' graveyards and cemeteries.On their 'Alert' page they have an old Irish graveyard in Baltimore listed. It's a good site.<br>

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UStridh@aol.com

[Ellen]

: : There are hundreds of old Irish immigrant cemeteries dating from the Famine era which are untended and overgrown, and will be lost to us and to future geneology researchers if we don't take steps to preserve them now.<br>: : Anyone living in or near a city or town with a large famine era Irish population should identify the cemetery or graveyard where these immigrants were buried. Find out if there is a local preservation effort going on and team up with them. If there is no preservation effort, start one!<br>: : Let's preserve our past while we still can!<p>: That's a very good suggestion, Mary. There was an old Irish graveyard in Hopkington, Massachusetts. It was totally neglected and was on the way to being just part of the surrounding woods. You almost couldn't see it. I was wondering what would happen to it. Someone else apparently also thought so too. Some Irish group got together and restored the place. It contains the graves of people mostly from Limerick but also from most other counties. (Hopkington in the mid-1800s was the shoe-making capital of the US; a major fire occurred that burned down most of the wooden factories; the town was mostly dormant until the EMC Corporation started operations there about 15 years ago.) Anyway, the graveyard looks like a small park now, and the engravings on the stones are quite interesting (some with very sad stories, too). Around New England, I noticed that most of the old Irish cemeteries are in good shape, but there are some that losing out to urban decay or to the forests. They should be saved. (I even found one in Maryland, in the woods, a place called Sligo Park, with Irish graves dating to the 1600s.) In any event, you do see a lot of stones that indicate the people came from Roscommon and Leitrim.<p><br>Dear Paul,<p>Can you tell us any additional information about the cemetary in Hopkinton? Is it connected with the local Catholic Church - St. John the Evangelist? Is there any directory or other list of who is buried there? I have some non-Leitrim/Roscommon Irish ancestors who settled in Hopkinton and believe they were from Castlelyons, Cork. <br>Thanks. Ellen <br>

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mmitch2782@aol.com

[BARBARA]

: There are hundreds of old Irish immigrant cemeteries dating from the Famine era which are untended and overgrown, and will be lost to us and to future geneology researchers if we don't take steps to preserve them now.<br>: Anyone living in or near a city or town with a large famine era Irish population should identify the cemetery or graveyard where these immigrants were buried. Find out if there is a local preservation effort going on and team up with them. If there is no preservation effort, start one!<br>: Let's preserve our past while we still can!<p>RHODE ISLAND HAS LOTS F IRISH GRAVES AND A LOT OF PEOPLE FROM ROSCOMMON ARE BURIED THERE<p>BARBARA

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DAZINGRANNY@AOL.COM

[Paul]

: : : There are hundreds of old Irish immigrant cemeteries dating from the Famine era which are untended and overgrown, and will be lost to us and to future geneology researchers if we don't take steps to preserve them now.<br>: : : Anyone living in or near a city or town with a large famine era Irish population should identify the cemetery or graveyard where these immigrants were buried. Find out if there is a local preservation effort going on and team up with them. If there is no preservation effort, start one!<br>: : : Let's preserve our past while we still can!<p>: : That's a very good suggestion, Mary. There was an old Irish graveyard in Hopkington, Massachusetts. It was totally neglected and was on the way to being just part of the surrounding woods. You almost couldn't see it. I was wondering what would happen to it. Someone else apparently also thought so too. Some Irish group got together and restored the place. It contains the graves of people mostly from Limerick but also from most other counties. (Hopkington in the mid-1800s was the shoe-making capital of the US; a major fire occurred that burned down most of the wooden factories; the town was mostly dormant until the EMC Corporation started operations there about 15 years ago.) Anyway, the graveyard looks like a small park now, and the engravings on the stones are quite interesting (some with very sad stories, too). Around New England, I noticed that most of the old Irish cemeteries are in good shape, but there are some that losing out to urban decay or to the forests. They should be saved. (I even found one in Maryland, in the woods, a place called Sligo Park, with Irish graves dating to the 1600s.) In any event, you do see a lot of stones that indicate the people came from Roscommon and Leitrim.<p>: <br>: Dear Paul,<p>: Can you tell us any additional information about the cemetary in Hopkinton? Is it connected with the local Catholic Church - St. John the Evangelist? Is there any directory or other list of who is buried there? I have some non-Leitrim/Roscommon Irish ancestors who settled in Hopkinton and believe they were from Castlelyons, Cork. <br>: Thanks. Ellen <p>Hi Ellen, I am pretty sure that the local Catholic church in Hopkington, MA, St. John the Evangelist still owns that cemetery. If you go out of the town east on Rt. 135, the cemetery is on the small road on the left at the bottom of the hill—about one-half mile in on the left. The road is sort of a backdoor entrance to state park where I go fishing at times. Until recently it had just a few small houses on it. But now some very expensive houses are being built, including one beside the old cemetery. And that’s OK as long as the stones are preserved. There is a newer Catholic cemetery near the center of the town. This dates from the late 19th century. It also has a large number of graves of Irish-born people. This cemetery is still active. (It has a number of Gaffneys from north Roscommon and Leitrim.) One stone that I think would be of interest to a person that visits this site (I meant to send it on but didn’t), and perhaps others, is that of a Rosy Gilhooly, born in Natior (sp?), Drumkeerin, Co. Leitrim. Died Dec. 10, 1872. Age 28. Her sister put up the stone. (When I have time, I’ll try and get the Gaffney inscriptions.) Some Featherstones from Roscommon are in the older cemetery. <p>St John the Evangelist church has a Website (http://home.fiam.net/stjohns). You can get telephone and fax numbers there. Also the history of the parish. The email address is stjohns@fiam.net. You can check there. Let me know if you need further help. Best wishes, Paul.<br> <p>

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