Online U.S. Catholic Parish Registers 2017 List

In 2015 I started a yearly list of what Roman Catholic parish registers I found online in various formats. There has been two major announcements in relation to the availability of such records since the last list in August 2016. The New England Historic Genealogical Society has partnered with the Archdiocese of Boston to eventually digitize records from all of their parishes up to the turn of the 20th century. Findmypast recently placed the registers of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia online and plan to add registers from other dioceses in the future. I've also added entries for parishes from other states such as Kentucky and upstate New York. New additions are in bold in the table.

Access and Format Key

S - Scanned

I - Indexed

NI - Not Indexed

T - Transcriptions

State	Diocese	Region/Parishes Covered	Years	Access & Format
Alabama	Archdiocese of Mobile	Mobile	1704-1764	Ancestry (Drouin Collection)
Arkansas	Archdiocese of Mobile	Fort St. Philippe	1744, 1761-1765	Ancestry (Drouin Collection)
California	Sacremento	St. Joseph's Catholic Cemetery, Woodland, Yolo County	1883-1939	Familysearch Books (S) *
Colorado	Archdiocese of Denver	St Mary's Catholic Parish, Littleton	1915-1985	Familysearch Books (S) **
Delaware	Wilmington	Delaware and Eastern Shore Maryland on Delmarva Peninsula	1795-1925	Lalley.com (S/NI)
Kentucky		Sacred Heart Parish, St. Vincent	c.1833 - c.1914	Familysearch Books (T)
Illinois	Archdiocese of Chicago	City of Chicago and surrounding area	1833-1925	Familysearch (S/I)
Illinois	Belleville	South East Ohio / County map of parishes	1729-1956	Familysearch (S/NI)
Illinois		Kaskaskia (Caskakias), Prairie du Rocher, Fort de Chartres	1695-1813, 1761-1799, 1721-1765	Ancestry (Drouin Collection)
Indiana		Vincennes	1741-1786	Ancestry (Drouin Collection)
Indiana	Rockford	St. Michael's Parish, Daviess County	1887-1916	Archive.org (S)
Indiana	Rockford	St. Michael's Parish, Daviess County	1887-1916	Familysearch Books (S)**
Indiana		St. Peter's Parish, Montgomery County	1853-1881	Archive.org (S)
Louisiana	Archdiocese of New Orleans	Various Parishes	1772-1818	Archdiocese of New Orleans Archives (S)+
Louisiana	Archdiocese of New Orleans	Various Parishes	1751-1799	Archdiocese of New Orleans Archives (T)+
Louisiana		St. Gabriel	1753-1759	Ancestry (Drouin Collection)
Massachusetts	Archdiocese of Boston	Various Parishes	1789-1900	American Ancestors (S)
Maine		Frenchville Van Buren	1843-1943 1838-1900	Ancestry (Drouin Collection)
Maine		Ste. Luce, Frenchville, Aroostook County	1843-1860	Upper Saint John River Valley
Maryland	Wilmington	Delaware and Eastern Shore Maryland on Delmarva Peninsula	1795-1925	Lalley.com (S/NI)
Michigan		St. Anne, Detroit Various others, Detroit St. Anne, Mackinac (Makinac) County Fort Français, Berrien County	1704-1943 1754-1784 1695-1828 1720-1733	Ancestry (Drouin Collection)
Missouri		St. Ferdinand, Florissant Old Cathedral, St. Louis	1790-1954 1766-1954	Ancestry (Drouin Collection)
Missouri		St. Peter's Parish, Kirkwood	1838-1851	St Louis Genealogical Society (T/I)
New Jersey	Archdiocese of Newark	St. Peter's Parish, Belville Immaculate Conception Parish, Montclair	1839-1899	NYC Nuts (T/I)
New Jersey	Archdiocese of Newark	Various Parishes	19th Century	Familysearch (T/I)***
New Jersey	Archdiocese of Newark	St Mary Star of the Sea Parish, Beyonne	1884-1984	Hudson County Gen Soc (T)
New Jersey	Archdiocese of Newark	St. John the Baptist Parish, Jersey City	1884-1928	Familysearch (S)
New York	Brooklyn	Our Lady of Sorrow Parish, Bushwick St. Leonards of Port Maurice, Bushwick Most Holy Trinity, Williamsburg	1842-1978	German Genealogy Group (T/I)
New York	Brooklyn	St Paul's Parish	1837-1900	Ancestry: here & here (T/I)
New York	Buffalo	Various Parishes++	19th & 20th Centuries	Familysearch Catalog (S/I/T) Familysearch  (T)
New York		Brasher Falls St. Joseph, Cooperville Chazy Fort Covington Fort Frederick, Albany Hogansburg Malone Massena	1843-1946 1843-1948 1902-1907 1843-1946 1732-1760 1843-1946 1843-1946 1843-1946	Ancestry (Drouin Collection)
Ohio	Toledo	North west Ohio	1796-2004	Familysearch (S/NI) Ancestry (S/NI)
Pennsylvania	Archdiocese of Philadelphia	Philadelphia and south east Pennsylvania	18th & 19th Century	Hathi Trust (S/T)
Pennsylvania	Archdiocese of Philadelphia	All Parishes	18th-20th centuries	Findmypast (S/I) Baptisms / Marriages / Registers Browse
Pennsylvania		Fort Duquesne, Pittsburgh	1754-1756	Archive.org
Texas	Diocese of Austin	St. Mary's of the Immaculate Conception, Austin	1853-1875	Austin Genealogical Society (T)
Wisconsin		St. Francis Xavier, Green Bay Prairie-du-Chien	1823-1826 1829	Ancestry (Drouin Collection)

* Search for: "Burial register, St. Joseph's Catholic Cemetery, Woodland, Yolo Co., California"

** Search for: " St. Mary's Catholic Church, 1915-1985, of Littleton Colorado"

*** Records are contained within the database New Jersey, Births and Christenings, 1660-1980

**** Search for: "Register of St. Michael Catholic Church, Daviess County, Indiana"

+ Thanks to Nicole W. Miller (@nicolewmiller) for bringing these to my attention

++ Microfilms from parishes in the Diocese of Buffalo are available at the Family History Library. So far, some of these microfilms have been scanned and others have been indexed. You can access the scans and indexes via the Familysearch Catalog. Records that have been indexed are also available via the database New York Births and Christenings, 1640-1962, which is available on Familysearch.

U.S. Roman Catholic Cemetery Publications I

The information on cemetery grave markers can sometimes provide an Irish county or civil parish of origin for the deceased. If a grave marker exists, efforts should be made to consult it, either in person or online via sites such as findagrave.com or interment.net. Another great source for such information is the many books of transcribed grave marker inscriptions that have been created over the years by dedicated individuals and local genealogy organizations. 

One of the great advantages of these books is that they can act as a sort of time machine for research. For example, a book may have been compiled in the 1990s when the inscriptions on a grave marker was legible but in poor condition. A researcher in 2016 looking at that same grave marker may find that the inscription is now completely worn away, but they have the book to consult.

Below you will find the first half of a list of published grave marker inscriptions from Roman Catholic cemeteries in the United States that I have come across over the last few years. Some of the titles, such as those from cemeteries in Connecticut, specifically mention that an Irish place of origin is mentioned on some of the grave markers in the book.

Please add a comment if you know of publications for states Alabama through Massachusetts that are not on this list.

North America

Author Unknown. ‘Gravestone Inscriptions of Irish Interest in Canada and the USA.’ Genealogical & Historical Guild Newsletter. Vol. 1. No. 9. 1983.

Alabama

Connick, Lucille Mallon. Ed. Tombstone inscriptions, Catholic Cemetery, Mobile, Alabama. Mobile, AL: Mobile Genealogical Society. 1986.

California

Brennan, Jenny. ‘Burials of Irish people in the Mission Dolores cemetery in San Francisco.’ North Irish Roots. Vol. 5. No. 2. 1994.

Connecticut

Author Unknown. Irish Place Names on Tombstones in Cemeteries in Southwestern Connecticut. Publisher Unknown. 2011.

Barnes, Carol. 'Irish Place Names from St. Mary's Cemetery, Norwalk, and St. Mary's Cemetery, Greenwich, CT.' Connecticut Ancestry. Vol. 52. No 1. August 2009.

Bohan, Ellen, Patricia Heslin, Paul Keroack, Bernard Singer, Rosanne Singer, eds. with Neil Hogan, Robert O. Larkin, and Jamie Longley. Early New Haven Irish and Their Final Resting Places: The Old Catholic and Saint Bernard Cemeteries. Hamden, CT: Connecticut Irish American Historical Society. 2013.

Galvin, Nora, Harlan Jessup, and Paul Keroack. 'Irish Place Names from St. James and St. Augustine Cemeteries, Bridgeport, CT.' Connecticut Ancestry. Vol. 52. No 4. May 2010.

Carroll Catalano, Susan and Nora Galvin. 'Irish Place Names from St. Thomas Cemetery, Fairfield, CT.' Connecticut Ancestry. Vol. 52. No 2. November 2009.

Galvin, Nora and Harlan Jessup. 'Irish Place Names from St. Michael's Cemetery, Bridgeport and Stratford, CT.' Connecticut Ancestry. Vol. 52. No 2. November 2009.

Galvin, Nora and Susan Carroll Catalano. 'Irish Place Names from Assumption Cemetery, Kings Highway, Westport, CT.' Connecticut Ancestry. Vol. 52. No 2. November 2009.

Jessup, Harlan. 'Place Names in St. Mary Cemetery, Ridgefield.' Connecticut Ancestry. Vol. 52. No 2. November 2009.

Keroack, Paul. 'St. John Cemetery, Darien CT - Headstones with Irish Place Names.' Connecticut Ancestry. Vol. 53. No 3. February 2011.

Keroack, Paul. More Irish Place Names from St. Mary's Cemetery, Norwalk.' Connecticut Ancestry. Vol. 52. No 3. February 2010.

Maki, Mary and Harlan Jessup. 'Irish Place Names on Tombstones in Old (and New) St. Peter Cemetery, Danbury, CT.' Connecticut Ancestry. Vol. 52. No 1. August 2009.

Maki, Mary. Place 'Names on Irish Tombstones: St. Rose Cemetery, Sandy Hook, CT.' Connecticut Ancestry. Vol. 48. No 2. November 2005.

Georgia

Author Unknown. ‘Transcripts of Irish Interest in Cemeteries at Augusta, Georgia, USA.’ Ulster Genealogical & Historical Guild Newsletter. Vol. 1. No. 10. 1984.

Catholic Church, Diocese of Savannah. Savannah's Catholic Cemetery, Chatham County, Georgia, Volumes I, II and III. Savannah, GA: Savannah Catholic Cemetery Preservation Society. 2005.

Illinois

Knox County Genealogical Society. Catholic Cemeteries, Knox County, Illinois. Galesburg, IL: Knox County Genealogical Society. 1983.

Hann. V. Saint John the Baptist Catholic Cemetery, Somonauk, Illinois Tombstone Inscriptions and Recorded Burials. Somonauk, IL: Self-published. 1983.

Lundberg, Gertrude W. St. Peter's Catholic Cemetery in Skokie, Illinois. Skokie, IL: Self-published. 1966.

Indiana

Mohr, Linda. St. Joseph Catholic Church Cemetery, gravestone inscriptions, Shelbyville, Indiana. Shelbyville, IA: Self-published. 1986.

Iowa

Emmet County Genealogical Society. Emmet County, Iowa, Cemeteries: Armstrong Grove Cemetery, Mt. Calvary Cemetery, St. Mary’s Catholic Cemetery. Estherville, IA: Emmet County Genealogical Society. Year Unknown.

 Available online at: https://dcms.lds.org/delivery/DeliveryManagerServlet?dps_pid=IE52270 (opens as pdf)

Kentucky

Adams, Kathleen Carmichael. Saint Joseph Roman Catholic Cemetery, Cold Spring, Kentucky: Researched From Original Records. Cold Spring, KY: K.C. Adams. 1994.

Chandler, Ora. St. Louis Cemetery, Catholic, Located South Green Street, U.S. 41A and U.S. 60, Henderson County, Henderson, Kentucky. Evansville, IN. 1965.

Louisiana

Joseph, Essie. History of Ascension of Our Lord Catholic Church and Cemetery Inscriptions, Ascension Parish, Donaldsonville, Louisiana. Houma, LA: Terrebonne Genealogical Society. 1999.

Maryland

Arthur, Edward P. St. Mary's Govans Catholic Church, Baltimore, Maryland: Baptisms, 1850–1882, Marriages 1850–1912, Cemetery Records. Lewes, Md: Colonial Roots. 2012.

Arthur, Edward P. St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church Baptisms, 1853–1882. Lewes, DE: Colonial Roots. 2010.

Massachusetts

Author Unknown. ‘St Patrick's Cemetery in Lowell, Mass., USA.’ Directory of Irish Family History Research. No. 22. 1999.

Author Unknown. ‘St. Mary's Cemetery, Lee, Mass, USA.’ Irish Family History. No. 3. 1987.

Author Unknown. ‘Some Tombstone Inscriptions of Irish Interest in Massachusetts USA.’ Irish Family History. No. 1. 1985.

Daly, Mary E. Gravestone Inscriptions from Mount Auburn Catholic Cemetery, Watertown, Massachussetts. Waltham, MA: Self-published. 1983.

Doherty, Paul M.  'Tombstones of Some Irish Immigrants in the Catholic Cemetery at Andover, Massachusetts.' Irish Ancestor. Vol. 4. No. 1. 1972. pp. 23-26.

Pierce, Andrew. The Stones Speak: Irish Place Names From Inscriptions in Boston’s Mount Calvary Cemetery. Boston, MA: New England Historic Genealogical Society. 2000.