New Orleans Irish, Arrivals – Departures

New Orleans Irish, Arrivals – Departures was written by John Finn and published in 1983. Finn was a Roman Catholic priest from County Sligo who was appointed to a parish in New Orleans, Louisiana. He quickly became intrigued by St. Patrick’s Cemeteries in the city and the history of the Irish who immigrated to New Orleans over the previous 180 years.

His publication primarily consists of a few thousand entries that Finn gleaned from headstones in the three St. Patrick’s Cemeteries. Finn recorded all information from the headstone, including Irish places of origin and birth, where found. Many of the burials occurred in the 19^th century. For example, Ellen Donnelly, died on 4 September 1865, age 24 and was buried in St. Patrick Cemetery number two. She was from Killoran, County Galway.[1] Useful cemetery maps and pictures of some of the headstones are also included.

Finn also transcribed Irish immigrants from passenger lists of ships that arrived in New Orleans. The listing is not comprehensive but entries are taken from the years 1815 to 1847.

New Orleans does not initially come to mind when Irish immigration to the United States is considered. However, as pointed out in David T. Gleeson’s The Irish in the South, 1815-1877, the Irish population of the city in 1850 and 1860 averaged just over 15%.[2] By 1860, this considerable percentage consisted of 24,398 immigrants from Ireland.[3]

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[1] Finn, John. New Orleans Irish, Arrivals – Departures. Privately Published: Jefferson, Louisiana, 1983. p. 164.

[2] Gleeson, David T., The Irish in the South, 1815-1877, The University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 2001. p. 35.

[3] Gleeson, David T., The Irish in the South, 1815-1877, p.34. 

U.S. Roman Catholic Cemetery Publications II

This post contains the second half of a list of books of transcribed grave marker inscriptions from Roman Catholic cemeteries in the United States. Grave marker information can sometimes provide an Irish county or civil parish of origin. Scroll down to the most previous blogpost (20 September) or click here for the first post.

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

Minnesota

Bakeman, Mary. Calvary Cemetery, St. Paul, Minnesota. 5 volumes. Roseville, MN: Park Genealogical Books. 1995-1999.

Missouri

St. Louis Genealogical Society, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints AND St. Louis Eighth Ward. Catholic Cemetery Inscriptions of Jefferson County, Missouri. St. Louis, MO: St. Louis Genealogical Society. 1985.

Stricklin, Dawn C. Catholic Cemeteries in Southern Missouri and Illinois: Volume 1 in the Mortality Series. R.J. Stymes & Sons. 2013.

Available online at: https://archive.org/details/Stricklin2013

Montana

Brink, Marilyn. Tombstone inscriptions: St. Joseph's Catholic Church cemetery, Miesville, Mn. St. Paul, MN: Dakota County Genealogical Society. 1989.

New Jersey

Conroy, Bill. St. Rose of Lima Catholic Cemetery, Freehold, NJ, Division 1. Freehold, NJ: Self-published. Year Unknown.

Available online at: https://dcms.lds.org/delivery/DeliveryManagerServlet?dps_pid=IE58187 (opens as pdf)

Conroy, Bill. St. Rose of Lima Catholic Cemetery, Freehold, NJ, Division 2. Freehold, NJ: Self-published. Year Unknown.

Available online at: https://dcms.lds.org/delivery/DeliveryManagerServlet?dps_pid=IE58182 (opens as pdf)

New York
Ardolina, Rosemary Muscarella. Old Calvary Cemetery: New Yorkers Carved in Stone. Bowie, MD: Heritage Books. 1996.

Ardolina, Rosemary Muscarella. Second Calvary Cemetery: New Yorkers Carved in Stone. Floral Park, NY: Delia Publications. 2000. 

Barber, Gertrude A. Tombstone Inscriptions in the Catholic Cemetery at Richfield Springs, N.Y

and Also in the Exeter Cemetery at Exeter, N.Y., Both Located in Otsego County, N.Y. New York, NY: Self-published. 1931.

Kearns, Francis M. Assumption of Mary Parish, Redford, New York: Baptisms, 1853–1910, Marriages 1853–1923, Burials 1853–1925, Sepultures and Cemetery Records. Clinton, NY: Northern New York American-Canadian Genealogical Society. 1990.

Nial, Loretta M. Tombstone Inscriptions in Cemeteries in Troy, Rensselaer County, New York Indicating a Foreign Place of Origin. Troy, NY: Self-published. 1976.

Available online at: http://www.connorsgenealogy.com/troy/tombstone.htm

Siarkiewicz, Emilie Jones. St. Ann's Catholic Cemetery, Hinckley, New York. Hinckley, NY: Self-published. 1993.

Silinonte, Joseph M. Tombstones of the Irish Born: Cemetery of the Holy Cross, Flatbush, Brooklyn. Concord, Ontario: Becker Associates. 1992.

Ohio

Author Unknown. ‘The Restoration of Mt. Calvary Cemetery, Dennison, Ohio and List of Irish Immigrants Buried There.’ Ulster Genealogical and Historical Guild Subscribers' Interest List. Vol. 11. 1988.

Ross County Genealogical Society. Tombstone Inscriptions & Burial Records of Saint Margaret's Catholic Cemetery and Tombstone Inscriptions of Saint Francis Xavier Catholic Cemetery Ross County, Ohio. Chillicothe, OH: Ross County Genealogical Society. 1989.

Schlegel, Donald M. The Columbus Catholic Cemetery History and Records, 1846-1874. Columbus, OH: Columbus History Service. 1983.

Oregon

Wolfe, Rosemary. St. Peter's Catholic Cemetery, the Dalles, Wasco Co., Oregon. The Dalles, OR: Mid-Columbia Genealogical Society. 1983.

Pennsylvania

Author Unknown. ‘Gravestone Inscriptions From St. Peter's Catholic Church, Elizabethtown, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, 1799–1900.’ Directory of Irish Family History Research: Subscribers' Interest List. Vol. 18. 1995.

Ensley, Brian J. St. Joseph's Catholic Church, Biographical Sketch and Cemetery Listing

Old Conemaugh Borough, Johnstown, PA. Apollo, PA: Closson Press. 2001.

Middleton, Thomas C. Pew Register and Interments in St. Mary's Burying Ground, Philadelphia, from 1787–1800. West Jordan, UT: Stemmons. 1988.

Zimmerman, Edgar H. St. Paul's Catholic Cemetery (Goshenhoppen), Bally, Berks County, Pennsylvania, and New Cemetery of the Most Blessed Sacrament Church, Bally, Berks County, Pennsylvania. Apolla, PA: Closson Press. 2000.

Utah

Smith, Veda and Henry H. Weese. Mount View Catholic Cemetery, Ogden, Weber County, Utah. Ogden, UT: Self-published. 1940.

Available online at: https://dcms.lds.org/delivery/DeliveryManagerServlet?dps_pid=IE92007 (opens as pdf)

Virginia

Chitwood, W. R. Tombstone Inscriptions, East End Cemetery and St. Mary's Catholic Church Cemetery, Wytheville, VA. Wytheville, VA: Self-published. 1984.

Miller, Michael T. Burials in St. Mary's Catholic Cemetery, Alexandria, VA, 1783–1983. Baltimore, MD: Heritage Books. 1986.

Pippenger, Wesley E. Tombstone Inscriptions of Alexandria, Virginia (Volume 5): St. Mary's Catholic Cemetery (1795). Alexandria, VA: self-published. 2005.

Wisconsin

Bird, Miriam Y. Town of Granville (Milw. Co.) Irish and St. Michael's Cemetery. Whitefish Bay, WI: Mimi Bird. 1994.

Milwaukee County Genealogical Society. Town of Granville, Irish & St. Michael's Cemetery. Milwaukee WI: Milwaukee County Genealogical Society. 1995.

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.

NIFHS Cemetery Inscriptions

Following on from last week's post about genealogy organizations outside the U.S and Canada that have relevant records and resources, this week's post looks at the North of Ireland Family History Society (NIFHS). NIFHS "is a voluntary not-for-profit organization encouraging an interest in family history with particular reference to the nine counties in the historic Province of Ulster."[1]

One of their offerings is an index to graveyard inscriptions extracted from journals that the society subscribes to. The usefulness of the index is that you can quickly find out if a family name is included in the listing of inscriptions from a particular cemetery that you are interested in. Members of the NIFHS can avail of a lookup service if there is a cemetery of interest among the extensive list. This list includes transcribed information from some cemeteries in both the United States and Canada.

You can learn more information about this index and the NIFHS on their website.

IR[2]	Article Title	Journal
043/002	Memorial Stones in the USA	Galway Roots Vol 2 Page 79
043/003	New Brunswick, St. John County Alms & workhouse	Galway Roots Vol 4 Page 125
050/005	Andover, Mass. USA emigrant burials	Irish Ancestor Vol 1 Page 23
055/001	Tombstone Inscriptions of Irish interest in British Columbia	Irish Family History Society Vol. 2 1986 Page 59
055/002	St. Mary’s Cemetery, Lee, Mas., U.S.A.	Irish Family History Society Vol. 3 1987 Page 32
055/005	Irish graves in Ontario, Canada	Irish Family History Society Vol. 6 1990 Page 39
055/009	Irish Burials in St. Augustine’s Catholic Church Cemetery, Hamilton – Wentworth region, Ontario	Irish Family History Society Vol. 10 1994 Page 61
055/009	St. Joseph’s R.C. Church Cemetery, Bimbrook, Hamilton – Wentworth region, Ontario	Irish Family History Society Vol. 10 1994 Page 62
055/009	Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Catholic Church Cemetery, Freelton, Ontario	Irish Family History Society Vol. 10 1994 Page 63
055/009	St. Thomas R.C. Cemetery, Waterdown, Ontario	Irish Family History Society Vol. 10 1994 Page 64
055/022	Bakerville Cemetery & Richfield Cemetery, B.C., Canada	Irish Family History Society Vol. 17 2001 Page 119

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[1] North of Ireland Family History Society. North of Ireland Family History Society. Available online at http://www.nifhs.org: accessed 27 January 2016.

[2] There is no indications as to what this acronym stands for but it likely to be internal reference.

Catholic Cemetery, Norfolk, Virginia

The land for St Mary's Catholic Cemetery in Norfolk, Virginia was purchased in 1854. Since that date, it has served as the resting place for Catholics from the Norfolk, Chesapeake and Virginia Beach areas of the state. This is an area of the United States that did not see a lot of immigration of Catholic from Ireland. As a result, the few Catholic parishes and cemeteries that they helped to create are important resources for genealogical research.

The About section of the cemeteries' website has a link to a database of interments that is hosted on the US Gen Web Archive. The database is considerable, with burials from the 1850s to the 21st century included. What makes this such a useful resource is that the information provided for each person was drawn from a number of different sources including original cemetery records, parish records, local death records, headstone inscriptions, obituaries and other records.

Names, dates of burial, dates of death, estimated years of birth, actual dates of birth and a link to an image of the headstone are provided for those in the database. Significantly, place of origin in Ireland is also included for some of the deceased.

For example, John M. O' Connor died on 16 October 1908. He was born about 1866 in Galway. Even though he is buried in Norfolk, Virginia, he died in Baltimore, Maryland.[1] Patrick McCarrick was born in Ballina, County Mayo on 16 June 1821 and died 3 February 1888. He was a captain in the Confederate Navy.[2]

Note: It is important to remember that the information in this database is a secondary source and was derived from primary source documentation. It is possible that mistakes occurred in the creation of this database so the primary source should be obtained wherever possible in your research.

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[1] Alesia Raper, Tim Bonney, Robert B. Hitchings, Bill Inge, Colin Boklage, Marian Rudd, Emilie Hauser, Connie Kean & Candice Cheshire. St Mary's Cemetery Interment Database - O. Date Unknown. http://www.usgwarchives.net/va/norfolkcity/cemeteries/stmarys/sm-o.html : 10 October 2015

[2] Alesia Raper, Tim Bonney, Robert B. Hitchings, Bill Inge, Colin Boklage, Marian Rudd, Emilie Hauser, Connie Kean & Candice Cheshire. St Mary's Cemetery Interment Database - McC - McK. Date Unknown. http://www.usgwarchives.net/va/norfolkcity/cemeteries/stmarys/sm-mcc-mck.html : 10 October 2015

Delaware Website - Lalley.com

How many of you have started out doing your family history and over time the search morphed into an effort to collect all of the records for a surname/townland/parish etc? If you are one of those people then you will be able to relate to the curators of the website Lalley.com. 

In the words of site owner, Joseph M. Lalley: "what began [as] a simple search for our family's ancestors who arrived in Wilmington as early as 1830, soon became a major research project seeking the answer to why the Irish came to Wilmington, Delaware and a search for the locality in Ireland from which they emigrated."[1]

The Lalley.com website has a whole range of transcribed records, with probably the most impressive being their set of Catholic parish registers. The record set was last updated in 2010 but it has almost all baptismal and marriage records for the parishes in the Diocese of Wilmington (Delaware and Maryland) for the years 1795 to 1925. There are also death and cemetery records, federal census entries, and transcribed city directory and passenger list information.

Beyond this, the site has a range of other useful sections, such as links to Delaware website for genealogy and local history.

Access the website by clicking here.  

See a previous post about cemetery records from the Diocese of Wilmington by clicking here.

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[1] Lalley, Joseph. Why This Site? 2004. http://www.lalley.com: accessed 23 April 2015.

Prince Edward Island Research

The Prince Edward Island Genealogical Society (Canada) and its members have been very active over the years when it comes to compiling publications that can aid Irish genealogy research. They have compiled two publications of Irish genealogy records along with a considerable collection of headstone transcriptions from Catholic cemeteries and those of other denominations.

Gallant, Peter and Nelda Murray. From Ireland to Prince Edward Island : a list compiled from newspapers, obituary notices and cemetery transcriptions of (some) immigrants to Prince Edward Island, from Ireland. Charlottetown: P.E.I. Genealogical Society. 1999.

Gallant, Peter. An index of Irish immigrants based on obituaries and death notices in Prince Edward Island newspapers, 1835-1910. Charlottetown: P.E.I. Genealogical Society. 1990.

A good introduction to the topic of the Irish in PEI is provided by O'Grady, Brendan. Exiles and Islanders: The Irish Settlers of Prince Edward Island Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press. 2004.

St. Joseph's New Cemetery, Cincinnati

St. Joseph's New Cemetery in Cincinnati, Ohio opened in 1854 and was purchased due to the original St. Joseph's Cemetery—located closer to the center of downtown—filling up. That first cemetery housed the remains of the growing German and Irish Catholic population of the city and was open from 1842 to 1853. [1]

The website for the new cemetery has an extensive database of over 120,000 interments, covering the time period from the 1850s to 2008. There is also a helpful browse option, useful for names that have been erroneously transcribed or spelled in an unconventional manner. Information returned from the database includes name of deceased, date of interment, and where known, age, date of death, spouse's name, and parents' names.

The cemetery is located at 4500 Foley Road, to the west of downtown Cincinnati. 

Click here to access the database.

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[1] Blevins, Michael J. St. Joseph Cemetery Association. 18 November 2008.  http://www.stjoenew.com/history.html: accessed 13 January 2015. 

St. Peter's Catholic Cemetery, Baltimore, MD

St. Peter's Catholic Cemetery in Baltimore, Maryland is located on Moreland Ave., to the north-west of the downtown area. It opened in 1851 and was associated with St. Peter the Apostle parish which was founded on the corners of Hollins and North Poppleton Sts. in 1842. This parish, known as the "mother Church of west Baltimore", was built to provide a place of worship for the growing Irish population who moved to the west side of the city to work on the B&O Railroad.[1]

Three different online indexes of burials for the cemetery, in .pdf file format, are available to view for the years 1851 to about 1970. Each of these indexing efforts come from different sources and cover a majority of, though not all, entries. It is recommended to read the 'Preface' for each set of files to understand from what source they were transcribed and what years they cover. You can access all three sets by clicking here and a cemetery map by clicking here.

Note: St. Peter the Apostle parish is now closed. In 2004 it merged with St. Jerome and St. Martin to form Transfiguration Catholic Community. Phone: 410-685-5044 or visit the parish website for more information, such as the location of parish registers.

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[1] Spalding, Thomas W. The Premier See: A History of the Archdiocese of Baltimore, 1789-1989. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press. 1989.

New Troy Irish Genealogy Society Database II

Last week, Irish Genealogy News reported that the Troy Irish Genealogy Society (TIGS) released another fantastic database of records. St. John’s Cemetery, Albany, NY Interment Records, 1841- 1887 contains over 12,700 transcriptions, of which almost 4,000 of these are for people from Ireland. What makes this record set even better is that the county of origin is provided for almost 3,400 of those Irish-born people.

The importance of having local knowledge and of preservation efforts are both seen in the description of how these records came to light. The TIGS website outlines that the interment book was in the possession of a former employee of another Catholic cemetery in the area and was in a gradual state of  decay. Who know what would have happened to these records if they had not been discovered by those who knew the genealogical importance of the information contained in that book.

You can read all about the records and access the database in the TIGS website by clicking here.

Troy Irish Genealogy Society is listed in the GSI database on this website. Click here to read a Townland of Origin article from January 2014 about other databases that the group launched on their website.

Diocese of Wilmington Cemetery Database

The Diocese of Wilmington was established in 1868 and today covers the state of Delaware and nine Maryland counties on the Delmarva Peninsula.[1] The three largest cemeteries in the diocese are Cathedral cemetery (Wilmington, DE, opened 1876), All Saints (Wilmington, DE, opened 1958), and Gate of Heaven (Dagsboro, DE, opened 2002). 

A searchable database is available on the diocesan website for these three cemeteries. Details in the database include name, date of death, and plot location. Existing headstone/grave markers in Cathedral cemetery have been photographed and are also available to view. The diocesan website also lists location and contact information for 18 current and 4 closed parish cemeteries.

Search the database by clicking here.

Cemetery Maps

All Saints map

Cathedral cemetery map

Gate of Heaven map

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[1] Catholic Diocese of Wilmington. A Brief History of the Diocese of Wilmington. Year Unknown. Available online at http://www.cdow.org/about-the-diocese/history: accessed 13 May 2014 

Omaha Catholic Cemeteries

The Archdiocese of Omaha was originally founded as the Vicariate Apostolic of the Nebraska Territory in 1859.[1] Since then, it has decreased in size and increased in importance, becoming an archdiocese in 1945. Currently, the archdiocese consists of 23 counties in north-eastern Nebraska.

Since the late 19^th century, the archdiocese has had five cemeteries under is auspices: Saint Mary Magdalene (opened in 1868, traditionally German), Holy Sepulchre (1873), Saint Mary (1883), Calvary (1952), and Resurrection (founding year unknown, but after 1952).

Burials at these cemeteries are available to search via the Catholic Cemeteries of the Archdiocese of Omaha website. Where known, you will be provided with name, date of death and plot location. Click here to search the database.

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[1] Archdiocese of Omaha. Prelate History. Available online at http://www.archomaha.org/about/history/prelate-history : accessed 6 May 2014.

Lowell, MA Burials 1895-2011

St. Patrick's Cemetery in Lowell, Massachusetts, was founded in 1832 in response to the need for a consecrated burial ground for the growing Catholic Irish community. The website of the cemetery has a genealogy section where you can search for information about burials that occurred from 1895 to 2011. All burials for those years are listed alphabetically in PDF documents. Provided information includes name, age at death, date interred, the location of the grave, and the name of the funeral director who arranged the burial, if know. This final piece of information could potentially lead to funeral home records.

More information about records before 1895 can be found in the comprehensive history of the cemetery. The website also has detailed maps of individual lots to help you locate a specific grave.

Contact details are also available on the website, should you need to get full interment records.

A Project To Keep An Eye On

Halifax in Nova Scotia, Canada, was a gateway to North America for many early 19th century Irish immigrants. An exciting project is in the process of shedding new light on the Irish community in the 1800s.

Centered on Holy Cross Catholic cemetery in the city, the project will transcribe and digitize cemetery records and headstone transcriptions. However, that is only the start; the goal is to link the people in these records to matching census, vital, and property records. Ultimately, the aim is to place the "Irish Catholic experience in Halifax into a more global context"[1], with the obvious benefit to genealogists being an added bonus. In total, information will be collected on up to 23,500 people.

Currently, there is no sign of records on the website/blog, nor an indication as to when and where they can be accessed. The project is being overseen by the Holy Cross Historical Trust, in conjunction with Saint Mary's University, and a number of other cultural and religious organizations.

There is a valuable, free resource on the website, in the shape of a 64 minute lecture: Halifax in a North Atlantic Irish World.

You can access the website here.

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[1] Holy Cross Historical Trust. Year Unknown. The Scriptorium. Available online at http://holycrosshalifax.ca/database: accessed 11 February 2014.