A SIGN naming all those known to have been buried at Drimoleague Old Graveyard has been erected at the historic site.
Skibbereen Heritage Centre staff member Margaret Murphy surveyed the site some years ago and her colleague Barry McMahon recently mapped and listed all the names for display on the sign, documenting hundreds of previously-unrecorded individuals buried there.
This is the fourth phase of the West Cork Graveyards project which has surveyed a dozen historic graveyards in this area.
Signs have already been erected at the graveyards of Caheragh, Creagh, Abbeymahon, Chapel Lane, Aughadown and Drinagh by the Skibbereen Heritage Centre team, with the kind support of Cork County Council.
The full history of Drimoleague Graveyard is also revealed in a video made by Skibbereen Heritage Centre. The short film covers the tragic period of the Great Famine in Drimoleague, alongside stories about other local people, including the ‘Scorcher’ who ran off to war.
Video tours of other medieval graveyards at Caheragh, Aughadown, Abbeymahon and Abbeystrowry can also be seen on the graveyards page of the heritage centre website at www.skibbheritage.com.
‘We have had many visitors at Skibbereen Heritage Centre who have said that they found their ancestors’ grave on our website before deciding to come to Ireland,’ said Centre manger Terri Kearney. ‘For many of them, this is the only tangible link to their ancestry and is therefore very precious to them. But we have had a fantastic response locally, too, as many people came forward with more information on those interred in these graveyards. We are honoured to record this information and make it available to people.’
To virtually visit the historic sites, see the new signs, or access the survey results online, see www.skibbheritage.com.
