For years, I have been using these terms interchangeably (the dictionary doesn't seem to differentiate amongst them), but yesterday I noticed a sentence in an article in the Journal of Irish Archaeology which made me question that. The essay deals with "Irish gravestones as a material form of genealogy" (duhhhh). But this sentence surprised me: "Theft of statuary and other elements of stonework, often for resale as garden ornaments, is also known, and whilst it is most frequently noted by cemetery managers, it occurs at graveyards also." The article, on "Artefact biography", is by Harold Mytum and is on pp. 111-127, Volumes XII and XIII, 2003-2004. Any comments? - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Pete Schermerhorn, in the glorious Berkshire hills of western Massachusetts

Pete~ Could it be that a "Graveyard" is connected with a particular church structure near by or a private burial place on a person's land? And a cemetery (although may be connected with a particular religion but not necessarily) is situated by itself, perhaps miles from a church? I say this because here in the greater Cleveland area the huge east side Catholic one is referred as Calvary Cemetery and the west side (much newer) is Holy Cross Cemetery. Various others about the area with no church but religion affiliation have the word Cemetery after the name. The word graveyard is never used. Just a thought. Oh and yes, "Burial" ground appears to be attached to large ethnic group of people who share the same ethnic and religious background i.e. ----- tribe name (usually native American) Burial Ground. Mary Ellen Chambers PeteScherm@aol.com wrote: For years, I have been using these terms interchangeably (the dictionary doesn't seem to differentiate amongst them), but yesterday I noticed a sentence in an article in the Journal of Irish Archaeology which made me question that. The essay deals with "Irish gravestones as a material form of genealogy" (duhhhh). But this sentence surprised me: "Theft of statuary and other elements of stonework, often for resale as garden ornaments, is also known, and whilst it is most frequently noted by cemetery managers, it occurs at graveyards also." The article, on "Artefact biography", is by Harold Mytum and is on pp. 111-127, Volumes XII and XIII, 2003-2004. Any comments? - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Pete Schermerhorn, in the glorious Berkshire hills of western Massachusetts ==== IRELAND Mailing List ==== Ireland Mailing List website..surname registry, links, lookup volunteers,unsubscribe, change your subscription from L to D or D to L http://www.connorsgenealogy.com/IrelandList/

I agree with the previous two comments: Cemetery - Independent place of burial not connected with a particular church or family. Graveyard - burial site surrounding a church. While I was growing up I attended a very small parochial school. Our playground was the old "graveyard" with it's broken stones and long grass. We never called it a cemetery. Pity it was never taken care of. Now all known stones/burials have been moved to a cemetery and some of those persons long forgotten. I have researched and tried to find all known burials from newspaper accounts and death records. Strangely enough my husband's great grandfather was amongst them. Burial Ground - connected with a particular ethnic group or a family.. Here in the midwest there are a lot of burial grounds on old family homesteads. Cathy

There is a reference book in your genealogy library by Brian MITCHELL, "Guide to Ireland Graveyards and Cemeteries." As I recall, it tells exactly what sites of burial are to be found in each Irish county, townland, and whether or not they are connected with a particular church. Directions to same are given. Many Irish Heritage Centers have transcribed tombstones. Check out the Irish Ancestors/Cemetery Records page at the Irish Times website at www.ireland.com. Click on Ancestors. There are some pages includin one called "Saving Graves." The website's main page reveals that 'The Association for the Preservation of the Memorials of the Dead' began publishing its Journal in 1888. Over the next 47 years of its existence (1888-1934), the journal published a huge volume of inscriptions, many of which have since been destroyed. A composite index to surnames and places for the first 20 years of publication was published in 1910. The remaining volumes have their own indices. Is anyone familiar with this resource? I would think the families of some means would have headstones unless a family later erected a tombstone to honor one of the famine dead. Jean ----- Original Message ----- From: <PeteScherm@aol.com> To: <IRELAND-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, October 23, 2005 7:58 AM Subject: [IRELAND] Cemeteries, Graveyards and Burial Grounds Pete wrote: > For years, I have been using these terms interchangeably (the dictionary > doesn't seem to differentiate amongst them), but yesterday I noticed a sentence in > an article in the Journal of Irish Archaeology which made me question that. > The essay deals with "Irish gravestones as a material form of genealogy" > (duhhhh). But this sentence surprised me: "Theft of statuary and other elements > of stonework, often for resale as garden ornaments, is also known, and whilst > it is most frequently noted by cemetery managers, it occurs at graveyards also." > > The article, on "Artefact biography", is by Harold Mytum and is on pp. > 111-127, Volumes XII and XIII, 2003-2004. > > Any comments?

Never gave this much thought before, but guess I would never say put my old car in the cemetery In looking via Google found a couple of interesting sites: Sure is interesting when one Googles on a subject and what pops up!!! http://politicalgraveyard.com/ http://www.potifos.com/cemeteries.html Noted the dictionary meaning of each Both are cemeteries but graveyard also includes old object Bob Cdn. ------------------------------------- grave·yard /n./ *1. * A burial ground; a cemetery. *2. * A place where worn-out or obsolete equipment or objects are kept: an automobile graveyard. ------------- cem·e·ter·y /n./ /pl./ *cem·e·ter·ies* A place for burying the dead; a graveyard. ===================================== PeteScherm@aol.com wrote:<SNIP> >For years, I have been using these terms interchangeably (the dictionary >doesn't seem to differentiate amongst them), but yesterday I noticed a sentence in >an article in the Journal of Irish Archaeology which made me question that. > >