Perhaps you should read 'How the Irish saved Civilization' by Thomas Cahill if you really believe your remark about Ireland before the EU. My great grandfather McGroarty was born in Donegal and if you read a bit about the history of his surname you will get an idea of the history and culture of this magnificent country. Visit the museums in Dublin and the archaeological sites throughout the country and you will learn about a country which did not need the EU to be one of the most civilized. I have been traveling to Ireland since the 1960s and found an amazing country with a rich cultural past. Hardly third world. Catherine Riley Billups 26 Frazione Zerbo 27040 Montu' Beccaria (PV) Italy tel (39) 0385 262404 Noto (39) 0931 836732 billups@italiamac.it On Jul 2, 2008, at 11:36 PM, <boydgray26@utvinternet.com> <boydgray26@utvinternet.com > wrote: > Very few of my ancestors graves have stones. Does than make them > repressed > and impoverished? I think not. Naw - they were just too mean to > waste the > money on a headstone. > > (And when they did, all they said was "The Brewsters of Dromore". Yea > thanks, folks.) > > Actually, I don't often get cross with what is said in this list but > I do > object to my country being called a Third World Country pre EU. > Simmer > simmer. Try to remember that some Irish people frequent these lists > too. > > Boyd Gray > > http://familytrees.genopro.com/boydgray26/Boyd/default.htm > > > -----Original Message----- > From: donegaleire-bounces@rootsweb.com > [mailto:donegaleire-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of Siobhan > Sent: 02 July 2008 22:24 > To: janemar1e@yahoo.com; IRL-CO-Donegal; IRL-Donegal - List; > IRL-Donegaleire-L; hiflyte > Subject: Re: [DONEGALEIRE] Mevagh Church Graveyard - Cty Donegal > > Well, speaking as a fellow American, I’ve only studied less than two > dozen > cemeteries here in Ireland thus but I have come across older > cemeteries > certainly. I have 13 others I've shot and begun transcribing, in > varying > stages of completion, and the older stones I’ve photographed, dating > from > the 1700s and 1800s can often be very hard to read so it’s taking > time to > decipher. A lot of them I can’t even read with the naked eye and > instead > rely on my digital computer software to help me make out what they > say. > Even so, reading a single stone can sometimes take me the better > part of an > hour, sometimes more, but I stick with it because I know they’ll only > continue to deteriorate. > > This was an extremely impoverished country for most of its history > (I read > somewhere recently Ireland has suffered arguably the longest > repressive > foreign occupation in history) and many of my own family members are > in > unmarked plots, not because everyone figured they’d remember who was > buried > where but because they couldn’t afford markers, or markers that > would stand > the test of time. You’ll see even in more recent times, for > example, in > this particular cemetery (Mevagh), that a number of markers were > handwritten. Most of we Americans don’t really appreciate the fact > that, > pre-EU, this country was considered to be a Third World country. > Additionally, many of the death registers have been lost, damaged or > destroyed over the years. > > What I have come across mostly though, and I’m guessing that it’s > because of > the winds, boggy soil and wet conditions, is that many of the older > gravestones have been fallen face down, or partially or even > completely > submerged. Many have literally sunk below the surface of the ground > and are > nothing more than lumps in nettle-ridden, overgrown grass. Perhaps > the fact > that it’s an island may also account for the extreme weathering of > existing > stones. I’ve seen stones as recent as the 1980s and 1990s that are > barely > legible anymore due to (I’m guessing) airborne sand and debris in > the wind. > The faces of the stones just wear off. But these are just guesses > on my > part. > > That’s actually why, albeit temporarily, I’ve joined the folks who, > like > Jane (who moderates Y-IRL and has contributed a mind-boggling amount > of data > via her website for us amateur genealogists) feel the urgency to > preserve > the information on these decaying stones. Some may not seem old now > but > they sure will to the generations who follow us, who’ll never > otherwise get > a chance to read > and/or see these stones in legible condition. Fortunately, I'm pretty > certain that, if only for its Catholic origins, the Irish don't mess > with > their cemeteries, they don't re-site them or re-use the stones. :o) > > > Siobhán > > > ----- Original Message ---- > > From: Jane Ward <janemar1e@yahoo.com> > To: IRL-CO-Donegal <IRL-CO-DONEGAL-L@rootsweb.com>; IRL-Donegal - List > <IRL-DONEGAL-L@rootsweb.com>; IRL-Donegaleire-L > <DONEGALEIRE-L@rootsweb.com>; hiflyte <hiflyte@telus.net> > Sent: Wednesday, July 2, 2008 8:57:48 PM > Subject: Re: [DONEGALEIRE] Mevagh Church Graveyard - Cty Donegal > > A question, from an ignorant American. > All of the graves seem to be fairly recent. What happened to earlier > burials? Older graveyards? > Our local cemeteries in Michigan go back to the 1850's and I'm sure > I've > seen earlier gravestones on our travels. > Have the stones been re-used? melted away from acid-rain? or no-one > thought > it necessary to mark the graves since "everyone" knew where they were? > > > --- On Wed, 7/2/08, hiflyte <hiflyte@telus.net> wrote: > >> From: hiflyte <hiflyte@telus.net> >> Subject: [DONEGALEIRE] Mevagh Church Graveyard - Cty Donegal >> To: "IRL-CO-Donegal" <IRL-CO-DONEGAL-L@rootsweb.com>, "IRL-Donegal - >> List" <IRL-DONEGAL-L@rootsweb.com>, "IRL-Donegaleire-L" >> <DONEGALEIRE-L@rootsweb.com> >> Date: Wednesday, July 2, 2008, 11:54 AM List Members, >> >> Another gem from our roving Irish reporter --- >> >> Siobhán, Gallagher has contributed the cemetery file for Mevagh >> Church >> Graveyard in Cty Donegal. >> >> "Mevagh Church Graveyard is located on Co. Donegal’s northern >> coastline on an unnamed road (unnamed according to my GPS anyway), >> along the signposted Atlantic Drive in Rosapenna, GPS coordinates >> N55.21062, W7.81094" >> >> I wish to thank Siobhán for this addition to the website. >> >> You can view the file at: >> http://tinyurl.com/57w5zv >> >> The file will be uploaded to the IGPA /Donegal website --- soon. >> http://www.igp-web.com/IGPArchives/ >> >> Have a nice day >> Bob >> Cdn >> >> When replying to a digest post, quote only the specific text to which >> you are replying, removing the rest of the digest from your reply. >> Also, remember to change the subject of your reply so that it >> coincides with the message subject to which you are replying. >> >> TO VIEW PREVIOUS EMAILS BY SUBJECT, GO TO THE THREADED ARCHIVES AT >> http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/index/DONEGALEIRE/ >> >> >> TO VIEW PREVIOUS EMAILS BY DATES AND SUBJECT GO TO THE SEARCHABLE >> ARCHIVES AT >> http://archiver.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/search?path=DONEGALEIRE >> >> >> SOME HELPFUL WEBSITES: >> Donegal Genealogy Resource (Lindel's Site) >> http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~donegal/ >> Donegaleire Genealogy Links & Data >> http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~donegaleire/ >> Bob's Donegal Ireland Genealogy >> http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~hiflyte/ >> >> ------------------------------- >> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to >> DONEGALEIRE-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without >> the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > > > > When replying to a digest post, quote only the specific text to > which you > are replying, removing the rest of the digest from your reply. Also, > remember to change the subject of your reply so that it coincides > with the > message subject to which you are replying. > > TO VIEW PREVIOUS EMAILS BY SUBJECT, GO TO THE THREADED ARCHIVES AT > http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/index/DONEGALEIRE/ > > > TO VIEW PREVIOUS EMAILS BY DATES AND SUBJECT GO TO THE SEARCHABLE > ARCHIVES > AT http://archiver.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/search?path=DONEGALEIRE > > SOME HELPFUL WEBSITES: > Donegal Genealogy Resource (Lindel's Site) > http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~donegal/ > Donegaleire Genealogy Links & Data > http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~donegaleire/ > Bob's Donegal Ireland Genealogy > http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~hiflyte/ > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > DONEGALEIRE-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without > the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > > > When replying to a digest post, quote only the specific text to > which you > are replying, removing the rest of the digest from your reply. Also, > remember to change the subject of your reply so that it coincides > with the > message subject to which you are replying. > > TO VIEW PREVIOUS EMAILS BY SUBJECT, GO TO THE THREADED ARCHIVES AT > http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/index/DONEGALEIRE/ > > > TO VIEW PREVIOUS EMAILS BY DATES AND SUBJECT GO TO THE SEARCHABLE > ARCHIVES > AT http://archiver.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/search?path=DONEGALEIRE > > SOME HELPFUL WEBSITES: > Donegal Genealogy Resource (Lindel's Site) > http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~donegal/ > Donegaleire Genealogy Links & Data > http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~donegaleire/ > Bob's Donegal Ireland Genealogy > http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~hiflyte/ > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > DONEGALEIRE-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without > the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > > When replying to a digest post, quote only the specific text to > which you are replying, removing the rest of the digest from your > reply. Also, remember to change the subject of your reply so that it > coincides with the message subject to which you are replying. > > TO VIEW PREVIOUS EMAILS BY SUBJECT, GO TO THE THREADED ARCHIVES AT > http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/index/DONEGALEIRE/ > > > TO VIEW PREVIOUS EMAILS BY DATES AND SUBJECT GO TO THE SEARCHABLE > ARCHIVES AT http://archiver.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/search?path=DONEGALEIRE > > SOME HELPFUL WEBSITES: > Donegal Genealogy Resource (Lindel's Site) http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~donegal/ > Donegaleire Genealogy Links & Data > http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~donegaleire/ > Bob's Donegal Ireland Genealogy > http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~hiflyte/ > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to DONEGALEIRE-request@rootsweb.com > with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and > the body of the message