County Louth Archaeological and History Society

Darver Burial Register, 1787-1828Author(s): Noel RossSource: Journal of the County Louth Archaeological and Historical Society, Vol. 24, No. 3(1999), pp. 435-436Published by: County Louth Archaeological and History SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/27729856 .

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Darver Burial Register, 1787-1828

By Noel Ross

O'Neill in his History of Dromiskin1 states that Revd George Dowd,P.P. 'will chiefly be

remembered for instigating and writing the earliest records of Darver parish in 1787. Bound in

unbleached linen, they are exceedingly well preserved and contain records of all the baptisms and

marriages of the period'. But neither he nor any other source had mentioned the existence of a burial

register. It came, therefore, as a major surprise when the late Revd John A. Grant discovered, in the

house in which he lived in Blackrock, a burial register for Darver parish commencing on 25 July 1787.

The burial register is also bound in unbleached linen and measures 38 cms high by 11.7 cms

wide. It is titled Liber Mortuorum Parochiae Dromiskinsis cum annexis Parochiis de Darvor,

Manfieldstown et Kilncoole Datum hac die 25to Julii 1787 and contains a total of 1,927 entries. The

first burials on 25 July 1787 were those of Thomas Duffy, Dromiskin and Pat Crunnan of

Christianstown. The entries continue in the same hand until 28 January 1806. Fr Dowd died on 16

February that year aged sixty-six and is buried in St Peter's Churchyard in Drogheda.2 The entries recommence on 3 November 1807 presumably following the appointment of Revd

Andrew Levins as parish priest and continue until 22 March 1828 where a line has been drawn. Fr

Levins was by this time in his eighties. He died on 17 January 1832 aged eighty-five and is buried in

Port.3 Below the line there are three entries for the year 1877 and then three for 1868.

From November 1807 the place of burial is given as well as the address of the deceased. The

latter are mostly townlands but smaller denominations such as Boritragh, Ballashone,

Cargmee/Carymee, Mullabrack, Ranns and Sealaboy are also mentioned. As is to be expected many of the burials took place in the graveyards within the parish: Darver, Dromiskin, Killincoole and

Mansfieldstown, but funerals went to a surprising number of other graveyards in Co Louth, as well as

to some in the neighbouring counties of Armagh, Meath and Monaghan. The following graveyards outside the parish are mentioned and this list may not be complete: Ardee, Ballymakenny, Cappoge, Castlebellingham, Castletown, Charlestown, Churchtown, Clonmore, Coll?n, Dromin, Drumcar,

Dunany, Faughart, Haggardstown, Haynestown, Killanny, Kilsaran, Louth, Mayne, Monasterboice,

Newtown, Philipstown, Port, Rath(drumin), Richardstown, Salterstown, Seatown, Smarmore, Stabannon and Tallanstown; Creggan in Co Armagh; Nobber and Stackallen in Co Meath; and

Inishkeen, Co Monaghan. In addition to the major gap from the end of January 1806 to the beginning of November 1807

there are no entries for the following periods: January and February 1790, 15 August 1790 to 2 May 1791, and 1 April to 13 July 1808. Apart from these the entries appear to be continuous.

A quick perusal of the register has yielded a few points of interest. All the printed sources state that Denis Beag, the father of Revd Dr Nicholas Callan, the priest-scientist, died in 1813.4 It would now be almost impossible to decide whether the final digit of the year on the tombstone is a 3 or a 5. The register shows that 1813 is incorrect. Denis Callan, Dromiskin was buried on 7 January 1815.

The list of landholders in Dromiskin parish in 1791 includes an individual named only as 'Hole

1 C.P. O'Neill, History of Dromiskin-Darver Parish (Dundalk, 1984), 54.

2 Lord W. Fitzgerald, 'St. Peter's Parish - Drogheda', Jn of the Association for the Preservation of the Memorials of the

Dead, Ireland, iv, 2, (1899), 274.

3 P. Mallon and N. Ross, 'Gravestone Inscriptions in Port', C.L.A.H.J., xxi, 2, (1986), 216.

4 Revd J.B. Leslie, History of Kilsaran (Dundalk, 1908), 305; Rt. Revd Mgr. P.J. McLaughlin, Nicholas Callan: Priest

Scientist 1799-1864 (Dublin and London, 1965), 78; idem, 'Dr Callan Family Papers', Seanchas Ard Mhacha, 5, 1,

(1969), 134; O'Neill, History of Dromiskin, 69.

435

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436 County Louth Archaeological and Historical Journal

in-the-Wair.5 From this register he can be identified as Jas Campble (sic), Whiterath who was buried

in Darver on 10 September 1814.

The fever epidemic of 1817 is reflected by the eighty-seven burials in that year, the highest annual figure recorded.

The register has been deposited (on a temporary basis) in the O Fiaich Library in Armagh.

5 Leslie, History of Kilsaran, 205.

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