Parish of Doon Cemetery
Members of Doon Historical and Literary Society have over the past twelve months been recording by hand the headstone inscriptions of the old cemetery (St. Fintan’s ) in Doon. This cemetery is shown in the first edition ordnance survey map (1840-44). It is a very large cemetery and those buried in it were not just Doon people but also came from areas such as Hollyford, Cappamore and Cappawhite. This is partly explained by the fact that the civil parish of Doon stretched into areas west of Doon such as Cappamore and south of Doon towards Oola (Castletown civil parish). As Doon is also adjoining to county Tipperary burials also came from this county.
The majority of the stones were easy to read and are in remarkably good condition. Some of the earliest stones recorded date from the mid eighteenth century. The headstones give an enormous amount of information on deceased members of the local community. Information such as the names, ages and dates of death which appears on the stones give vital information for anyone today to trace their roots. The relationship of dead family members can also be established from the headstones.
It is envisaged that this project will at some stage be made available over the internet. This means that the Doon diaspora in America, England, New Zealand and Australia will be able to identify past members of their families from the information recorded.
It should be pointed out that not all the stones were legible and the transcriptions in some cases are incomplete. The information recorded does not claim to be the definitive work on the old cemetery as there are a number of graves without headstones. Traditionally living family members could identify the graves but that is no longer the case today. For this reason a hardcopy of the recorded headstones will be made available locally for inspection and possible correction as the case may be.
The old cemetery is now well maintained and a pleasure to visit. For those who have very old headstones the historical society would recommend that these stones be cleaned and pointed as in some cases the lettering is faint.
The recording of the headstones in the old cemetery was carried out by the following members of Doon Historical and Literary Society:-
Donal Anderson, Margaret Franklin, Gerry Connors, Denis Kennedy, Micheal Kennedy, Marie O’Brien, Paud Sweeney.
June 2009
Addendum – The headstone inscriptions of St. Joseph’s cemetery Doon were recorded in May 2010 by Donal Anderson and Mgt. Franklin.
The gravestone inscriptions of St. Fintan’s cemetery Doon Co. Limerick
The gravestone inscriptions of St. Joseph’s Cemetery, Doon, Co. Limerick
