Hi emcquiston,
We've got a copy of the book here:
THE HIDDEN GRAVEYARD
CARNMONEY PARISH CHURCH
ISBN 978-0-9561374-0-1
MEMORIALS IN GRAVEYARD No.1
Recorded & Published by Members of the Newtownabbey Branch
of the North of Ireland Family History Society.
pps. 144 total.
[Seen those folks in action many times, dedicated industrious skilled people.
The book is a power of work, a MUST HAVE for those interested in genealogical connections to the area.
Lots of history, photos, memorial listings for WWI & WWII participants, maps, indexes of surnames & placenames, etc.
'Tis a wonder to behold!]
The "hidden" graveyard is indeed located immediately (South) across Church Road from the church.
[So called 'cos it was totally overgrown for years, some parts being impenetrable.
Graves are meant to be maintained by surviving family, but these drift away and perish themselves.
A number of years ago the Council stepped in and blitzed the whole place with "Agent Orange".
I thought that I had entered a war zone!]
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pps 17-25 contain an alphabetical list of all surnames that could be transcribed from the memorial stones.
[N.B. Some plots had no memorials, either originally or they were "lost" to posterity.
Others were unreadable because of weathering or damage.
Others had fallen over (dangerous to explore, even for experienced speliologists).]
p.21 Lists two PRITCHARD grave references - E/A38 (p.85) & J/B12 (p.114).
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p.26 Shows the layout map for the SECTIONs within the "Hidden" (aka No.1) graveyard.
Stand at the entrance (on the South side of Church Road).
Looking South (straight down), then scan from right (West) to left (East).
The SECTIONs ("ground blocks") are arranged roughly in horizontal rows, labelled:
"A" near the entrance at the top;
"B", "C", "D", "E" & "F" (which latter runs right down to the bottom);
"G" (situate East of "B", and South of "C", "D" & "E";
"H", "J", "K", "L";
"M" (right at the bottom.).
[There is no "I".
Perhaps, Theologically, it was deemed inappropriate to use Jesus' initial in a graveyard context?
("I" in Latin, as in the derogatory "INRI".)
More prosaically, Typographically, to avoid a character that could be confused with the numeric digit "1".
So, e.g. a reference of J/I12 might cause folks to waste time looking for grave 112 in instead of 12.]
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p.26
To get to SECTION "E" simply follow the short path down through SECTION "A" to the cross-roads.
Turn left (East) past the top of SECTION "D", which lies on the right (South).
You will pass (what looks like) a wall
(deduced from the solid black line running N-S on the map).
SECTION "E" now lies on your right (South), stretching along to the corner of the path.
p.77
SECTION "E" is split simply in to 5-off vertical columns
[Each designated by a non-numeric alphabetic character]:
Column "A" (graves A1-A58; First visible memorial A1 McILVEEN)
Column "B" (graves B1-B54; First visible memorial B1 REILLY)
Column "C" (graves C1-C58; First visible memorial C1 TINSLEY)
Column "D" (graves D1-D50; First visible memorial D3 HARKNESS)
Column "E" (graves E1-E49; First visible memorial E1 HUNT)
Your interest will be in Column "A".
[The 1st (most-Western) one that you will encounter, immediately next to the "wall".]
The grave reference "E/A38" means SECTION "E" - Column "A" - Grave "38".
Now some "Maths": 38 (yours) / 58 (last) ~ 40/60 = 2/3.
So the grave is located ~2/3 down (South) from the top;
[N.B This is a guesstimate.
Some graves are "longer" than others, especially large family graves.]
You could either:
1) walk down along the "wall" (if that is indeed what it is) [Not advised!];
2) tiptoe down along the left (East) side of the "wall" through/past the other 37 graves;
3) walk further East along the path to the corner,
turn right (South) and walk 2/3 down the path
(such running down the Eastern side of SECTION "E"),
turn right (West) and then tiptoe through fewer (viz. 4) graves (Columns E,D,C,B).
4) for geographical guidance, if standing on the Eastern path of SECTION "E",
look Westward in the immediate Column "E" (and then over to Column "A") for
E/E23 (STEELE, Stone no Surround),
E/E26 (MAGILL, Tall black stone.),
E/E38 (WILSON, Stone and Surround 1895).
5) in this case you need to be looking for a tall stone with metal railings
E/A38 (PRITCHARD) in this furthest (Western-most) column, next the "wall".
[E/A42 (MILLAR, metal plaque with railings) lies closeby North of it.]
[N.B. There appears to be no (offical) path along the bottom of SECTION "E".]
The surnames present on the memorials are listed alphabetically in the book.
[For SECTION "E" they cover pps. 77-88
There are 3 fallen stones.]
(to be continued next)
