Missing Names in Bective Churchyard Cemetery

[glensman]

"A contact of mine from England recently visited the old St Mary's Cemetery at Bective Churchyard where some of her ancestors are buried.  She found the family grave but was surprised that two names did not appear on the headstone.  The missing names are Margaret Jane Crossen who died on 11 May 1954 and George Forbes who died on 5 February 1955.  I have confirmed these dates on irishgenealogy.ie.  It is of course possible that both are buried there without the names being added to the headstone.

I should be grateful for advice on where I might find either the burial records or, alternatively, newspaper death notices to confirm where they are buried.  I am in County Antrim.  Many thanks."

[Jebber]

I’m afraid I cannot answer your question, but have you considered that they may have been cremated rather than buried?

[CaroleW]

You say she found the family grave.  There is usually a maximum of 4 persons allowed in a standard private grave.  How many are known to be in the grave already & when was the last verified burial?

If it was already at capacity prior to Margarets death neither can be in that grave & you need to look elsewhere

[glensman]

Thank you to both Jebber and CaroleW for your replies. Both are interesting and valid points which had not occurred to me.  Cremations were rare in 1950s Ireland and I would be fairly confident to rule out that possibility.  The grave is a double with four names on the headstone so space should not be an issue. 
I have continued with my search.  Bective is a COI cemetery and I have now found a list of COI Parish Registers which indicates that NAI hold records on microfilm for Bective including burials from 1857-2001. So it looks like a personal visit is necessary to access those. Not easy from County Antrim.
In the meantime,I will pursue the newspaper angle in the hope that I can find answers online that way.

Many thanks to you both.

[glensman]

I have now discovered that that the RCB Library for COI based in Dublin also has the Bective records and will do a search for a fee.  This seems the easiest way to proceed though it would still be interesting to see newspaper death notices.

This has been an interesting learning exercise for me.  Thanks to Rootschat and its contributors.

[aghadowey]

I'm going to disagree with this statement " There is usually a maximum of 4 persons allowed in a standard private grave." Whilst this may be the case some places, in rural Ireland it doesn't apply. Family plots can be used over and over again depending on factors such as how deep the first grave(s) dug, condition of ground, how long ago last interment. Unfortunately it is often the case that all the people buried in a particular plot have not been recorded on the headstone (if there is actually a headstone). Another problem is that many churches here did not actually keep a record of burials.

[Sinann]

Margaret's death notice doesn't give a burial place, just that the funeral arriving to Bective Church and the same on George's.
You would assume Margaret is buried with her husband and as both Margaret and George's funerals were in Bective Church they would have been buried in the adjoining cemetery otherwise their notices would given a cemetery name.

[glensman]

Thank you very much Sinann.  I am delighted to get that information.  I agree that they must both be buried in the adjoining cemetery.  It is the most obvious explanation.  I appreciate your help and pass on the thanks of my friend who was the originator of the query.