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Ireland (Historical Counties) => Ireland => Dublin => Topic started by: annieoburns on Sunday 17 October 10 16:52 BST (UK)
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Does anyone have experience of visiting Goldenbridge cemetery?
Looking at the Glasnevin website, they say it a closed cemetary and can only be visited by appointment.
I have been lucky enough to identify two family plots there dating to the 1830's. I wonder if there is a headstone ? but I have checked in the Memorials of the Dead transcriptions for Goldenbridge and there is no reference to them.
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The cemetery when last I saw it was in a very sad state of repair
I am not sure what has been done recently to enhance or repair it
It is located at the end of a road that goes through an area that has a reputation drug abuse and unfortunately although residents are attempting to improve the area, the graveyard suffered from vandalism over the past number of years.
I can assume this could be the reason why visits are by appointment only.
It is located on St. Vincent's Street if you want to look up a satellite image!
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Yes I know Dublin and can see it is in a rough area :( Terrible to see it marooned in middle of high rise developments. I did read of some restoration work being done on it this year. Perhaps there will be some group guided tours one could join up with?
I will make further enquiries from Glasnevin who own this site.
Thank you for your reply.
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Hi,meanwhile if you use googlemaps and search
for Vincent street West,inchicore and use streetview
then go towards the canal end you will see part of the
cemetary on the left hand side,this will give you an idea
of the site and possible difficulties.
Anne
p.s. and to make up for being dozy and not reading your reply properly
I found some pictures of headstones in goldenbridge on the link below :D
http://www.flickr.com/photos/colmanw/2065764176/in/photostream/
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Oh Anne that is a very fine set of photos, gives a flavour of the place and how well some of the inscriptions have survived.
Thank you! :)
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If you do decide to go I have some grave numbers and I'd really like to know if there are headstones
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Send me a pm with your details. I am still following up lead on this place. I can also check the record of inscriptions which is kept in research library.
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Hi I visited Goldenbridge in 2009. My GGgparents are buried there. There is a care taker who lives in the gate house. He is very helpful. I was out in Glasnevin and they gave me the contact number for the supervisor . I rang him and he asked me to nominate a time and the caretaket would let me in. It is worth a visit.
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Thanks for that Aussie. I have been in touch with caretaker and hope to organise a visit when someone else is going. I do not feel like troubling him on my own or being in the place on my own. He said he regularly has visitors. I am going to wait a bit for weather to improve. But perhaps the stones are more legible in winter light?
cheers, Anne
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My Grandmother was Ann O'Byrne her mother and father were John and Ann Hayes grave W33.
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Open House are organizing a tour of Goldenbridge Cemetery on Saturday 6th October 2012
See http://openhousedublin.com/index.php/site/tour/open-landscape-goldenbridge-cemetery/
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Excellent! thank you for that, a great opportunity to visit an otherwise difficult to access location.
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Thanks Dubchick, an excellent tour. Well done to all concerned.
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can anyone tell me how I can get information as to who is buried in Grave W33 at Goldenbridge.
I have the original grave papers and have written to Glasnevin but they do not reply. I have tried and paid on their site but I can't get anywhere. just not sure of who is buried there but the grave was purchased by my GGGF in 1877. It could be his parent or his wife but I have had no luck. Is it possible to search by grave number ?
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The search engine on the Glasnevin website is very inflexible, allowing only a search by name (though you can use initials) and time period - no searches by surname only or across all years and definitely not by grave number. I inquired a good while ago about the original purchaser of a specific grave. I was told that the records could be dug out but that it would cost €50 (if I remember correctly). I'm a little surprised, therefore, that you have not received a reply. Have you phoned Glasnevin (tho' if your monniker is a clue to your location, that could be expensive) ?
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Went on 4pm tour and had a wonderful trip
Very interesting talk and walk
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Yes a lovely day for a visit to Goldenbridge. I hope it is an annual event. I just wish they would reinstate the numbering system around the walls to help with identifying the plots.
I find Glasnevin tricky. I have paid for full details on plots and sometimes I can easily retrieve them when it remembers I paid for them already! other times not! It is worth going for the scanned copy of the register books, a little more detail if you are lucky. Also the intitial search says 'Glasnevin' but then Goldenbridge is the location when you pay for more detail.
There is a volume of transcriptions of the inscriptions on the remaining stones that was made in 1988. I think it is Volume One of a set and can be found in main research libraries in Dublin and called "Memorials of the Dead". ( Pearse Street library, National Archives reading room).
I think I have located a family plot but with headstone fallen down on its face. :(
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The search engine on the Glasnevin website is very inflexible, allowing only a search by name (though you can use initials) and time period - no searches by surname only or across all years and definitely not by grave number. I inquired a good while ago about the original purchaser of a specific grave. I was told that the records could be dug out but that it would cost €50 (if I remember correctly). I'm a little surprised, therefore, that you have not received a reply. Have you phoned Glasnevin (tho' if your monniker is a clue to your location, that could be expensive) ?
I have tried but I was told the inquiry had been pass on for action but again heard nothing . I wrote again and told them I had written a number of times but have heard nothing back. I have tried to search for the year but the name of my GGGF was John Hayes. he bought the grave but I am not sure if he is buried there or if so when he died. You would think that being the holder of the original papers and also a gggd I would have some entitlement to be able to obtain this information from the grave number.I visited both GB & GN in 2009. Found the woman in the office very unhelpful. She suggested I get on the net even though I told her I had travelled from Australia to visit the grave and just wanted to know who was buried in that grave.because I could not get the imformatuion from the records as they didn't work on grave numbers.
The caretaker at GB was great but the spot where the grave is just happened to be where all the rubbish was piled up and I could not see if there was any headstone. I am hoping to make another trip back to Ireland maybe next year
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That is terrible... so much good information yet unable to make last connection. I have been lucky to find two plots with full info in Goldenbridge. The key bit of info that helped was to use 'advanced search' and put in location/address and that finetuned it enough as I did not have other precise information. I think in the end I started putting in common christian names such as Mary, Anne etc until I got a 'hit' and had to work through the years in 3 year blocks as permitted by the browser feature. These burials were in 1830's so I had precious little other information to help save a family name and then the crucial bit of address.
You will get this information! Good luck.
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Aussie
My sympathies on your experience with Glasnevin. I think I may have spoken to the same woman a couple of times! I called out to Glasnevin earlier this year pursuing a few graves for which I have records. I called in to the new museum there and found the staff at reception cheerful and helpful in terms of explaining he numbering system and so on. I wasn't, however, asking about records so I'm not sure how helpful they would be on that score.
I have looked at the Goldenbridge headstone transcriptions that Annieoburns mentioned. They are, indeed, in Vol I of "Memorials of the Dead: Dublin City and County". I consulted it in the National Archives reading room. It claims to be comprehensive. The numbering system it uses, however, is of the author's own devising, not the official one, but the inscriptions are arranged alphabetically so you could start with Hayes. I don't think the Memorials are available online anywhere.
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I would not get your hopes up for finding info in the "Memorials..." So many missing and damaged stones in Goldenbridge and they only started on that record in 1988 whereas other graveyards were recorded in much earlier times in that same series. But it is a start and beats trekking around the stones trying to decipher inscriptions. And also would help to fine tune your location if your stone is missing/damaged by identifying adjacant ones.
Yes he has a different numbering system in the Volume but I think the map/layout is the same?
I had good luck in getting a helpful person to give me info in person at Glasnevin as they had a database for post 1900 records before they digitalised the older ones. Charging for their services is how they survive as a private concern I suppose. I thought there was a second set of records for each plot but perhaps they were not digitalised hence the large fee to dig out the volume from wherever it is stored?
Apparantly the cemetary used to keep records of applications to put up stones but they were all thrown out when they moved office at some stage. I suppose the designs had to be approved in advance as some are quite elaborate.
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The guide on the tour yesterday had a map/plan of the cemetery with the monuments marked on it (for obvious architectural reasons)
The plan seemed to be extensive for the full area of the cemetery
He referred to records the architects were allowed see to help their conservation work that detailed the minutes of each weekly meeting for teh cemetary. From it they know the cost of works and number of burials etc. He did not state where they are held or exactly what they held but described them as so extensive that they did not have the time to read through them all.
I wonder if they could provide more information for the graves and their occupants?
Thank you again for posting the link I would never have known of this otherwise
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So glad that a few of you went yesterday. Glad I posted the link now.
I didn't even know Goldenbridge Cemetery existed until about 6-7 weeks ago. I searched the (expensive) Glasnevin website. I found that my GGGparents were buried in Goldenbridge. Their name was Patterson.
Hope there is a gravestone I believe it's near the canal wall.
I think Open House was held last year too. So hopefully it will be an annual event
Unfortunately I couldn't make it yesterday I had a little girls 5th birthday party to attend.
Hope to make a visit soon.
If anyone knows when it is open again please post as I would love to go some Saturday.
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Thank you indeed for the info Dubchick. I had been before but had to make an arrangement with the caretaker. It was much better to go with the group as it is an isolated place. I fear the area near the canal is bereft of monuments. Several reasons..... One would be these plots were the cheaper ones and maybe poorer stone or simple metal cross was put up that did not survive. It is also lower lying ground and perhaps the topography did not help the preservation of the stones. It is also exposed to the prevailing winds from the south west and many stones seem to lean to north east or have fallen over totally. In this section there is a railing on top of less high wall which made for easier access for low life to come in and maybe steal the stones or damage same. It is furthest away from the Sexton's house at the gate and from the watchman's post in the main central temple. The most expensive plots were those located within the oval enclosure to the temple building in the middle of the cemetery. Then the next were in the 'barracks area, to the north of the temple. There used to be an army barracks to the north.
I intend to go back .... maybe we could pm and go together?
Anne
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Working off the diagrams mentioned by Myluck I have put together the following which might be of some help in searching for graves in Goldenbridge.
Richard, our tour guide, stated that the cemetery was laid out in grid form with each grave identified by a ‘column letter’ and a ‘row number’.
Using THIS (http://maps.osi.ie/publicviewer/#V1,712124,733083,7,9) OSI map I will hopefully describe the lettering and numbering system used.
On entering the cemetery the lettering from the gate runs along the east boundary wall from right to left and the numbering on the north wall runs from left to right. The letters start with A then Aa then aa. It continues on through B,Bb and bb until the final three columns which are lettered CC, CCcc and cc giving a total of 87 columns in total (29 X 3). The cemetery is not a perfect square and the west wall contains six less columns than does the east finishing with the letters aa. The numbers on the north and south walls go from 1 to 50.
The only reference I have to go on is that supplied by Aussie Trekkie for the grave purchased by her GGG/father W33. I would estimate that this grave is 18 graves back from the bottom right hand corner and 15 graves in towards the chapel and marked on the map by the red +
Using the oval shape in the middle of the cemetery as a focal point and drawing four imaginary tangents running parallel to the boundary walls will divide the cemetery into nine segments.
The first three contain the columns A to Jj and rows 1 to 13, 14 to 37 and 38 to 50
The middle three commence with Column j to t with the numbers as above
The last three sections contain the same numbers, 1 – 13, 14 – 37 and 38 to 50 but because of the irregular shape the columns vary.
Section 7 U to cc
Section 8 U to bb
Section 9 U to aa
I hope this helps in some small way to narrow down your search.
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Thank you for your help I have email the museum in glasnevin as suggested and they are being very helpful. So a big thank you to all. PS looking at the map you are spot on with where the grave should be. My luck , the area was being used as the main gathering area for the dead branches and grass so I couldn't see it there was a headstone back in 2009. maybe next time I get back the will have cleared the area and I can check.
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Hi all,
Does anyone know if there are any open days at Goldenbridge planned for later this year?
From the descriptions above, it looks like the plot that I am interested in will be along one side.
I see that the Goldenbridge Cemetery information still says that it can be visited by appointment only.
Has anyone here tried that? Is it difficult to arrange and can you only go to one exact place, at a precise time or once you are there, can you wander around the area to see if other relatives are nearby?
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It is a few years since I visited on my own. The main Glasnevin office gave me a mobile no for the caretaker who also lives in a small house near the gate. He was there as arranged and helped me look around. You might check that this arrangement still stands. Again perhaps the main office would know of any group tours? I think one of the Dublin historical walking tours included it in one of their weekly walks.
It is not an easy place to find a grave unless near the perimeter walls that have markers and even these are barely legible but at least follow a sequence as earlier posted described.
The gravestone I am interested in is face down on the ground. I had no reply from an email to Glasnevin as to what to do about that. I hope to visit again in June when american distant cousin is in town.
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Thanks for the quick response annieoburns,
The grave I am looking for must be one of the earliest, first used in 1830, although, there are a lot of people on the list and I am not sure if this is just one grave. The list I was supplied with was printed all in upper case, giving the plot number AA 10.
On a register entry image for someone that I think is my family (O'Brien) it is also hand-written with both letters in upper-case, AA 10.
I'm not sure how that fits with the description given by colur, but imagine it must be near one of the boundaries.
I will contact Glasnevin again about this grave as I am beginning to suspect that they may have combined more than one plot record in the list.
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DudleyWinchurch
I don't know if you are in Ireland, but if you are - or are planning to visit - it might be worth checking out Vol 1 of "Memorials of the Dead, Dublin City and County", mentioned by Annieoburns at reply 16 above. As she said, it lists the gravestones in Goldenbridge that were legible in 1988 when the graveyard was surveyed. The listing is arranged in alphabetical order by surname rather than by grave number. Each entry does have an associated number but this is to facilitate locating the grave on a map of the graveyard in the book which plots the individual gravestones. The numbering system is not that used in the graveyard itself, however. The reason I suggest consulting the book is that it might save you a fruitless trip to Inchicore. I have relatives buried in three graves in Goldenbridge but, when I looked at the book in the National Archives (it is available on the open shelves), none of the graves was listed, suggesting there were no gravestones or that any gravestone was illegible. It may be parsimoniousness in my family but I was surprised to find that most of the ancestral graves in Glasnevin have no stones either.
With regard to the number of interments in the grave you are interested in, two of my famly's graves were bought in the early 1830s too and there are 14 interments in each of them.
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Yes I have an 1832 grave with I think 6 people therein... some children and all related. I discounted it as having no stone as not listed in the Memorials of the Dead volume dedicated to Goldenbridge. I was delighted to find a substantial stone when I visited in person albeit laid face down so unreadable. Using the memorials book I was able to identify this grave as the adjacant ones were recorded.
Looking at the location of your grave, you might be in luck. It seems to be situated in the better area of the graveyard. PM to me and I will post you a map of same.
The Memorials of the Death are also available in Pearse Street Library research room which is open on Saturdays and some late evenings. They are on open access and easily checked. You can also pay a few cent and the staff will print off a page if of interest.
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Hi dermo,
I'm not too far away so, as always, I'm planning my next visit.
I will add the Memorials book to my look-ups list, but I'd also like to visit, as the best find so far at Glasnevin was a memorial on a grave that I was initially told was not a family grave and later told that in any case, because of it's location there would be no surviving memorial. It connected up a family to the preceding generation.
Checking the list, there are 15 burials in the Goldenbridge plot, so it is possible that the earliest ones with a couple of different names are also related, but also possible that I have burials in AA 10 and aa 10 listed together, for instance. I have already sent a message to Glasnevin asking them to check the plot number(s) for me, as the list was only provided, all in upper-case. It's so annoying that they will not treat plots with more than 10 burials as a family grave even when several of them are known to be related. Although they did send the list after I queried it, I only have the few images that I purchased separately so know that the images I have show both letters upper-case but I don't have images for the ones that I don't recognise, to check how they were entered in the register.
On the whole, I have not been so lucky in finding memorials at Glasnevin, in spite of a, now very substantial, list of family graves. I also have at least one grave with several family members at Mount Jerome, but the day that I went there was bitterly cold and the cemetery was quite busy with funerals so, after having waited to get some information, I decided not to try a search but leave it to come back to.