Milltown Cemetary

[teap78]

And another

[AM]

I hate going to Milltown - it is truly depressing the state it is in. We visit family grave quite regularly but only reason we can gain acess to it is because we use weedkiller, strimmers etc to try and clear a path. Having said that this is also nigh on impossible as there isn't even room to walk between two graves the space is only inches. We actually have to walk over other graves to reach my Mum & Dad's. We often laugh as Mum used to drum into us never to walk on a grave - and I'm just waiting for a hand to grab me round the ankle and give me a good clout.LOL Anne

[Wendl]

Ach Teap....

Looks much the same...much overgrown and neglected!!! What a pity when there is such a wealth of information buried amongst the weeds....

[Christopher]

Milltown Cemetery is an important part of Belfast's Christian Heritage as well as being an essential souce of extremely useful information to both Family Historians and Local Historians interested in the Falls area of the city of Belfast. Milltown cemetery is a fascinating repository of the history and folklore of the Falls Road and its environs. It might be an idea if Rootschatters with ancestors buried at Milltown Cemetery use the Belfast City Council's Online Complaint's Form and also post an email to the editors of the Belfast Telegraph, Irish News and Newsletter.

I've just discovered that there's an organisation called Citywide Cemetery Regeneration (CCR) which is responsible for the Milltown Cemetery. Milltown is located at 526, Falls Road and the City Cemetery (which is the responsibility of the City Council) is located at 511, Falls Road.

Chris

[runningbear]

i agree christopher, i had waited ages and saved hard to come to belfast, one of my many things to do was to go to milltown to search for my family, when i got there in the summer the grounds were like a safari!!!

i can assure you and anyone concerned with the running of milltown i was deeply saddened.

Joe

[cos]

Milltown is getting worse,if that were possible,2 days ago I discovered a homeless wine victim sleeping in a little spot between a tree and an ivy covered headstone.It was beside my parents grave.He had a sleeping bag and a few BCC Carrie Allsorts bags for comfort and shelter.The place was strewn with beer cans and empty wine bottles.He told me to F off when I asked why he was there.This is typical of some parts of the cemetery.When I headed into the office to complain there were half a dozen workers supping tae,chatting and playing with computers! One man reluctantly headed down the cemetery to sort it out.My thirsty friend will be back already I would bet-ONLY IN BELFAST...

[Wendl]

Thot you might find this interesting.......!  from the Anderstown News... find it humourous that the truck will "help" keep it tidy? My gosh...needs more than a truck to sort the mess of this place...!!!!
Here in Canada it is quite common to have neighbourhood groups get together and clean up area's that need some help....wonder if it has ever been considered for Milltown? 

Mean machine set to take on the dumpers 
 
Andersonstown News 
 
Evan Short 
 
15/02/2007 
 
Milltown Cemetery staff have revealed that their continuing battle with fly tippers has become so bad that they had to remove a jet-ski from the graveyard last year.
Cemetery manager Peter McConvey says that although the situation had been deteriorating over the last number of years, nothing could have prepared them for arriving one morning last year to see the water-sports vehicle abandoned.
“We are used to coming in to find things like hi-fis and, especially after Christmas, turkey carcasses, but the jet-ski really took the biscuit!
“We can't understand it. It costs us a lot of money to get our skips emptied when all these people have to do is go up to Kennedy Way where the Council does it for free."
However, morale is now on the rise after workers received a new weapon in their arsenal that will keep the graveyard clean – a new dump truck courtesy of a grant from local community development organisation Ortus.
“Before this we had to put bins into the back of a van and take them to the skips, then bring them back," explained Peter.
“There are 55 acres in Milltown and this will make it much easier to clear the rubbish away. We have had criticism in the past but we face a constant battle with litter."
The truck was bought thanks to a grant received from the local business development organisation who are based in the lower Falls, and supervisor Bobby Bunting said the workers couldn't wait to get using it.
“It's just the right size to get up and down the paths in between the graves and will make our job a lot easier.
“It will be used every day and will help us keep the graveyard tidy," he said.
Peter appealed to those visiting the graveyard not to dump rubbish.
“It costs us over £100 every time we want to empty a skip and this is difficult for us to deal with.
“Over Christmas we left the gates open so people could come and pay respects to their loved ones but that was an opportunity for others to dump rubbish and I would appeal to those not to do it," he said.
 
 
 

[Christopher]

It needs a sight more than the cemetery manager, Peter McConvey, appealing to the public. I wonder if the clergy in the area ever mention the matter to their congregations when they make announcements either prior to, or after, the Sunday services. The whole community should be made aware of the situation. The Milltown Cemetery is an important genealogical resource in Belfast. The headstones are not found in all of the fifty five acres .. some of that area is grassland. I think that is where the 25,000 paupers were buried. Maybe the cemetery manager could raise funds to help raise money for emptying the skips by hiring machetes to people who wish to find an ancestor's gravestone somewhere in the undergrowth. 

I can't remember offhand the name of the piece of equipment but it's shaped like the anchor of a boat. The truck could come in handy .. tie a long rope to a towbar attached to the truck .. the other end of the rope to the anchor shaped object which is in the undergrowth and drive slowly away towing the undergrowth away from the headstones.

[lana]

Hello,

Would someone be able to help me?  I am trying to do some research on behalf of my mother in law.

Her father, Henry Burns, died when she was just 10 years old and we believe he was bured in Milltown Cemetary.  This was c1944.  How do I go about trying to find the location of the grave?

I would be very grateful for any advice.  I have tried the internet but to no avail.

Kind Regards
Rachel