Some people might think that all I do is go around transcribing parish records, taking photographs and then spending hours sitting at a computer creating webpages and announcing them.

That’s not all at all :)

It’s actually very difficult to completely work one graveyard when you are on your own, so most days when I go to a graveyard I go in and spend an hour or two taking photographs and then go off home.  It can take me weeks to finish a graveyard.  I’m actually working on one big project at the moment which takes in 8 graveyards or cemeteries in the Diocese of Ossory, I think it is 6 in Laois (Queen’s Co.) and two in Kilkenny.  I timed myself recently just working in one graveyard on my own and it took me 30 mins to cover 11 stones for this project – there are approx 150 stones in the graveyard and that means that if I continue to  work by myself it would take me approx 7 hours to complete the field work.  After that, there is the naming the photographs and creation of the index.

Right now, it is 09.10, I sat at my computer at 06.30 and since I sat down I have written one reasonably long email, looked at some stuff on Facebook and also named and indexed 20 stones from one graveyard.  I have 40 photographs left to work on in this graveyard, then I have to go back and re-take a few photographs for ones which did not come out too legible and then I can put copies of all these photographs on my website.  I did index the stones that were pre 1901 in this graveyard back in the 1996-98 period, but now, we’ll have everything.  So far, my name index has 1081 entries.

I’m pasting a list of graveyards/cemeteries that I am working on here.  Some of these I have almost finished the naming an indexing of.  Counaguneen is the one I am going to get to straight after I finish with Rathdowney.  The graveyards in Durrow were transcribed back in the days when I had pen and paper as was Aughmacart, Galmoy and Dysart Wooden Bridge – once I’m finished with the photographs then we will have information on stones that can’t be read any more as well as all information on stones that can be.

There are actually a few more folders on one of my other computers which I have not included here but we won’t mind that.

I just wanted to give you some idea of how long it takes to do this work and that it is being done, even if slowly.

I also garden and walk the dogs