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Headstone decryption

Comments

  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 565 ✭✭✭montgo


    "to his Pater ?
    and his beloved wife
    who died March ?6 1880"

    Maybe


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 12,089 ✭✭✭✭P. Breathnach


    "to his Parents"


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 683 ✭✭✭KildareFan


    Erected
    By
    JOHN HOLLAND
    Belrose
    To his Parents
    And beloved wife
    who died March 30th 1880
    R.I.P.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,165 ✭✭✭lottpaul


    Not sure if I have a better suggestion but would his parents and wife all have died in the same month and year?
    Could the P,,,, word be another adjective in her praise?


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 12,089 ✭✭✭✭P. Breathnach


    lottpaul wrote: »
    Not sure if I have a better suggestion but would his parents and wife all have died in the same month and year?
    Could the P,,,, word be another adjective in her praise?
    I don't think so. I presume that the date refers to the wife only, and that the parents were probably buried there earlier.

    An interesting thing, the like of which is often to be seen on Irish headstones: John Holland's name is prominent, and the first names of his parents and his wife are not given.


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 683 ✭✭✭KildareFan


    lottpaul wrote: »
    Not sure if I have a better suggestion but would his parents and wife all have died in the same month and year?
    Could the P,,,, word be another adjective in her praise?

    It could have been 'patient', but there is an s at the end of the word.


  • Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 6,675 Mod ✭✭✭✭pinkypinky


    Thanks everyone - that's what I reckoned it said.
    I even thought it was possibly 1980 but the headstone looked too old.

    Genealogy Forum Mod



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 108 ✭✭maryb26


    Pick a bunch of grass and rub it across the lettering on a headstone. Makes it much more legible.


  • Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 6,675 Mod ✭✭✭✭pinkypinky


    This headstone is in Cork - I'm in Dublin, I just found the image online (hurrah!)

    Genealogy Forum Mod



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,943 ✭✭✭tabbey


    Whenever possible, always view the actual stone. Bring a mirror, and something that removes the dirt, but not too abrasive. Autumn and spring are considered the best seasons, for illuminating the stone. Headstones generally face east ( the Holy Land and the rising sun), so be there before midday on a sunny day.


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 7,108 ✭✭✭Jellybaby1


    Also suggest you bring a spray bottle of water. It has been helpful to me once or twice. And yes, the time of the year is key, dull winter days are no help at all.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 685 ✭✭✭FURET


    I know the shaving foam method is not to be used because it damages the stone; but how about whipped cream, wiped with a window wiper so that excess cream sits in the groove and can be read?


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 69,547 ✭✭✭✭L1011


    Would cause massive fungal growth


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 685 ✭✭✭FURET


    L1011 wrote: »
    Would cause massive fungal growth

    ...Washed off afterwards with a soft sponge.


  • Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 6,675 Mod ✭✭✭✭pinkypinky


    If I were taking the photo myself, I'd flip it to negative on my computer afterwards, that's very helpful, and is non-invasive.

    Genealogy Forum Mod



  • Closed Accounts Posts: 5,108 ✭✭✭pedroeibar1


    FURET wrote: »
    ...Washed off afterwards with a soft sponge.

    Nope. Cream is fat, about 35%, and in whipped cream the fat globules are supported by air bubbles. Spoon it onto a tombstone and it will adhere/soak into the surface layer and cannot be removed by sponging, especially with cold water. Tombstones have enough to cope with without dessert!


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 7,108 ✭✭✭Jellybaby1


    Even foodies are useful to genealogists! :)


  • Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 11,423 Mod ✭✭✭✭Hermy


    As per a previous post rubbing on newsprint or using a strong torch are excellent ways of aiding the reading of worn stones without leaving any undesirable damage or residue.

    Genealogy Forum Mod



  • Closed Accounts Posts: 5,108 ✭✭✭pedroeibar1


    Also don't forget to search for local history books. One grave I looked at in Dundrum some time ago had a part beyond legibility. I recently was given the full inscription, because it had been transcribed in A History of the Parish of Taney written in 1895.:)


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