Our Lady of Mount Carmel 1794 Cemetery

Built in 1794 and located next to the original church the cemetery was used by villagers in Prospect for nearly 70 years. Today, it sits overgrown and unidentifiable. The Prospect B&B is located adjacent to the property which was once the village's original cemetery. As far as we can tell all people buried in Upper and Lower Prospect, Shad Bay and Dover were buried at this location until separate cemeteries were consecrated in their respective villages.

There is very little material evidence of burials here prior to the church records being started in 1823. However, this space was adjacent to the original church and thus it is expected to have been used as a cemetery. There is currently one headstone in the cemetery, buried under tall grass and has had a hundred and fifty years of neglect. This large sandstone headstone reads as follows:

In Memory of
RICHARD
? (most likely son) of
Michael(?) ? Elizabeth Ryan
who died 11th ? AD 1845
Aged 15 Years, 9 Months
May He Rest in Peace

Former resident and local historian Ed Rogers has in his notes the inscription of another headstone that he said was formerly located in this cemetery. It reads as follows:

Here Lies
The Body Of
Mary SHEA
Wife of Edmund Murphy
Native of Ballylynch
Parish of Garrick on Suir
Ireland
Who died 23rd Oct. 1836
Aged 50 years
Her son
Thomas Murphy
Who died 28th May 1835
Aged 19 Years
May Their Souls Rest in Peace

Unfortunately this headstone is no longer located in the cemetery. No one currently living in the village has any recollection of it or what happened to it.

One possible explanation for the absence of other headstones in the cemetery can be found in folklore. Stories suggest that sometime in the late 1800s the parish priest began planting potatoes in the cemetery grounds. This outraged the families of the deceased and so they removed their respective family members headstones in protest. One such headstone is located in the basement of Judy and Darrel Durling, who live in a house originally built by James H. Power (1849-1933). James H. was married to Mary Jane (White) Booth the widow of John Booth, son of John and Margaret Booth. Margaret's headstone is the headstone currently located in the Durling Basement, though she is referred to as Mary on the stone. The inscription reads:

Sacred to the Memory of
MARY
Wife of John Booth
died August 3, 1855
age 42 yrs.

The headstone is in very good condition. Unfortunately I do not have a picture of the stone because I did not want to inconvenience the Durlings whose belongings are tucked neatly around it. They claim that the stone was there when they purchased the house and rebuilt it in the 1970s. They did not know what to do with it so they left it there and that is where it sits today.