Strokestown Workhouse burial records _ or was it the pits?

In common with most workhouses, Strokestown had a burial area. If someone died in the workhouse their next of kin could claim the body and bury it conventionally. If no-one claimed it then it was normally buried in a common burial ground beside the workhouse. You can see where Strokestown’s burial ground was/is on the attached link:

https://www.workhouses.org.uk/Strokestown/

I think “tossed into the pits” is not quite the description I would use. It was an area specifically set aside for paupers burials. There would not be a marker for such a burial though. That said, Patrick may just have been in the workhouse for medical treatment, and as a farmer, he might have been a little better off than the average labourer, and so it’s possible that the family could afford a normal burial. In which case he may be in a local graveyard. There might be burial records from the 1870s – you would need to enquire locally - but I suspect not. So you probably have to hope there is a gravestone.

Hello Elwyn ... thank you so much for this ... yes I agree I was "over the top" in the title of my message. I have in the past tried to contact the priest(s) at St Patrick's in Elphin but no result in terms of finding burial records. I have visited Roscommon / Elphin 3 times now over the years as part of my holiday travels and each time learn a bit more about the family history. I can see myself coming again and wandering about looking at the gravestones and also perhaps making a visit to the burial area which was part of the workhouse Thank you very much for your assistance. Doug

I located an old graveyard a bit closer to Killavacken townland, Cloonfinlough civil parish where your Patrick died - it's in Cloontuskert townland about 2.6km (~ 1.5 miles) to the south east of Killavacken townland and village, it appears to be on the same site as ruins of an old Abbey and was in use back to the 1840s at least.. Strokestown is about 11km ( ~7 miles) away from Killavackan....

This graveyard is in Cloontuskert civil parish which is in the adjacent civil parish of Cloonfinlough civil parish and just east of the R371 road which runs from Lanesborough to Scramoge. It's visible on Google Street view : https://goo.gl/maps/UnebNwxMfKLCg1q79

One of the Catholic chapels for the area around Killavackan and the east of the parish was at Curraghroe village a short distance north of this graveyard.

The Interment.net website has details of a survey of old graveyards in Co. Roscommon which might be of interest, it's a downloadable adobe/pdf file - see : http://www.interment.net/data/ireland/roscommon/county-roscommon-irelan…

p.s. I believe the civil registrar for the death was Terence Lynam (Leynam)
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