Ancestors in the Same Burial Plot in Dundalk

Hello Jack, I do not know the answer but imagine it was the Penal Laws which basically applied to all non Protestant people who were not Anglican or the established Church of Ireland, you can Google the information but here is a list from one site http://sites.rootsweb.com/~irlker/penallaws.html 

The Laws started to be eased toward the end of the 18th century and finally in 1829 at the behest of Daniel O'Connell Catholic Emancipation was achived. This is why there are not church records for the 1700s for RC, there are exceptions in certain areas in the late 1700s but a lot of church records for RC only commence in around 1820 or later.

You did well to find all those records in the graveyard, I am not aware that this place has been transcribed There is a good site on Louth here, http://www.jbhall.clahs.ie/index.html 

There are some Louth and Dundalk pages on FB dealing with genealogy and old photos, also the County Louth History Society (CLAHS) who run the above site have published a journal since 1904 which can be accessed on J Stor, you get free access if you join society and the Journal each year, about €18 I think but no guarantee on hte information you will find will be relevant.

I toured monastery ruins nearby here in Louth and the guide explained that the wealthy paid to be buried near the altar, the story was the gates of Heaven would open for only a short period and those buried closest to the altar were most likely to get in during the open period, so much for equality, so they were wealthy or held in high regard. 

One of the duties of the Established Church was to bury the dead, so imagine dissenters were buried were it suited them, catholics and protestants were often buried in the same graveyard, in Drogheda here the ANglican records are online and often you just see a name and dissenter written on the transcript. 

I have no learning to be taken as Gospel but it appears to be it was probably a mix of the politics of the time and the requirement not to display your religion too openly, it was in this period of the 1700s the so called Scotch Irish went to America, having come here earlier to escape the crackdown in Scotland. 

To find records as you did in Irish terms is really good, you could try the library or county archives to see if they can assist with any information they may have, they are here. https://www.louthcoco.ie/en/services/library/genealogy-research-sources/ you will find a separate section for the Archives with an email also.

Regards

Pat