St Kentigerns Cemetery, Lambhill, Glasgow

13/09/2026

Im off to Portugal for a couple of weeks. Im afraid I cannot do any checks while im away. Please feel free to ask question or put in requests, and I will get to them when I return. Best way to do that, so its not lost, is to message me. Chris

10/09/2026

That's the photos that I had lost in Section 16 retaken transcribed and matched with their online lair numbers. The eastern half of Section 16 has new lairs. I will not be photographing this area. Section 16's headstone photographed, range from lair 1 to lair 841. The database now has the names of 31,071 souls.

I also examined Section 23, 24 and again these headstones are new and tended to almost every day by family. I will not be photographing Sections 23 & 24.

So once Ive finished Section 22 (top half still to be photographed) I only have Section 12 to do. Ive lost photos from plots 1 to 870 which ill do once 22 is finished.

Finally I will have to check the database for mistakes. I recon this will be complete before the year is out. Chris

09/09/2026

I had a spare couple of hours this morning so took advantage of the bright sunlight and completed redoing some of section 16. I managed somehow, to lose the photos from plot 535 upwards in this section. It was also a problem I had in Section 12 where I appear to have lost the first 900 plots which is a pain. I will have to revisit that section. I completed that task this morning taking 239 photos to complete.

Then I went to Section 22 to make a start on the top half. I had to cut that short as there were too many people tending to graves. There I took 310 photos to get the first two rows done.

Chris

07/09/2026

Thats the bottom half of Section 22 been photographed, transcribed and the plots matched to the the online records of Lair numbers. I recon about 99% of the lair numbers, for the visible headstones I photographed in this half of Section 22 were found.

Ive been invited to Glasgow & The West of Scotland family history society to discuss options, to move forward with the database once complete.

Thank you all for the kind words and posts since The Bell did their article last Saturday. Its been very busy. Chris

05/09/2026

https://www.glasgowbell.co.uk/st-kentigerns-family-history-glasgow/

This is an article written by Calum Grewar of the Glasgow online newspaper, The Bell, who approached me several weeks ago about my work at St Kentigerns and the other cemeteries I've recorded. To read the article you have to subscribe by email, but it is free. Its sort of blown out the water the anonymity that I've held on to until now. 😟

Chris McKay has been logging tombstones across the city for years. Why is he doing it?

04/09/2026

Thats the bottom half of Section 22, the bit closest to Section 21 transcribed. It took 2,070 photos to obtain the information on the headstones. This area covers Section 22's lairs from 1 to 1415. The majority of the lairs here were opened in 1972/1973. The database now stands at 30,640 names. Chris

30/08/2026

Section 22

24/08/2026

Took advantage of the good weather and photographed one half of Section 22, the one closest to section 21. It would appear the lairs here were opened here between 1968 and 1970. This area is for lair numbers 1 to about 1400.

Again there's a lot of damaged and knocked over headstones. In total I took 2,072 photos to cover the stones that were visible. It sort of gives an indication as to how big this section is.

I also has a look at Section 23 and Ive decided not to photograph this section. This area is for new lairs and there are grieving relatives here on a daily basis. Its too insensitive to take pictures when there is family present. Someone in the future can do this.

Im still working on the database which currently stands at 29,273 names gleaned from the headstones.

Ive been contacted by a local newspaper who wants to run an article on the cemetery which Ive agreed to.

Chris

18/08/2026

Thats about 99% of all the headstones in Section 21 paired with their respective lair numbers. I've made a start on Section 22, which is the biggest.

12/08/2026

I have been asked if a plaque could be placed in the area known as common ground.

As there is no exact record of where people are in this area only flowers are allowed to be placed. The boys at the yard are more than willing to take anyone to the area to place flowers.