St Kentigerns Cemetery, Lambhill, Glasgow

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.

12/08/2026

Section 21 has now been transcribed. Again another section that has a lot of fallen or vandalised headstones. The majority of plots here appear to have been opened in 1967 and 1968 although the top row, nearest section 22 is from 1972. The database now stands at 28,460 names.

The huge section 22 is next, after I've paired the plots in Section 21 with their plot numbers from the lair books.

Chris

07/08/2026

Thats about 98% of all the headstones in Section 20 paired with their respective lair numbers. The range is from plot 1 to 1760. Most of the plots appear to have been opened between 1962 and 1967. Section 20 is complete

Next is to transcribe the photographs taken from section 21 to the database.

04/08/2026

Thought I may as well. The Western Necropolis and its Extension.