HomeRoselawn Cemetery
Address: 127 Ballygowan Road, Crossnacreevy, Belfast, BT5 7UD (entry is via Ballygowan Road).Contact information: Call the cemetery site office on 028 9044 8288.
Opening hours: 1 to 31 March - 8am to 6pm (Monday to Saturday) and 10am to 6pm (Sunday), 1 April to 30 September - 8am to 6pm (Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday), 8am to 8pm (Tuesday and Thursday) and 10am to 6pm (Sunday), 1 to 31 October - 8am to 6pm (Monday to Saturday) and 10am to 6pm (Sunday) and 1 November to 28 February - 8am to 4pm (Monday to Saturday) and 10am to 4pm (Sunday).
Access information: Take Ulsterbus no. 12 from Laganside bus centre, Oxford Street in Belfast city centre. Car parking is permitted on most roads but there is a five miles per hour speed limit throughout the site. Disabled parking is also available.
Access to graves in the older sections and many of the memorial trees is restricted. The cemetery site office has a ramp and a low-level counter for disabled visitors. Accessible toilets are also available.
About the cemetery
Roselawn Cemetery is Belfast’s main municipal cemetery. It opened in 1954 and is also home to the City of Belfast CrematoriumRoselawn is currently the only graveyard we operate with new burial plots available. However, we only provide a grave burial service and do not offer natural burials in the cemetery.
In July 2011 and 2012, Roselawn Cemetery was awarded the Green Flag Award, which recognises the best open spaces in the UK. It is one of ten of our parks, cemeteries and open spaces to receive this award.
The cemetery contains the remains of an ancient ráth or ringfort. A ráth is a fortified settlement made of earth. The site at Roselawn is believed to be from the Iron Age or early Christian period.
You can find out more about the cemetery by viewing the video on this page. You need to have Adobe Flash Player installed and JavaScript enabled on your computer to use this feature. Press the 'play' button to begin watching.
Burial records
You can now look up burial records online using our search facility. The service allows you to search for burial records in Belfast from 1869 onwards. Around 360,000 records are available relating to Belfast City Cemetery, Roselawn Cemetery and Dundonald Cemetery.Extension of burial ground provision
Work will begin on extending the current burial ground at Roselawn Cemetery on 8 August 2011 and will continue for around six months.The work on the 6.7 acre plot, known as Section Y, is part of our five-year management plan for the cemetery. Once completed, Section Y will create room for approximately 2,500 new graves.
During the construction period, there will be heavy plant machinery on the site and daily deliveries of associated materials. A site compound has also been set up adjacent to the construction work. There will be two-way site traffic in operation between Section W of the cemetery and the car park of the City of Belfast Crematorium.
Our contractors have been provided with a daily list of burials and cremations, and every effort will be made to reduce noise levels when burials are taking place in Section W of the cemetery.
A map of the development work, and a copy of the project schedule, are available for viewing in the cemetery site office at Roselawn Cemetery.
History
After World War II, burial space at Belfast City and Dundonald Cemeteries was limited. Belfast Corporation (now the council) was forced to look outside the city boundaries to find a suitable site for another graveyard.
They eventually bought land at Crossnacreevy from Down County Council and work began on the new burial ground.
Roselawn Cemetery was laid out in 1952 as a ‘lawn’ cemetery and the ground was formally consecrated in 1954.
Roses were planted along the main driveway, giving the site its name. In 1961, the City of Belfast Crematorium, the first of its kind in Ireland, opened its doors, with the first cremation taking place in July 1961.
However, pressure on burial space continued and, in 1979, the cemetery was extended by 17 acres. Further land has been added over the years, and the site has been landscaped with lakes to make it more appealing to visitors.
Famous burials
Among those buried in Roselawn Cemetery are Northern Ireland footballer George Best (1946-2005) and Unionist MP James Kilfedder (1928-1995).The site also contains graves connected to the Troubles, including those of police and prison officers, soldiers and victims of the Abercorn Restaurant, Oxford Street and La Mon House Hotel bombings.
