Tuesday 8 December 2015

West Cork Graveyard Database doubles in size

Skibbereen Heritage Centre has uploaded some 2,680 burial register transcriptions for 16 West Cork graveyards (see names, locations and dates in table below) to its West Cork Graveyards Database. The information provided includes name, age and address of the deceased, dates of death and burial and, in some cases, occupation of the deceased.

The registers were made available by Cork County Council, who are now responsible for each of the graveyards, and were transcribed by a small team of Skibbereen Heritage Centre volunteers.

This upload almost doubles the size of the free-to-access database. It already held around 2,800 records collected as a result of surveys carried out in eleven local graveyards. The surveys involved photographing and transcribing the headstones, mapping the graves, and gathering any local knowledge of each graveyard and those buried within. The database holds the transcriptions and links to photos of the memorials.

A further survey has recently been undertaken at Kilcoe (new) graveyard, and these records have also been uploaded to the database.

Transcribed registers in West Cork Graveyard Database

 Abbeymahon Graveyard Skibbereen May 1900–October 1975
 Abbeystrowry Graveyard Skibbereen March 1934–Sept 1943 & Oct 1963–June 1965
 Allihies Graveyard Castletownbere June 1990–April 1992
 Ardagh Graveyard Rosscarbery May 1991–December 2009
 Ballymoney Graveyard Ballineen June 1961–June 1998
 Ballynacallagh Graveyard Dursey Island October 1935–May 1988
 Castlehaven Graveyard Castletownshend March 1934–June 1967
 Drimoleague Graveyard Drimoleague April 1963–April 1969
 Durrus Graveyard Durrus June 1989–June 1995
 Fanlobbus Graveyard Dunmanway March 1960–September 1994
 Kilbarry Graveyard Dunmanway March 1960–May 1993
 Kilcaskan Graveyard Adrigole no dates on entries
 Kilmacabea Graveyard Leap March 1934–February 1968
 Milltown Rathbarry Graveyard Ardfield September 1944–January 1947
 Tullagh Graveyard Baltimore January 1900–December 1973
 Whiddy Island Bantry Bay February 1935–October 1980