23,000 burial records for 18 Cork graveyards made available for the first time

SOME 23,000 burial records from 18 Co Cork graveyards have been made available to the public for the first time, free of charge.

The documents have been digitised by Cork County Council’s Skibbereen Heritage Centre, bringing the total number of burial records on its website to 82,700.

This latest upload includes graveyards from both West and East Cork, as well as from Macroom and Carrigaline, with some records from North Cork also available for the first time.

The digitisation project is supported by Cork County Council, and the small team at Skibbereen Heritage Centre have been working on it for several years, bringing previously unavailable records into the public realm for the first time.

The burial grounds added in the centre’s most recent upload include: Kilfaugnabeg Old, Dunbullogue, North Abbey in Youghal, Old Church in Cobh, All Saints in Garrycloyne, St Mary’s in Garrycloyne, Aghabullogue, and Matehy.

Also included are: St Finbarr’s in Kilmurry/Lissarda and St Mary’s in Kilmurry/Lissarda, North Kilmurry, near Berrings, St John’s Coachford, Marmullane in Kilmurry, Passage West, St Mary’s Carrigaline, Killingly in Ballygarvan, St Mary’s Passage West, Burnfort, and Ballyclough.

The Mayor of County Cork Frank O’Flynn said making this information accessible was important, and that the project had proven extremely popular with the public.

“We have received a phenomenal response to this project, with many people discovering their ancestors’ forgotten final resting place,” he said.

“It really means a lot to those researching their Cork ancestry from around the world, and many of these enquiries have brought visitors to the area to visit their ancestral burial ground.”

With 82,700 burial records available free of charge, the Skibbereen Heritage Centre website, www.skibbheritage.com, also includes a map of all the sites, as well as a searchable database.

With the support of Cork County Council, the team at the Skibbereen Heritage Centres hopes to continue this project in 2024 and 2025, with the next tranche coming primarily from North Cork.

The Skibbereen Heritage Centre also includes a series of free genealogy podcasts.