Rathmichael Cemetery

HydeRoad

Has anyone traced ancestors buried in Rathmichael Cemetery?

I have asked DLR for the records, they directed me to the rector of Rathmichael Church. He directed me back to DLR, who then directed me to a man, who told me the records had been held by a woman who may have retired, or something like that, and nobody seems to know where the records are now.

What information may be gleaned from the headstones is minimal enough, but there were many burials unmarked, or where the headstones have been damaged.

I seem to be at a full stop. Somebody must have the old records. Surely they weren't discarded?

Waitsian

HydeRoad wrote: »

Has anyone traced ancestors buried in Rathmichael Cemetery?

I have asked DLR for the records, they directed me to the rector of Rathmichael Church. He directed me back to DLR, who then directed me to a man, who told me the records had been held by a woman who may have retired, or something like that, and nobody seems to know where the records are now.

What information may be gleaned from the headstones is minimal enough, but there were many burials unmarked, or where the headstones have been damaged.

I seem to be at a full stop. Somebody must have the old records. Surely they weren't discarded?

Finding cemetery records can be a tricky business. Some of my mother's people are buried in Carruckcruppin in South Armagh (near Camlough). Most are indicated by names on a headstone but others are not - we simply know they are there because of family folklore, or in some cases for eg children, we assume they are with parents or grandparents in what are family plots. I asked the local PP for help on the matter and he told me that the Church doesn't keep such records because they are private. When I rang and politely asked the local undertaker we were told that the long-serving grave digger had recently died and taken his knowledge with him. :eek: It all seems a bit fishy if you ask me, but I must accept what I'm told at face value.

shanew

Is it Church of Ireland burials you are interested in ?

The historic registers for the parish (or films of them) are available in the Representative Church Body Library in Rathfarnham. These include baptisms back to 1865, marriages back to 1864 and death/burials back to 1893.


Shane

HydeRoad

Actually, it is catholic burials I am after. There is one gravestone there belonging to my family, but there were definitely other burials, for which no record seems to exist. That is why I would have loved to see the written records.

shanew

dont know if you've already seen this - but there are some details on the Dublin City Library website : http://dublinheritage.ie/graveyards/search.php

Details of various available records are listed, but all seem to be memorial inscriptions, rather than burial records. Early records for the parish were lost in the PRO in 1922. No mention of death/burial records other than in the RCBL and some recorded in Bray registers. I dont think CofI records would usually include RC burials.

Dean's Grange is given as the current point of contact.. although this may be just for new burials. Although I've no idea how they would confirm if someone had rights without some sort of records ?

The memorial inscriptions might be worth checking as some of these were carried out a while ago and they may have been able to read more than is currently visible - e.g. I think Cantwell carried out his surveys during the 1970s and 80s.


Shane