Kerry Graveyard Records Heritage Steering Group convened in 2010 with the sole purpose of advancing this initiative. The Steering Group consisted of representatives of North and East Kerry Development, IRD Duhallow, South Kerry Development Partnership, Meitheal Forbartha na Gaeltachta and Kerry County Council.
2. Background
Over 140 cemeteries are currently either controlled or owned by Kerry
Local Authorities.
Burial registers contain details of burials in local authority cemeteries and are a useful tool in assisting genealogical research.
The ancestors of many emigrants from County Kerry are interred in these cemeteries. Families regularly wish to view the burial records or locate the appropriate cemetery prior to visiting the County.
It is with this in mind that Kerry Graveyard Records Heritage Steering Group initiated
a Scanning and Indexation Project in 2010.
3. The Project
The primary aim of the project was the production of high quality scans of registers of burials.
This allowed the preservation of the original records, all of which are now stored in the Archives Section of the County Library, located in Moyderwell, Tralee, Co. Kerry.
The secondary aim of the project involved the indexation of records to facilitate Kerry County Council in the creation of a user-friendly internet site allowing members of the public to view registers on a free to view basis.
Records were indexed according to pre-defined criteria thereby facilitating the ultimate objective of the establishment of a website allowing public internet access to burial records.
Following a tendering process in 2010, Document Processing Agency Ltd was selected to scan
168 Registers and Lendac Data Systems was chosen to index approximately 70,000 records.
The website was designed and developed by the Information Technology Department
of Kerry County Council in co-operation with the Burial Grounds Section of the Water
Services Department.
A map of the location of Kerry Local Authority Burial Grounds is available as a
link on the site to assist researchers when viewing records.
Researchers can search for burials in a cemetery based on specific criteria or may
opt to view an entire register in its original format.
Original records contain entries
in relation to the age of the deceased, the cause of death, rank/occupation/profession
at the time of death and marital status.
Such information can often prove beneficial to researchers, particularly with popular
surnames.
4. Accuracy of Data and Unavailable Records
The site does not purport to represent all burial records for Local Authority Cemeteries
and therefore should be taken as including all records available for inclusion in
the project. Sadly, books were lost or destroyed over the years or records
may not have been kept in the first instance.
Kerry Local Authorities cannot be held responsible for inaccurate or incomplete entries.
The causes of death were not entered by qualified medical personnel and should not be taken to represent medical causes of death.
Further records will be added over time to ensure that records are preserved
for and available to future generations.
Where a member of the public wishes to formally record the burial of a family member which was not recorded in the burial register, they should write to the relevant local authority with the necessary information.
A separate register will be kept on such entries which will in time be added to the website.
Should a member of the public wish the local authority to note an amendment to a cause of death, as entered in the burial records, the legal representative of the deceased person should forward the death certificate of the person interred to the relevant local authority.
Occasionally
where the signature of the person with responsibility for the management of the
interment was not obtained by the Registrar, the name and not the signature was
inserted in the Registers.
The site does not contain records of burials in Church owned or privately owned
cemeteries.
5. Ownership of Records
All records available on this site are the exclusive property of Kerry Local Authorities
and they may not be reproduced or sold by any party.