Ireland XO
Back to Message Board

Why is there two grave registration books for the old graveyard in Cobh.

Hi all,

I was doing research on my family tree and I could not find the grave where my great grandfather David Kidney was buried in 1913. He was not listed on the register of deaths that is held by the Cobh Urban council in Cobh.I eventually found a second graveyard book in the Cork city archive in Blackpool and he was listed in that.

He was a member of the odd fellow society and they placed an ad in the front of the cork examiner the day he was buried asking fellow members to attend the funeral of Bro. David. His wife was buried in the new graveyard. He was missing from the 1911 census and we dont know where he was at that time. My guess is he fell out with her for what ever reason. However,His wife is listed on the death certificate as being present at the time of death.The add in the examinermentioned he was going straight from his house in 5 harbour row to the old grave yard. A few questions I would love to get answers onwhywas there two books for the old graveyard? Was one book for those that got a paupers grave?Does anybody know anything about the Odd Fellow Society in Cobh?

I would be really grateful if anybody had any suggestions on these questions.

Thanks in advance,

Liam

IrelandXO member

3 replies

Dear Liam: 

Thank you for your post and your very interesting questions.  I have send the post to one of our Cork volunteers and he may be able to assist you.  In the meantime, I had never heard of the Odd Fellows Society and I have found a link to their history which appears to have originated in the UK.  https://www.oddfellows.co.uk/about/history/ 

The best of luck with your research. 

If you are interested in sharing this information about your ancestor, please consider creating an Ancestor Profile on the XO Chronicles tab (located at the top right of the page). 

Kind regards, 

Jane

jhalloranryan@…

Thanks for your response Jane.  

I got in touch with the OddFellows and signed up for the archive but it had very little about the Queenstown section.  I found no mention of my great Grandfather.

My Granny and others never spoke about David and my father and his twin never knew where he was buried when they were alive.  They didn't know the existence of the 2nd book in Cork.  I asked the Cork archive a year ago and got no answer why there are two books.   There was different people in each of the  books.  I took photos of the deaths at the same time and compared them.

My guess it is an unmarked grave.  Maybe it was because he didn't have a Catholic funeral which was unusual at the time.  However on his burial book he is marked as Catholic.

The Mystery continues.....

Liam

 

IrelandXO member

I agree that this is quite an interesting story. I would recommend you checking the essay collection at phdessay.com for some information. I always wonder how some strange things could happen.

Clayton Simpson

Reply

Reply
One image file up to 2 MB.