Burial ground registers

Galway County Council holds a large, though incomplete, collection of burial registers for Council-owned burial grounds. These registers generally date from the mid-1940s.

Types of Registers:

• Registers of Interment: Record burial details in chronological order. These do not include burial plot location details.
• Plot Books: Record burial details with burial plot location information.

Earlier registers are available for:

• Ballinasloe (1885, BTC/2)
• Boyhill, Athenry (1917, GC/ENV1/36)
• Tuam (1882, GC/ENV1/27)

Note: Registers of Interment are more widely available than Plot Books. 

For full details, please refer to the catalogue under Related Links.

The database contains over 40,000 handwritten entries from surviving registers. 

These have been indexed, transcribed, and are searchable under the following headings:

• First name
• Surname
• Interment date
• Burial ground

To search the database:

1. Enter the information you have. If only the surname is known, enter it in the search field.
2. Select the required variant if multiple results appear.
3. Narrow your search by selecting a burial ground or first name.
4. Click the link icon to view the original register page.

Click Reset to clear search fields and begin a new search.

• All content is © Galway County Council.
• Use is allowed for personal research or educational purposes only.
• Do not copy or distribute without permission.

Burial ground management follows health legislation and regulations, including the Public Health (Ireland) Act, 1878. Management history includes:

• Burial Boards (under Poor Law Unions)
• Rural District Councils (1899–1925)
• Boards of Health & Public Assistance
• Galway County Council (from the 1940s onward)

The County Council appoints caretakers who:

• Manage registers
• Record interments
• Handle burial plot payments

Some caretakers only maintain Registers of Interment, which do not include plot locations.

Galway County Council owns 225 graveyards, with approximately 250 more not under Council ownership. Among these are children’s burial grounds, known locally as killeens/ciliní or cillachaun/killahauns.

In cases where burial ground registers do not exist, genealogists and historians often turn to existing headstones and memorials. The grave memorial inscription project, overseen by Galway County Council’s Heritage Office, could be particularly useful in such instances.

The Local Studies section of Galway Public Libraries holds copies of memorial inscriptions for various cemeteries, compiled by FÁS Galway Family History Societies in the 1990s. For more information, contact the library at localstudies@galwaylibrary.ie.

Handwritten entries from Registers of Interment and Plot Books have been transcribed and linked to digitised register pages. Due to varied handwriting and the condition of originals, some text may be difficult to read.

Efforts were made to ensure accuracy, but errors may occur. Notable points:

• Spellings are preserved as in the original (e.g., Murry and Murray)
• Missing dates are marked as 00/00/yy or ?
• Missing names are marked as [Blank] or ?
• Minor corrections were made for Data Protection purposes

This project, funded by Galway County Council, converted over 40,000 entries into a searchable database. The database will continue to expand as new registers are added.

Making this data available online increases public access and helps preserve original records.

Galway County Council Archives thanks Mallon Technologies Ltd. and Galway County Council’s Information Systems team for their contributions.

• Historical Burial Records:
  For queries related to historical burial information, please contact the Archivist at:
  archivist@galwaycoco.ie
• Current or Future Burial Arrangements:
  For enquiries regarding current or proposed future burials, please contact the Environment Section:
  091 509 510
  environment@galwaycoco.ie