Non-registration of deaths

Genealogy, Archaeology, History, Heritage & Folklore

Moderators: Clare Support, Clare Past Mod

Post Reply
Lucille
Posts: 144
Joined: Wed Jan 19, 2011 6:59 pm

Non-registration of deaths

Post by Lucille » Sat Jun 13, 2015 7:52 am

Hi

Does anyone have experience of the non-registration of deaths in the first half of the 20th century in West Clare? In my particular case I'm talking of the parish of Kilmurry Ibrickane, with Kilrush as the Registration district.

I have three instances of deaths in 1918, 1938 and 1951 where I have found the dates of death in the Wills Index of the National Archives, but no entry either on FamilySearch or irishgenealogy.ie. I would have thought that a death certificate would have to be produced to probate a will.

Any ideas anyone?

Thanks

Lucille

Sduddy
Posts: 1826
Joined: Sun Sep 26, 2010 10:07 am

Re: Non-registration of deaths

Post by Sduddy » Sat Jun 13, 2015 6:29 pm

Hi Lucille

I have found the same in the Ennis registration district. Strangely, it seems it was not necessary to have registered a death in order to probate a will. Was a newspaper notice/report of the death a substitute, I wonder.

Sheila

mgallery
Posts: 201
Joined: Sat Jul 14, 2012 6:27 pm

Re: Non-registration of deaths

Post by mgallery » Sat Jun 13, 2015 9:05 pm

Lucille

There could be a simpler explanation they may be just misfiled or filed under a different name, we found my grandfather Christopher Gallerys death registration eventually it was simply misfiled (I dont know if you every found it)
rgds

Margaret

Lucille
Posts: 144
Joined: Wed Jan 19, 2011 6:59 pm

Re: Non-registration of deaths

Post by Lucille » Sun Jun 14, 2015 10:40 am

Thanks Sheila and Margaret,

I wonder are there any 'historical legal types' out there who would know if using a newspaper notice was ever enough to probate a will. Given that all three wills in question were probated in Limerick it's not as if there was immediate local knowledge involved.

In order to rule out mis-prints/mis-filings as in the Christopher Gallery case I used the 'browse' facility on www.irishgenealogy.ie where I was able to see all the registered deaths in Kilrush in any given year - a very useful facility but it turned up nothing.

BTW if anyone is going to do a similar search be aware that while all the deaths (and presumably also births and marriages) for a given year are together (though a few outliers) the individual years of a decade are not in chronological order! Also, while age of death is given for most years it was marked a N/R for 1919, but the ages for the same year are given on FamilySearch. Someone wants us to keep our grey cells working!

Lucille

Sduddy
Posts: 1826
Joined: Sun Sep 26, 2010 10:07 am

Re: Non-registration of deaths

Post by Sduddy » Sun Jun 14, 2015 11:08 am

Hi Lucille. You might be interested in this column by John Grenham in The Irish Times from 20 April, about gaps in transcriptions:
http://www.irishtimes.com/culture/herit ... -1.2178591

Lucille
Posts: 144
Joined: Wed Jan 19, 2011 6:59 pm

Re: Non-registration of deaths

Post by Lucille » Sun Jun 14, 2015 11:45 am

Hi Sheila

I remember reading that article of John Grenham's. He seems to suggest that using both FamilySearch and irishgenealogy.ie would turn up everything that is there, but I'm beginning to think that I need to check the books in the GRO - I thought I was finished with those!

Thanks

Lucille

mgallery
Posts: 201
Joined: Sat Jul 14, 2012 6:27 pm

Re: Non-registration of deaths

Post by mgallery » Mon Jun 15, 2015 4:13 pm

Well Lucille your answer makes me realise something else. My grandfather Christopher Gallerys death would not have been registered in Kilrush as he died in a nursing home in Ennis. I knew that as I asked my cousin where he died and additionally the death was misfiled but this could have been another reason you cant find them

Lucille
Posts: 144
Joined: Wed Jan 19, 2011 6:59 pm

Re: Non-registration of deaths

Post by Lucille » Wed Jul 08, 2015 10:03 am

At a lecture yesterday given by Stephen Smyrl, respected genealogist, on the topic of Wills in Ireland he said that he had found many cases where wills were probated but no death certificate was found. So whether or not it was official policy, it appears to have been fairly common practice.

Lucille

Post Reply