Query re Liber Mortuorum (Death/Burial Book)
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Query re Liber Mortuorum (Death/Burial Book)
Has anyone ever heard Liber Mortuorum which I believe means Death (and/or) Burial Book. My cousin recently found a list for Fanore church 1919-1995 among her mothers possessions (I will post the list here after she has sent me a copy). I was under the impression that no burial records were kept in Ireland? Are these available for all graveyards?
Re: Query re Liber Mortuorum (Death/Burial Book)
That sounds like the death register for the Catholic parish of Fanore - i.e. the register of all funeral services held in the church or churches in that parish, regardless of where burial or cremation subsequently took place.
Such registers were not kept by the Catholic church in the 19th century but they were introduced some time in the 20th.
Is it just a chronological list of names and dates?
Were all the deceased buried in a single cemetery? Are detailed locations of the graves given?
Did the custodian work as sacristan or parish clerk or in some other capacity in which she might have been responsible for the safe custody of the register?
Could she have borrowed the register from the Parish Priest, who should have been responsible for its safe custody, and merely neglected to return it to him?
The book (once copied!) should be returned to the P.P. of Fanore - particularly if it can be established that the present incumbent is not the person who mislaid it!
How many nineteenth and eighteenth century parish registers suffered similar fates and are still in private hands or were subsequently destroyed?
Such registers were not kept by the Catholic church in the 19th century but they were introduced some time in the 20th.
Is it just a chronological list of names and dates?
Were all the deceased buried in a single cemetery? Are detailed locations of the graves given?
Did the custodian work as sacristan or parish clerk or in some other capacity in which she might have been responsible for the safe custody of the register?
Could she have borrowed the register from the Parish Priest, who should have been responsible for its safe custody, and merely neglected to return it to him?
The book (once copied!) should be returned to the P.P. of Fanore - particularly if it can be established that the present incumbent is not the person who mislaid it!
How many nineteenth and eighteenth century parish registers suffered similar fates and are still in private hands or were subsequently destroyed?
Re: Query re Liber Mortuorum (Death/Burial Book)
Many thanks for that reply. I have not yet seen the list but from what I understand it is a copy of the Liber Mortuorum and not the actual book. I was in my aunts possession and she was originally from the Fanore area, though she had not lived there for many many years. Until I see the list, I will not know if it is for the Church in Fanore only so I will post again when I have it in my possession. (My cousin has indicated that in some cases it lists hospitals or nursing homes where the individuals may have died).