Few takers for €700-a-year Cork grave registration job

In rural parts of County Cork, concerns have been raised that people will no longer do the job and that could lead to mix-ups with burials and a loss of vital genealogical records in the years to come. File photo: Pexels

The task of registering graves is fast becoming a ‘dead-end' job as the pay is so poor. 

In rural parts of County Cork, concerns have been raised that people will no longer do the job and that could lead to mix-ups with burials and a loss of vital genealogical records in the years to come.

The warning comes from councillors representing the north-west part of the county, who believe it could become a widespread issue because the “very responsible role” of ‘register of graves’ in parishes pays just €787.04 per year. Each cemetery must have a register and are paid by Cork County Council.

However, vacancies for these roles are not being filled in some communities and the poor remuneration is being blamed for it.

Fine Gael councillor Liam Madden raised the issue at a meeting of the Kanturk/Mallow Municipal District Council. He said there needs to be increased remuneration to attract people and if that can’t be achieved, he said councils should get their employees to fill the gaps.

“There's a lot of importance in filling these posts going forward for our national records. These people have important jobs. They have to register who’s in the graves, liaise with undertakers and gravediggers and make sure gravestones adhere to the bylaws,” Mr Madden said.

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“The problem is the money. They definitely need to be better paid. Unfortunately, because these positions are not being filled we don’t have up-to-date records in some graveyards,” he added.

Municipal district officer, Matthew Farrell, agreed that the job “is a very responsible position” and “includes a body of work". He said the remuneration was set countywide by officials in County Hall and he will contact them on the matter. Officials said they can’t free up employees to plug the gaps as they are short-staffed and over-stretched.

“We need to get serious about this. We could see mistakes happening and we don’t want that,” Mr Madden said.

Meanwhile, Fine Gael councillor John Paul O’Shea urged officials to speed up the opening of an extension to the cemetery in Rockchapel. He said it's “very distressing” for relatives to bury their loved ones elsewhere because there are no plots available. 

Mr O’Shea said they're being buried in Newmarket, or even worse “going over the county bounds” into Limerick.