COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF LUCAN / PALMERSTOWN / NORTH CLONDALKIN AREA COMMITTEE

Tuesday, September 23, 2025

QUESTION NO. 4

QUESTION: Councillor H. Farrell

To ask the Manager of the status in terms of public access, location, and format of the burial records for a) St. Finian's Church, b) Old Esker Cemetery and c) New Esker Cemetery, and an update on any plans to digitise (or to seek funding to digitise) these records for local history and genealogical purposes?

REPLY:

South Dublin County Council can confirm that work on the digitisation of burial records is already underway. Our burial grounds team have committed to the digitisation of Burial Ground records with provision made in the 2025 budget. It is planned to create a cloud based integrated Cemetery Management system, to accommodate mapping of plots in all SDCC cemeteries including photographs, record management and an online payment system that will integrate with our current financial system. As part of this, we want to create a public facility whereby members of the public and historians can access burial information.

This process will involve the careful cataloguing, scanning, and indexing of existing records to ensure they are accessible in a secure and user-friendly digital format. The project is being developed with a view to enhancing public access for local history and genealogical research.

In progressing this work, we have engaged with another Council that has successfully implemented a similar system, as well as with Dublin Cemeteries Trust, to draw on their experience and best practice. This collaboration will help ensure that the digitised records are managed to a high standard and provide long-term value to the public.

As part of this overall strategy, the cemeteries referred to above will be included in the digitisation programme.