Record of death of RNVR Man/Funeral in Cork

[Guest Ceallachain]

My Grand-Uncle, Peter O'Callaghan of Cork City, served in the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserves until he was invalided out of them in 1919 with TB. The family are united in holding that he died sometime in 1920, but I can find no record of his death anywhere, but an account within the family, and I have no reason to doubt it as many members cite it independently of each other, is that he was treated as a hero in Cork on his death as he refused to accept a British headstone over his grave and he was followed to his burial by no fewer than seven bands playing for him. Again, I can find no record of this anywhere and would be eternally grateful for any help anyone can give. He was buried in Curraghkippane Cemetery in Cork, and his grave has no stone, so I have no date of death. I have info on his service record, but it is his death that I just cannot place. One rumour is that he did not die in Cork, but elsewhere and his body was returned, but other info I have places him in Cork, but despite efforts and a search of about ten years of death records, nothing turns up in Cork.

Help!

Ceallachain

[Desmond7]

Having read local newspapers of the time at some length .. I'd be convinced that such an event/bands etc would have been covered by the paper in Cork at the time.

Try the local studies library in the city .. see what they have on microfilm?

Des

[healdav]

Are you absolutely certain that he was in the RN?

I came across a case a few years ago (long story so I won't bore you with it) of a man from Ringaskiddy (my wife is from there) who had died whilst 'in the British Navy' in 1913.

The daughters had never seen the grave and only knew that it was in Gillingham Naval cemetery

I discovered fairly quickly that in fact he was on an oil tanker (and thus was a merchant seaman and not in the RN) as a seaman.

[Guest Ceallachain]

Hi. Thanks for your mails. Yes, he was definitely in the RNVR. I have his record and mention of him up to August 1920- then the trail stops. If I could find a date and place of death, it would be fantastic. I will search through the newspapers for Cork in that period when I am there in July, but anything at all to help narrow the search down woudl be excellent. Thank you to everyone. If anyone else out there can help, I would be enormously grateful.

Ceallachain

[oak]

Perhaps I'm overlooking something here, but surely there is a register for the graveyard? This would be held by the caretaker and would record the date of burial and the date and place of death. If the graveyard is too small to have an onsite caretaker, I suggest you contact Cork County Council or the City Hall. (I left Cork in 1984 and can't remember if Curraghkippane is in the city or county).

Might I suggest that you contact the Genealogical Society of Ireland at www.familyhistory.ie Ask them for a contact address/phone number for the Genealogical Society in Cork. This would give you someone with knowledge of local records to consult upon/before arrival in Cork.

Regards and best of luck,

Philip

[healdav]

Unfortunately, you can't rely totally on records.

They say, for example, that a belgian was buried in Cobh Old Cemetery during WW1 and the Belgians have it registered as a war grave.

Try as I might my wife and I have been unable to find it - and we spent well over na hour scouring what is a fariley small cemetery. A friend who went there also spent an hour or so. No grave is to be found.

It's a fascinating cemetery, by the way. A number of Lusitainia victims among others.

I also had to look for a war grave in Bath Catholic cemetery. That is about the size of my back garden, but there is no grave to be found even though the records say clearly that there is one there.

[PFF]

Checked the CWGC website for "BATH ROMAN CATHOLIC CEMETERY" 11 are reported identifed-only 9 listed by name.!!!

Also CWGC "COBH OLD CHURCH CEMETERY" 129 burials reporteed (1 is Belgium grave-)-128 by name!!

In regard to "Ceallachain" try the website Campaigners for War Grave Commemorations" at URL http://www.cwgc.co.uk/ -its possible that your relative died

of war related disability after being discharged-did his widow ever file for a pension?

[healdav]

I should have made it clear that the one I couldn't find in the Bath cemetery was a Belgian.

[Guest Ceallachain]

Philip et al,

Thanks for your mails, everyone. They have all helped. Curraghkippane is in the County, and I am trying to find the burial records, but records that far back are not easy to locate, even within the County system. In doing some work on burials in another graveyard, I discovered that accurate records were not kept until the 1950s and any records before that had disappeared. I was searching out a burial in 1926! I visit Cork in a few weeks and hope to make some progress whilst there.

Ceallachain

[Terry Denham]

Checked the CWGC website for "BATH ROMAN CATHOLIC CEMETERY" 11 are reported identifed-only 9 listed by name.!!!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

PFF

There are eleven war graves in Bath Roman Catholic Cemetery but only nine are listed on the CWGC website as two of them are Belgian war graves and Foreign National graves are not included on CWGC's site.

Healdav

There is, indeed, one Belgian war grave in Cobh Old Church Cemetery - that of Pierre Edward Germaine Van Der Veken - a Belgian soldier who died during WW1. He is in grave number C.15.45.

However, that does not mean that he has a headstone. A number of Foreign National war graves were never marked.

[Guest Ceallachain]

Hi all,

I am getting rather desperate with this one and really hope someone can help. I just keep meeting a blank wall on this guy's death.

I know that he joined the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserves in 1918, served just over a year, was invalided out in 1919 with TB and then the least record of him is in 1920. His service record mentions contact with him in 1920, but no other details. My big problem is trying to find a place and date of death. The accounts within the family, independently from a number of family members, all of whom were born either in the late 1920s or early 30s, are that he had a very big funeral to Curraghkippane Cemetery, just outside the Cork City boundary, in 1920 and that several bands followed him. He was feted because he had refused a British headstone over his grave. However, there is no record at all of his death in Cork for that year; There is no record, I have discovered today, of his burial in Curraghkippane, and the records from 1918-1935 have been checked there. I can also find no record in newspapers of the period. Help!! His name was Peter O'Callaghan and he gave two addresses- 28 Old Market Place and 71 Wolfe Tone Street, both in Cork City.

I would be eternally grateful for any help.

Ceallachain

[museumtom]

Looking through the CWGC registers from County Cork I found 4 O'Callaghans in various cemeteries but none from the RNVR.

regards.

Tom.

[Guest Ceallachain]

Thanks, Tom. I will try to have a look at those. The thing is, though, it appears that his colourful funeral took place as a result of his refusing to have a British-funded headstone. However, I wonder would he have been entitled to such a headstone anyway, having been invalided out of the RNVR. On the other hand, he had been awarded a pension, which seems a bit unusual after only 15 months in the RNVR, so maybe he was still regarded as 'one of us'. I am really puzzled by this guy- there is just something there which I cannot get a handle on and he is proving very hard indeed to pin down.

The only other thing I can look at is whether he actually died in the UK itself, rather than Cork. But, that still doesn't explain the lack of record of his burial in Curraghkippane.

Ceallachain

[Guest Ceallachain]

I have just had a look at the CWGC site and have seen those four people's details, but none of them are the guy I am looking for. Interesting to see that there is a Private Maura O'Callaghan in Curraghkippane, from 1947!

I would be truly grateful if anyone could help me track this man's grave and/or date and place of death down. I am just looking now to try to find out his number in the RNVR and will post that in a few mos.

Thanks,

Ceallachain

[Guest Ceallachain]

He is listed under two numbers inthe RNVR files, but the second one is the one against which his record was found.

The first listing is TZ7315 and the one against which his record was found is TS8695.

Hope someone can shed some light on this mystery. I am keen to honour this man's memory.

Yours,

Ceallachain