An online database of more than 70,000 people buried at the Mount St
Lawrence Cemetery has revealed a 150-year overview of Limerick
society. The records include the name, age, address, and grave location of the dead. They can be accessed through the council’s website, www.limerickcity.ie, by searching for Mount St Lawrence. Special software, available on the site, is necessary to view the records.
Work is now underway to develop an online map of all burial plots there.
Mayor Kathleen Leddin acknowledged the work of Limerick City Archives and Mary Immaculate College in creating what she described as a lasting and precious record of the city’s social history.
Mount St Lawrence has been the primary place of burial in Limerick City for all strata of society since its opening in 1849.
It was developed due to a need for more burial capacity after cholera epidemics in the 1830s and the Great Famine in the 1840s.
An extension to Mount St Lawrence was opened in 1960. The management of the cemetery was transferred from the church to Limerick City Council in 1979.
Limerick City archivist Jacqui Hayes said: “The records contain the names, addresses at time of death, ages, position of the grave, and dates of death of all those buried in the cemetery. This information makes them an invaluable resource for those conducting genealogical research on the Limerick area.
“The address of the deceased gives an indication of the footfall of various institutions including the mental hospital and the County Infirmary.
“These are invaluable in the case of Limerick Union Workhouse whose admissions records are no longer available. This feature of the records also reflects the political and consequently geographical changes which took place in the city of Limerick, for example the renaming of the streets.”
Mount Saint Lawrence contains plots reserved for particular groups, including religious and diocesan graves, as well as a Republican plot.
One of the largest is the Good Shepherd plot, where 241 women who had passed through its reformatory for girls, industrial school, and Magdalene asylum on Clare St were buried. Their graves were unmarked until a campaign resulted in the erection of markers naming the women interred there.