Digital collection of World War I gravestones and memorials in County Kildare now online

Between 2016-2020 the County Kildare Decade of Commemorations Committee commissioned photographer, Seán Sourke, Naas, Co. Kildare, to locate and photograph the World War I graves and memorials as a permanent memorial of the war dead in the county. County Kildare was an important centre of the British Army in Ireland, with barracks at Naas, Newbridge, Kildare Town and the Curragh Camp and its presence in the county for many generations ensured that enlistment in the county was above average.

The collection contains the graves of those who died in the county, as well as some of those who died serving overseas but who were commemorated on family gravestones, plaques or other memorials locally. The graves of soldiers who died while serving in the Curragh Camp and buried in the Curragh Military Cemetery from 1914-1918 are also included. This cemetery, located on the eastern side of the Curragh Military Camp contain over 100 Commonwealth service burials dating mostly from World War I up until the site was last used in 1922. Also included is the memorial in remembrance of those from Athy and environs which was unveiled in the Old St. Michael’s Cemetery on 11 November 2018 to mark the centenary of the end of the Great War. Some of the images in this collection were used in the County Kildare Decade of Commemorations publication, Remembrance, The World War I Dead of Co. Kildare (2021).