SNIPPET: A letter from a Mr. DYER in Raheny, Dublin, in a 1995 issue of Cork's "Irish Roots" magazine compared Irish death certificates to those in the United States. Mr. DYER commented: "The information specified in Death Certificates in Ireland has remained unaltered since registration commenced in 1864. The following is recorded: date and place of death; name and surname; sex; marital status; age; rank, profession or occupation; cause of death and duration of illness; date of registration; signature; qualification and address of informant. American Death Certificates, generally, are much more informative. In the State of Illinois, for instance, the following additional information is recorded: date of birth of deceased; birthplace; father's full name; mother's full maiden name; name, address and relationship of informant; name and address of attending physician and funeral director and cemetery. The benefits for genealogists are obvious. It is time for the Department of Health to take a fresh look at the layout and contents of our Birth, Marriage and Death Certificates, for the benefit of future generations."

when my mother died, we (5 girls) were setting in office to answer the questions for the death certificate. i am the genealogist in family and my sisters would look at me when the questions were ask. they were glad i was there and i was glad i knew the answers. on some of my copies of death certificates in my family, they were answered and signed my daughters, spouses etc. again some answers were wrong. and there is lots of blanks, just no answers at all. but, i do use them all the time, you get more form them then not. i just do a lot of cross reference. that is what it is all about. mother's would have been one of them that would have been wrong. jean cihal tomas