As a community we are finding new ways to help support and carry a family through their grief We have all faced a very difficult job this year since could be held at the family home, allowing neighbours Covid 19 began, trying to offer our families a service and close friends to congregate outside, pay their while abiding by the rules and restrictions. And while respects, and feel included in a ceremony of farewell. those rules have been varied over the last six months, This is then followed by a service of committal at the the restrictions of allowing between 10 and 25 crematorium or graveside. This idea has proved to be mourners to attend a funeral have had a huge impact popular with many families, and I have witnessed some on how the life of a lost loved one is celebrated. very emotional send-offs from family homes where Funerals are about a community coming together to many friendships were forged, and memories created. offer support or just words of comfort, and families One such funeral for a man who was a huge GAA Dublin draw great strength from these acts of kindness. Even supporter, saw his neighbours line the streets wearing the book of condolence has been suspended, and the jerseys and waving flags – it was like all Ireland Day! signing of a name or writing a personal note, along with For others, the simple clapping of hands as the cortege leaving a sympathy card was always an easier way for passes can be as positive as a handshake or embrace. people to express their feelings when the spoken word On another occasion, as the hearse was driving through might sometimes be awkward. People are now posting the crematorium gates, people who were gathered, burst messages of sympathy on RIP.ie, and I have noticed some into singing a Dublin ballad. Funeral Directors are now putting those comments into Sometimes an unannounced or pre planned gesture a beautifully presented folder for families. can be very emotive and moving. For venues that don’t The ritual of the ‘three day funeral’ has also gone, and have a live stream facility, a whole new enterprise has the length of a funeral service has been curtailed to a been born with services being recorded by professional single time slot in the crematoriums. As a celebrant, this videographers. is proving to be very challenging – it’s impossible to fully So as we enter a new year, and a still uncertain future, celebrate a life in twenty minutes! Thinking outside the the ritual of ‘Irish Funeral’ as we know it, will find ways to box has opened up new avenues and opportunities, adapt, and people, as a community, will find new ways to Padraics Civil Advert July 2020.qxp_Layout 1 17/07/2020 13:50 Page 1 and I have suggested to many families that a service help support and carry a family through their grief.
Padraic Cawley Civil Funeral Celebrant Celebrating the life of the deceased, reflecting their personal beliefs, wishes, values and traditions.
T: 087- 2676050
E: padraic@padraiccawley.ie W: www.padraiccawley.ie 54 | FuneralTimes
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