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- Registering A Death
- Cremation
- First Steps
- Funeral Arrangements
- Post Funeral Assistance
- Planning A Funeral In Advance
A cremator will only fit one coffin at a time. Once the cremation is completed, the remains are put in an separate, identified container, so there is no chance of a mix up. All cremations are governed by a strict code of practice, which is on display in the crematorium.
The cremation takes place after the service, usually soon afterwards or within 24 hours.
The coffin is taken to the crematory, the nameplate checked and the coffin is then placed in the cremator with an identity card attached. Once cremated, the remains are removed from the cremator and after being cooled, are reduced to ash in a cremulator. The ashes are then placed in an urn or casket for collection, by arrangement.
Cremation is widely accepted by all Christian denominations, as well as Hindus, Sikhs, Parsees, and Buddhists. Orthodox Jews, Greek Orthodox, and Muslims do not allow cremation.
Family and mourners should be seated in the crematorium at the arranged time, where the coffin will be placed for everyone to view. Depending on your choice of service, hymns, prayers, songs and eulogies will follow. As the end of the service approaches, curtains will usually be drawn to hide the coffin from view, although you can choose for the coffin to remain in view throughout. The service is completed in the time allowed by the crematorium.
Yes. You can have a conventional religious service, a non-religious one, or no service if you prefer, prior to the deceased being removed to the crematorium.
You will need to provide a medical certificate, which we can arrange on your behalf. The medical practitioner charges a fee for this service. If the deceased has a pacemaker fitted, this will be removed before cremation. Other items, including jewellery and glasses will also be removed.
No, typically burial is the more expensive option, but we will provide you with detailed costs so you can compare the two.
We have many years of experience of dealing with these situations and our repatriation service is highly regarded throughout the industry. We’ll take care of the complexities involved when a death occurs overseas, including all the necessary documentation required by embassies, the local coroner, and airlines, to ensure the safe return of the deceased back home to Ireland. We offer the same professional service for repatriating a deceased person from Ireland back to their home country.
Yes. Many families choose to carry the coffin. Six people is normally the appropriate number of bearers required to carry the coffin into and out of the church.
Yes. We’ll be happy to organise this on your behalf, by including your request when we make out the death announcement form.
We will discuss all options for the funeral with you and provide you with a detailed estimate of the cost, based on your choices. Funeral costs fall into two areas: those charged by the funeral directors for the preparation of the deceased, the choice of coffin, transportation, and any other professional services. The other costs include any payments we make on your behalf to the crematoria, cemetery, newspaper, and florists.
Our staff will advise in all cases but for guidance, Sunday burials are not allowed in Dublin, although there are occasional exceptions. Some cemeteries do allow burials on bank holiday weekends, whereas others do not, including on the Saturday of a bank holiday weekend. Most crematoriums and cemeteries are open on Saturdays.
We all always recommend embalming. As funeral directors, we believe that the presentation and care of your family member or deceased is one of our prime responsibilities. Embalming involves injecting a solution that helps to return a more natural appearance to the body and prevents deterioration or any spread of bacteria. Our expert embalming team works to the highest professional standards.
Yes. Viewing can be extended for an agreed period once all the necessary preparations, including embalming, have been carried out.
Yes. If you wish to have a humanist or other type of non-religious service, we can discuss your options and arrange the service for you.
The person charged with administering the deceased’s will – the executor – has the legal authority to make all funeral arrangements, however this responsibility can be passed on to the next of kin, other family member or friend, by mutual consent. The person who signs the appropriate authorisation for the funeral service is the only one who can make arrangements with the cemetery or crematorium, and will be responsible for the costs of the funeral.
In the case of a traditional church service, you’ll have to decide whether the removal to the church takes place the day before the service and burial is the following day, or if you want removal to the church and burial to take place on the same day. Our staff will be pleased to discuss your options and answer any questions. We believe that a good funeral celebrates the deceased’s life in a way that is meaningful to the bereaved and reflects the life of the person who has died. To achieve this, our experienced staff will be happy to help you personalise the service with readings and hymns of your choice, or arrange to have the service take place in a particular location.
Contact information for Registrars of Births, Marriages and Deaths throughout Ireland is available on the HSE’s website and from your Local Health Office.
You can apply online for a copy of a certificate.
Application for late registration only should be made to:
General Register Office
Government Offices
Convent Road
Roscommon
Ireland
Tel:+353 90 663 2900
Locall:1890 25 20 76
Fax:+353 90 663 2999
Homepage: http://www.welfare.ie/en/Pages/General-Register-Office.aspx
Email: gro@groireland.ie
Registering the death
To register a death, you must bring a Death Notification Form stating the cause of death to any Registrar of Births, Marriages and Deaths. The staff of the hospital (if the death occurred in a hospital) or of your local health centre, will be able to tell you where you can register the death.
You can get the Death Notification Form from the doctor who attended the deceased during their last illness. You must complete Part 2 of the Death Notification Form. You must then sign the Register in the presence of the Registrar. You will need to bring photo ID with you. This registration is free.
A doctor must be satisfied about the cause of death before he/she can certify it. If he/she didn’t see the deceased at least 28 days before the death occurred, or if he/she isn’t satisfied about the cause of death, he/she must inform a Coroner who will decide if a postmortem is necessary. If the deceased died as the result of an accident, or in violent or unexplained circumstances the coroner must be informed.
There may be a delay in registering a death where a postmortem is carried out. The death is automatically registered where an inquest or postmortem is held at the request of the Coroner. The Coroner issues a certificate to the Registrar containing all the details to be registered.
Deaths should be registered as soon as possible and no later than 3 months from the date of the death. You will require the written permission of the Registrar General to register any death that was not registered within one year.
You should approach a maternity hospital or your local Registrar for information on how to register a stillborn child.
Getting a death certificate
You can get copies of the death certificate from the Registrar when you are registering the death. To obtain a copy of a death certificate at a later stage, you can go directly to any Registrar’s office. You can also apply for a death certificate by post. An application form for a copy of a death certificate is available from the General Register Office.
You can also apply online for a copy of a certificate.
There is a reduced fee for those who need the death certificate for social welfare purposes. You do not necessarily have to wait for the death certificate before claiming social welfare benefits, as a copy of the death notice from the newspapers will be accepted if there is a delay in getting the certificate.
There is no charge to register a death.
Death Certificate
Fees are charged for a copy of a death certificate.
A certificate is issued for social welfare purposes at a reduced cost. Evidence it is for social welfare purposes is required, such as a note from the Department of Social Protection.
The fees charged for a certificate are as follows:
- €20 for a full standard certificate
- €1 for a copy for social welfare purposes (letter from Department of Social Protection required)
- €4 for an uncertified copy of an entry in the Register
- €10 to have a certificate authenticated (only available from the General Register Office)
A death can be registered in the office of any Registrar of Births, Marriages and Death, irrespective of where the death occurs. The staff of the hospital (if the death occurred in a hospital) or of your local health centre, will be able to tell you where you can register the death.
Deaths must be registered as soon as possible after the death and no later than 3 months. It is usually registered by the next of kin. Alternatively, it may be registered by a person who was present during the death or final illness of the deceased, or has knowledge of the required particulars. Further information on who can register the death is available on the General Register Office website.
It is a legal requirement in Ireland that every death that takes place in the State must be recorded and registered. Records of deaths in Ireland are held in the General Register Office, which is the central civil repository for records relating to Births, Marriages and Deaths in Ireland. You can apply for a copy of a death certificate to any Registrar of Births, Marriages and Death or to the General Register Office.
The Civil Registration Act 2004 changed some of the rules about registering a death. These changes took effect in December 2005.
Yes.
An Advance Funeral Arrangements Plan is a simple and practical way to help the people you love, and have left behind, to lessen their levels of anxiety, stress, and financial worry at a very emotional time. It also spares you worry because, like making your will, arranging your Plan allows you to get on with your life knowing that, whatever happens, your wishes will be carried out by us.
Generally, acknowledgement notices are inserted two to four weeks after the Funeral has taken place.
We will assist if required in the drafting and publication of the notice.
We have our own specialised headstone company. We offer an extensive selection of Headstones from which to choose. We can also reproduce any headstone you may have seen or design one to meet your individual requirements and specifications.
Should you wish to add Inscriptions to an existing Headstone, we will help you choose an Inscription which complements the original.
We forward our accounts normally 10 days after the funeral has taken place. Payment of our account can made at any of our locations, by forwarding bank draft or cheque by post, by bank transfer or by calling us with credit card details.
Yes. There is a strict code for crematoriums, which is usually on display in Crematoriums.
Each cremator is only large enough to take one coffin. When a cremation has finished the cremated remains are placed into an individually identified container.
The coffin is taken into the crematory where the nameplate is checked. An identity card is attached to the cremator where the coffin is placed and is kept with the cremated remains until they leave the crematorium. The coffin is placed into the cremator and when finished, the cremated remains are taken from the cremator, cooled, and placed in a cremulator which reduces the remains to ashes. These are placed into an urn/casket available for collection.
Normally within twenty four hours.
The service at the Crematorium must be carried out within the time allowed by the Crematorium.
Family and mourners gather at the crematorium at an arranged time.
The coffin will be placed in a position for everyone to view. The chosen service will commence. It may include hymns, songs, prayers and eulogies.
Towards the end of the service, curtains will be drawn and the coffin will be hidden from view. If you would prefer the coffin to remain on view until everyone has left this can be arranged.
As with burial you can have a religious or a non-religious service or indeed no service at all prior to the removal of the deceased to the Crematorium.
Cremation is accepted by accepted by all Christian denominations, Sikhs, Buddhists, Hindus and Parsees.
Muslims, Orthodox Jews and the Greek Orthodox Church do not allow cremation.
One medical certificate is required. We will coordinate this on your behalf. A charge is made by the medical practitioner for this.
If the deceased had a pacemaker, this will need to be removed. Jewellery and glasses will be required to be removed before cremation.
No, usually burial is more expensive. We will advise you of comparative costs.
There is detailed information available on the Coroners website.
A post mortem (sometimes called an autopsy) is an examination carried out by a pathologist after a death where is necessary to establish the medical cause of death.
The majority of deaths do not require any post mortem because the medical cause of death can be certified by a doctor who has been treating the deceased in the months prior to the death, i.e. a GP or hospital doctor.
Yes. When a post mortem examination is required, there would normally be a delay of 1-2 days. This may be extended if death occurs during a weekend or bank holiday. We will liaise with the hospital and Coroner and advise the family.
Normally a doctor will be in attendance or called to confirm death. The doctor and or staff will confirm to the family whether or not a post mortem examination will be required. In most instances, this will not be necessary and the family are free to telephone their funeral director to make funeral arrangements.
This depends on whether the death was sudden or expected.
If expected, the deceased will have been attended to by his or her GP recently. The first/initial call should be made to this doctor who will be required to visit the home to confirm death has occurred.
If calling the GP out of hours, an alternative number may be given to contact a locum doctor. The locum will visit to confirm death has occurred. Your GP should then be contacted the following morning to advise that death has occurred. Once death has been confirmed the funeral director should be called.
If unexpected, the first call should be made to the deceased’s G.P. who was attending during his or her last illness. The GP may advise that the family contact their nearest Garda Station, as the Gardai may wish to contact the Coroner.
If contacting the GP out of hours normally a number for an out of hours/locum doctor will be given; once contacted they will arrange for a doctor to call to the house. The funeral director should be contacted at this stage.
In the event of ant death at home the family may also wish to contact a Minister of their faith.