aftering podcasts: Recent Episodes
aftering
Mortality & us. Talking to a wide range of special guests exploring the past, present & future of dealing with death. Aftering radio is on Dublin City FM on Mondays at 12.30pm in Ireland, plus more info on the show's sister site – aftering.com. Live streaming available via dublincityfm.ie
In this episode, the 21st century approach to the memorial. Guest Jennifer Muldowney (AKA The Glam Reaper)is an expert who helps families design and organise meaningful memorial services. She has long experience working in the deathcare industry and runs several successful businesses providing a range of services.Jennifer shares her insights into how she started out in Ireland working in this mainly male-dominated service. She is now based in New York so has seen how both cultural differences and deep human universal meaning shapes memorials across society.Further information:Podcast/Blog - www.theglamreaper.comwww.muldowneymemorials.com@TheGlamReaper on Twitter and Tedx 2017'Say Farewell Your Way' - a funeral planning guide for Ireland.Irish Glass Memorial Jewellery line:Humans - www.celtic-ashes.comPets - www.rainbowbridge-memorials.com
In this episode, learning about the findings from a first-of-its-kind survey of people bereaved by suicide in Ireland. The survey seeks to understand the needs of the bereaved and hear their stories.Dr Eve Griffin from the National Suicide Research Foundation joins me to share the background to 'AfterWords: A survey of people bereaved by suicide in Ireland' and the key findings in it.It’s important to note that Pieta provides services to those who are thinking about suicide and those who have been bereaved by suicide. Their free 24-hour number is 1800 247 247Also, Samaritans provide a 24-hour listening service, free of charge. Phone 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.orgAfterWords: A survey of people bereaved by suicide in Ireland is available via the website nsrf.ie The direct link to the survey here:https://www.nsrf.ie/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Suicide-Bereavement-Survey-report_digital.pdfA list of support organisations and organisations for people bereaved by suicide can be found on the HUGG website: www.hugg.ie‘You are not alone: Support for people who have been bereaved by suicide’ is a guide which provides information on suicide bereavement and the supports available in Ireland. The guide was developed by people who have lost loved ones through suicide in conjunction with the HSE. A download of the guide can be found here: https://www.hse.ie/eng/services/list/4/mental-health-services/connecting-for-life/news/national-suicide-bereavement-support-guide.pdf
In this episode – I got the chance to speak with Neltah Chadamoyo about Solo Sirens — an entirely female theatre-making and producing collective based in Tallaght. Solosirens created an innovative project exploring grief and loss. Supported by the Irish Hospice Foundation, it drew on the experiences of the group. The SoloSiren’s symposium 2022 was also part of this year’s Dublin Theatre Festival. Zimbabwean Neltah also shares traditions and culture around dealing with death and supporting the bereaved that she grew up with there.
Further information: SoloSirens.info https://hospicefoundation.ie/arts-and-creativity/dance-and-movement-map-experiences-of-loss/
In this episode, my guest is Irish Hospice Foundation's Arts and Creative Engagement Officer Dominic Campbell. He explains the background to its special Seed Grant. This fund is available to individuals and groups seeking to create art that helps explore universal themes of dying, death and bereavement.
More information: https://hospicefoundation.ie/our-supports-services/ihf-in-the-community/arts-and-creativity/seeds-grants-2022/
In this episode, guest Bob Hendrickx shares how the world's first living coffin came to exist. He is an architect, bio-designer and the inventor of a process to grow sustainable coffins from mycelium. The boxes break down when buried and have the ability to enhance biodiversity and detoxify soil.
More information: https://www.loop-of-life.com/
In this episode, Caroline O'Sullivan is a specialist cancer nurse with the Irish Cancer Society and she shares advice on how and why it's so important to check your breasts regularly.
In Ireland, cancer is the biggest killer and breast cancer is one of the top three (along with prostate and skin cancers). She outlines methods of checking and what to look for as well as sharing what supports are available to patients and their families.
More information from cancer.ie or via the Irish Cancer Society support line call — 1800 200 700
In this episode, exploring the moral dilemmas attached to the display of dead people and animals for museum curators.
Special guest @DrVerityBurke shares a brief history of anatomy museums and how some unscrupulous 18th & 19th century collectors used stolen bodies, as in the case of Derry's 'Irish Giant' Charles Byrne and even the remains of animals facing extinction during the time period.
What are some ethical approaches available to museum curators today for legacy collections born from spoils of colonisation and empire?
In this episode, speaking to the women behind an immersive art installation mourning those lost to Covid 19. Visual artist Miriam Mc Connon and poet Jessica Traynor explain how they are asking people to collaborate on the project by sharing their stories of lost loved ones.
For this large outdoor installation, Miriam will be creating 10,000 'clooties' (fabric tied alongside holy wells) of white handkerchiefs to create lace patterns and Jessica will be writing four poems responding to the stories of loss shared by the public, the art of lacemaking and the idea of clooties in ancient Irish tradition. Her poems will be accessible via QR codes positioned around the artwork. It will be available to visit in Dublin's Iveagh Gardens from 15 October 2022 and will be open to the public for 10 days.
More information from LostLace.com
In this episode, folklorist and author Mattie Lennon joins me to share some of what he's learned from recent research into the process of home burial in Ireland. The guidance on being buried on your own land can be different from county to county and will also involve obtaining planning permission. Mattie Lennon's work including his essays, plays, poetry and stories can be found at MattieLennon.com
Also on the programme is an interview with the founder of the Green Graveyard Company Colin McAteer who shares the background to Ireland's first green graveyard and how he set it up in Wexford. More information from GreenGraveyard.com
In this episode, learning about the concept of solastalgia — the grief and loss felt when the environment around you is negatively changed. Dr Christopher Phillips is an academic with a special interest in climate change adaptation and environmental psychology. He shares what he's discovered researching how the people of Courtown, Co Wexford have adapted to its beautiful sandy beach experiencing severe coastal erosion and the protective rock armour installed to mitigate the damage.
Link to 'Solastalgia, place attachment and disruption: insights from a coastal community on the front line': https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10113-021-01778-y#Fig1
In this episode, digital afterlife researcher Dr Debra Bassett shares fascinating insights into the concept of 'digital zombies', why it's so important for tech companies to have an ethics code of conduct for storing the afterlives of the dead and how they are used. She explains that people need to have the rights over their digital afterlife protected with the equivalent of a 'Do Not Resuscitate' form so that they cannot be 'reanimated' to say and do things without consent after death. Dr Bassett also delves into the complexities for the bereaved to navigate this ever changing landscape where a deceased loved one can often have a presence in phones, social media and with companies offering post-death messaging services.
In this episode, a very dark chapter from Dublin's past. Historian Hugo McGuinness reveals the savage treatment of people who died by suicide in the 18th and 19th centuries. An ancient and callous law particularly affected the very poorest in society. There's a small unmarked plot where their bodies are still buried in Ballybough.
EastWallForAll.ie facebook.com/hugomcguinness
In this episode, I get to speak with Tara O'Connor from Care Alliance Ireland about what happens when a carer's journey ends. She shares advice on the next steps and where to get support. Caring for a loved one — over decades, in some cases — means it can be very challenging to adjust to not be the main provider of care, such as when a loved one moves to a nursing home. It's also really important to give space to adjust during this challenging period and especially to grieve if the loved one being cared for has died.
More information from CareAlliance.ie
In this episode, St Francis Hospice Dublin's Senior Occupational Therapist Dr Lauren Boland shares details about its successful patient-centred EMPOWER programme. One of its aims is to provide support to palliative patients who are suffering from panic attacks and anxiety with a practical toolkit of innovative methods of relaxation they can use themselves. The programme also helps patients improve their quality of life by working with them to create goals and creatively problem-solve ways of achieving them. She also shares stories of the camaraderie of the groups and how the patients find they can also be a great support to each other.
SFH.ie
In this episode, understanding Death Education and why it matters. My guest is academic Jennifer Moran Stritch from Technological University of the Shannon (TUS). She explains the concept of Thanatology, the power of Death Cafés and shares some of the research happening in TUS.
TUS.ie Twitter: @stritchj
In this episode, the strange towering Irish memorials of the 19th century. Guest archeologist Isabel Bennett shares the story behind her piece in Archaeology Ireland magazine on how a medieval tower for monks was reimagined and built in the 1800s for a completely different function.
Further information: Excavations.ie ArchaeologyIreland.ie
In this episode, guests Niamh Donnelly, Occupational Therapy Manager and Lisa McGirr, Physiotherapy Manager from St Francis Hospice Dublin explain the many ways tailor-made Palliative Rehabilitation programmes can create gains in the quality of life for patients under their care.
SFH.ie
In this episode, navigating the challenging experience of bereavement when you are a teenager and young adult. Guest Niamh Finucane, Co-ordinator of Social Work & Bereavement Services in St Francis Hospice Dublin shares insights from their new free book — 'Finding your way through grief' — produced by the hospice and written in collaboration with teens about what helped them in their grief.
More information and how to get a copy of this free book can be found on www.SFH.ie
In this episode, learning about Ireland's first survey of those bereaved by suicide. I speak with Dr Eve Griffin from the National Suicide Research Foundation about the work that they do and she explains why it's so important to understand the experience of bereaved — from close family to wider community like carers, friends & emergency service staff. This research will inform public policy and how better to support those who have been affected by suicide.
***Whatever you are going through please know that The Samaritans provide a confidential 24/7 listening service free of charge call 116 123
Further information: www.nsrf.ie/contact/about-us/national-suicide-bereavement-survey/ www.hugg.ie hospicefoundation.ie/our-supports-services/bereavement-loss-hub/bereavement-support-line/ (Bereavement Support Line is a national freephone service 1800 80 70 77 available from 10am to 1pm, Monday to Friday)
In this episode, could terramation or human composting be the future of what we do with our bodies after we die? Cremation and conventional burial can contribute to negative impacts on the environment. However, terramation has been shown to be a more ecologically sustainable practice and it has now been approved across some western US states.
I got the chance to speak with Brie Smith and Katey Houston from Return Home about what terramation is and how it works. They are located in Washington state in the USA.
More information: ReturnHome.com
In this episode, a preview of the upcoming Irish Hospice Foundation 2021 Forum taking place on 5-6 of October. Rebecca Lloyd shares why this year's theme is 'Are we the same? The art of losing and building back better' and how the wide range of speakers and topics will touch on what we've learnt from the experience of loss during the Covid Pandemic.
In this episode, Melanie Leamy is a complementary therapist whose life-changing experience of bereavement has moved her to train as a death doula, write a book and create podcasts about end of life. She explains the work of a death doula, what the training entailed and how she found a different and rewarding way of helping people to cope with this hugely challenging time.
More information: HealingWell.ie
In this episode, taking a look at the upcoming palliative care week taking place across Ireland. Guest Karen Charnley is director of the All Ireland Institute of Hospice and Palliative Care. She shares the wide range of events scheduled to take place and how to access them.
More information at thePalliativehub.com
In this episode – ghosts, death threats and Oliver Cromwell — Tom Reilly is an historian, author and manager of Ardgillan Castle and Demesne which sits on its own 200 acre park overlooking the sea in north county Dublin.
He’s written ten books with four of them challenging the accepted thinking about Cromwell’s history in Ireland.
I got to meet with Tom in Ardgillan where he shared some of the fascinating ghost stories from the castle and explained his lifelong obsession Oliver Cromwell.
You can find more information at ardgillan.ie and find Tom’s books on Amazon and from good book sellers including his latest book - 'The Protector, The fall and rise of Oliver Cromwell'
In this episode, understanding the difficulties and complexities of the experience of grief or loss from miscarriage or abortion particularly in teenage girls who have become pregnant.
Caroline Lloyd is an academic, author and grief counsellor whose research includes speaking to women in Ireland and around the world about what it means for them and their very individual experiences of bereavement.
Further information: CarolineLloyd.co.uk pregnancyandinfantloss.ie
In this episode, understanding the full horror of femicide, the patterns of behaviour in a relationship that should raise 'red flags' and can lead to the murder of a woman at the hands of her male partner. Christine Doherty is a journalist and academic and has researched the media portrayal of women victims. She shares the shocking scale of domestic abuse in Ireland and what can be done to make Ireland a safe space for women and girls.
'Death and Birth in my Life' is a long term work from Swiss artist Mats Staub. He explores the human condition around the world in his art collecting life stories. Simone von Büren is dramaturg on the project and joins to discuss the process, how Mats has so far recorded participants from South Africa, Congo, Switzerland, Germany, France and will now be recording in Dublin. Those chosen share the very human experiences of death and birth in their lives. Simone also explains the special duty of care required for both subject and viewer when putting together the work and shares some of the fascinating cultural differences between different countries.
MatsStaub.com
In this episode, hearing about a fascinating new book exploring Dark Tourism spaces in Ireland and this country’s special cultural attitude to death.
I got the chance to speak with Dr Gillian O’Brien. She is an historian and author who has written “The Darkness Echoing: Exploring Ireland's Places of Famine, Death and Rebellion'.
Her book ‘The Darkness Echoing: Exploring Ireland’s Places of Famine, Death and Rebellion’ is out now and can be found in all good bookshops and via online too.
On today’s programme – fascinating insights from a long-term study on ageing in Ireland. Dr Aisling O’Halloran from 'The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing - A study of people in Ireland aged 50 and over' shares some of what has been found so far. The study has been discovering the reality of growing older and why your biological age can be way more important than your age in years.
If you would like to see the research it can be found at tilda.tcd.ie
In this programme, looking at an innovative Dublin City Council proposal to protect the heritage of Dublin’s old cemeteries. Typically these space have been closed to new burials for decades so have been locked to the public for many years.
Labour councillor Dermot Lacey has proposed a way to open these peaceful green biodiverse areas spaces again by sensitively integrating columbarium walls. These are structures used to house urns of cremated remains. This would allow for local families to have an alternative for interments of a loved ones ashes.
The cemeteries that are being assessed include old burial grounds in Bluebell, Merrion and Clontarf with the pilot of the proposal being conducted in Donnybrook graveyard. The plan would also include supports for biodiversity in these urban green spaces.
In this episode, what you need to know about registering a death in Ireland and what steps you need to take when someone has died. Mary Watters from Citizens Information shares what questions they get asked the most from how to deal with the state, banks and utility companies. Citizens Information also will help people find supports and assist them find what they need during an incredibly difficult time.
CitizensInformation.ie
In this programme, looking at Ireland’s Coroner's Court. The Irish Council for Civil Liberties commissioned a report 'Left Out in the Cold' looking into Ireland’s system of investigating deaths. It found serious failings that compound the suffering of bereaved families
I’m joined on the line by Liam Herrick, executive director of the Irish council for civil liberties to share what it found and what can be done to fix it.
ICCL.ie
In this programme, hearing about an innovative scheme to inspire and support creative responses to the themes of dying, death and bereavement during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Irish Hospice Foundation in partnership with Creative Ireland have looked to do this with a special seed grant to support a wide range of projects. I'm joined by Dominic Campbell from the Irish Hospice Foundation who tells the story of the diverse group of awardees and explains the wide range of projects from remembrance murals to choral works to digital commemorations. HospiceFoundation.ie
In this episode, Pat Garry shares stories of Dublin's hidden history via its secret graveyards and fascinating cemeteries. He is a tour guide and does talks and tours with Richmond Barracks and 14 Henrietta Street — Dublin's tenement museum. Pat explains the macabre and surprisingly widespread business of bodysnatching to keep the many anatomy schools - both in Dublin and London - supplied during the 19th century. He also speaks about the tragic fate of the Irish Famine refugees who came to flee the countryside and starvation only to die in the city.
richmondbarracks.ie
In this programme, sin eaters, changelings and the supernatural. I got a chance to talk with storyteller Mark O’Géaráin about the darker side of Irish folktales and the real world consequences of it. He is Experience Manager at the National Leprechaun Museum and shares what he misses about having visitors while museums remain closed during the current pandemic.
This documentary explores the hidden world of Dublin urban honey bees and their beekeepers. But the reality is that bees and beekeepers don’t exist within a vacuum. to try to understand the challenges facing bees and other pollinators in the city of Dublin it’s a good idea to understand what these very important insects face from a changing climate and threats to habitat.
Hear from Dr Una Fitzpatrick of Biodiversity Ireland, Kaethe Burt-O’Dea of Bí Urban, beekeeper Michelle Merne, Lorraine Bull Dublin City Council, beekeeper Nessa Winders and Stuart Hayes from the Federation of Irish Beekeepers' Associations.
In this episode, Dr Ida Milne shares what she's discovered about life & death during the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918 and the parallels between then and now. She is a social historian who studies disease and has interviewed centenarian survivors in addition to extensively researching the events of over 100 years ago.
Her book 'Stacking the Coffins : Influenza, War and Revolution in Ireland, 1918-19' is published by Manchester University Press.
Grief at Christmas — Irish Hospice Foundation have a bereavement support line that will continue to operate over the holiday period. Orla Keegan explains what to expect if you call and the supports available for people coping with grief and loss.
HospiceFoundation.ie bereavement.ie
My name is Valerie Vetter and welcome to the aftering radio show: mortality & us. On this programme, helping a child cope with grief. My guest is Maura Keating from The Irish Childhood Bereavement Network and she shares ways of supporting children of various age groups deal with bereavement and the different ways they can experience sadness.
More information available from childhoodbereavement.ie, Tusla.ie and the Irish Hospice Foundation at hospicefoundation.ie
Journalist Stephen McDermott has been covering the Dying with Dignity Bill 2020 for TheJournal.ie. He shares what he's learnt about the background to the bill, what it contains and what are the possible outcomes from it.
twitter.com/Ste_McDermott TheJournal.ie
Everything you wanted to know about writing a will but were afraid to ask. Will experts and solicitors Susan Murphy and Bernadette Parte answer questions including what is a will, why should you make one, what you need to know about the process and what to consider around legacy gifts to charity.
Susan Murphy from MakeMyWill.ie Bernadette Parte from Parte and Associates - Parte.ie MyLegacy.ie
On this programme, I’m joined by Paula Lawlor from Suicide or Survive to talk about the work of the organisation, to learn about their free wellness webinars and hear about an innovative programme to enable people to regain mental health.
Please seek help if you are suffering from suicidal thoughts and feelings. Dublin Samaritans offer a free number from any phone 116 123
Suicideorsurvive.ie
Considering your legacy – exploring how to gift money to charity after you're gone. Aoife Garvey from My Legacy answers questions on wills – how to select a charity or charities, the form of words to use & how the process works.
Will writing is an important process for everyone to go through. We all accumulate stuff over the course of a life and leaving that for others to sort through after we die can be very hard on those left behind.
It’s also an opportunity to figure out if there might be any financial gifts to leave to family, friends and perhaps to groups that you admire or have touched your life in some way.
MyLegacy.ie
Talking to Dr Siobhán Doyle about her perspective on the Remembering Bloody Sunday Exhibition at the GAA Museum. It explores the tragic events of November 21st 1920 through personal artefacts, reports and photographs. The exhibition concentrates on the stories of the victims of the attack.
https://crokepark.ie/bloodysunday
Archaeology shows how humans have dealt with death for millennia. Psychologist Dr Jennie Dayes shares how research harnessing history helps therapists & anyone working with those facing bereavement today. Jennie is one of the team researching how the past can inform present attitudes to death, dying and grief.
A fascinating free online workshop takes place on Thurdsday 23 July 2020 – Bereavement and Archaeology: CPD for psychologists and counsellors - Jennie shares the back story to this innovative workshop and how it came together.
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/bereavement-and-archaeology-cpd-for-psychologists-and-counsellors-tickets-113315461596
The system of Direct Provision was set up as an emergency measure in 1999. It is intended to provide asylum seekers with accommodation while waiting for a decision on their refugee status. It’s been long criticised by human rights organisations.
Cónal Thomas is a journalist who has been reporting on Direct Provision. He shares the surprising difficulties he’s faced obtaining data on those who have sadly died within the system and what happens to their bodies after their death.
https://www.thejournal.ie/deaths-direct-provision-4670179-Jun2019/
Are viruses alive? Dr Cliona O'Farrelly is Professor of Comparative Immunology in Trinity College Dublin. She explains how viruses work in this episode. Dr O'Farrelly also explores what happens to viruses in a Covid-19 victim after they have died and how we have to be extra careful around the bereaved as their immune systems can also be affected by grief.
[Image from US National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases showing SARS-CoV2 covering a human cell]
Recording healthcare wishes safeguards vulnerable adults and the people who care for them. Safeguarding Ireland found that 95 per cent of Irish adults have not taken any steps to document their wishes. This can cause huge difficulties around end-of-life care. Patricia Rickard-Clarke is chair of Safeguarding Ireland and she shares the results of the survey they conducted to explore if attitudes to healthcare planning have changed during the Covid 19 pandemic.
SafeguardingIreland.org
How Roma and Travellers are disproportionately affected by Covid-19 in Ireland. These marginalised groups can't easily self-isolate and can find access to washing facilities very challenging. Martin Collins is co-founder of Pavee Point. He explains the very difficult circumstances these groups endure including homelessness, poverty and racism.
PaveePoint.ie
What Dr Pádraig MacCarron discovered when he and Dr Gerard McCarthy analysed Irish death notice data and how they found unexpected patterns county by county.
Although not all deaths in Ireland are associated with Covid-19, it’s extremely useful to be able to map the effect that the virus has been having across the country in real time.
Dr Gerard McCarthy is a lecturer in the Department of Geography at Maynooth University. Dr Pádraig MacCarron is an applied mathematician and Complex Networks Researcher at the University of Limerick.
https://www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2020/0505/1136496-death-notices-ireland-coronavirus/
In this episode, Rebecca Lloyd from the Irish Hospice Foundation (IHF) shares an overview of resources now available to help people on its new Care and Inform hub during the Covid-19 outbreak. IHF provides free helpful information on supports for those at end-of-life, coping with bereavement and the latest research on coronavirus. https://hospicefoundation.ie/covid19careandinform/
Also on the programme, Maurice Sadlier of World Vision Ireland explains the work it has been doing to support vulnerable children. In the times of pandemic, it has been even more important to help families in dire circumstances particularly in 17 of the world's most fragile countries. https://www.worldvision.ie/
Padraic Cawley has been a civil funeral celebrant for a decade and has never experienced anything to compare to the reality of funeral services during the time of coronavirus.
What does it mean for funeral services when you can't shake hands, embrace or even carry the coffin of your loved one? He shares the current guidelines for families and how they can always revisit memorial services in the future when the pandemic subsides.
Padraic explains the innovative ways people are showing sympathy and solidarity when they are not allowed to attend memorials. At one service, the chapel was populated with individual floral tributes on each seat and how families can attend via video apps.
http://padraiccawley.ie/
Irene Tuffrey-Wijne is Professor of Intellectual Disability and Palliative Care. She has spent the past two decades researching the needs of people with learning disabilities who reach the end of life and those who are bereaved.
In this episode, Professor Tuffrey-Wijne answers questions about how to break bad news to those living with a learning disability. What are the best ways to tackle issues around dying, grief and the uncertainty of the Covid-19 pandemic?
More information can be found on tuffrey-wijne.com
It’s the call no one wants. A loved one has died. But what happens if they haven’t died in Ireland? The Irish tend to bring the bodies of their dead home. Repatriation is a somewhat unknown process and only becomes part of the story when deaths make the news. Never as much as in 2015 when a terrible tragedy in Berkeley California left five Irish families devastated when their sons and daughters died in a balcony collapse at a 21st birthday party. Thanks to Colin Bell, Celine Kenneally, Fr Brendan McBride, Gus Nichols and Pearse Malarky for participating in this programme.
What is it like to work in a hospice?
How St Francis Hospice came into existence over thirty years ago and how it has grown into the community since then. How has palliative care evolved over those decades?
Stories from the inspiring women who work in palliative nursing (including Martina O'Dowd and Betty McDonnell pictured), social work, chaplaincy to reception, volunteering and education + how they cope with the inevitable grief that can surround them.
This documentary gives a rare behind the scenes glimpse of St Francis Hospice Dublin hearing from the women who work in both its Raheny and Blanchardstown locations.
St Francis Hospice has been helping the people of Dublin’s north side for over thirty years. All of its services are provided free of charge to patients and their families. About 90 per cent of its staff and 70 percent of its volunteers are women. Many of them have been working within the organisation for decades.
SFH.ie
The Green Burial Society of Canada have been striving to quantify what makes a green burial actually ‘green’. It equips people with the information to choose environmentally sustainable death practices. In this episode, five members of the Green Burial Society of Canada – Emily Bootle, Dawn Carson, Ellen Newman, Mark Richardson and board president Catriona Hearn join me on the line from across an array of time zones – from Vancouver to Nova Scotia – to share their experiences with green burial in Canada.
You can find the Green Burial Society of Canada on Facebook and Instagram. Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/greenburialcanada/ Instagram - @greenburialcanada Website - www.greenburialcanada.ca
Dawn Carson/Death Matters/Green Burial Nova Scotia is also on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and via her website deathmatters.ca FaceBook - https://www.facebook.com/www.DeathMatters/ Twitter - https://twitter.com/DeathMatters_NS Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/deathdouladawn/?hl=en Website - https://deathmatters.ca/
Catriona Hearn, LEES+Associates: Twitter - https://twitter.com/elacstudio?lang=en Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/leesandassociates LinkedIn - https://ca.linkedin.com/company/lees-associates
Understanding the deep traditions & ritual of Islamic funerals. Summayah Kenna and Amilah Ali (pictured) from the Islamic Cultural Centre of Ireland share how the dead are cared for within diverse Irish-Islamic community & answer questions on how non-Muslims can support bereaved friends.
More information can be found on islamireland.ie.
Director of the National Folklore Collection, Dr Críostóir Mac Cárthaigh (pictured) shares some of the fascinating stories about old death traditions in Ireland. From the banshee to fairies to the ancient practices of wakes and keening – he explains how the collection was put together and the incredible first-hand accounts gathered from an Ireland very different from the one today.
duchas.ie https://www.ucd.ie/folklore/en/
How the Hindu community tend to the dead in Ireland. Hinduism is the oldest religion in the world. Sudhansh Verma, director of the Vedic Hindu Cultural Centre Ireland is guest on the programme. He shares what special rituals take place around death in Hinduism and the adaptations for living in Ireland.
Hindu.ie
There’s a national crisis that has been going on for some time in Ireland. Travellers are identified as a ‘high-risk’ group for suicide and 82% of the community have been affected by it.
Eileen Flynn from the National Traveller Women's Forum shares the stories behind the statistics and what life is like for a Traveller in 21st century Ireland.
If you have been affected by anything in this programme, help and support is available by calling the Samaritans 24-hour helpline 116123 or emailing jo@samaritans.org
How do you live with grief? I’m joined by Melanie Leamy whose husband Paul tragically died 16 months ago. She has been writing a deeply honest blog sharing her recent experiences. This conversation follows on from our previous programme where she shared how she and Paul met, married, dealt with his terminal cancer and ultimately the end of his life.
Melanie explains what she's learnt since then and shares how she is doing on her grief journey so far. She has found that her attitudes to life and even her choice of career has been reshaped in its aftermath.
More information about Melanie Leamy on her site - HealingWell.ie She's at melanie @ healingwell.ie and on Twitter as @HealingWell1
It's hard enough to set up an ordinary business but what's it like to start a company that has the extra responsibility of dealing with customers who are bereaved. Bob Hamilton shares his personal story of how he came to set up Irish Urns. He provides people with a unique selection of Irish handmade & artisan-produced cremation urns and can ship them across the globe.
IrishUrns.com
Melanie Leamy shares her story. She is a young widow who's husband Paul tragically died less than two years ago. Melanie explains how they met, fell in love and got married in the shadow of Paul's cancer diagnosis. She speaks about how she became his carer and how they both faced into the end of his life. This is part one of Melanie's story. Part two will be available in the next few weeks.
Please see link below for her very honest blog documenting this very tough journey.
https://community.macmillan.org.uk/blogs/b/reflections-on-my-journey-with-loving-and-losing
Meeting the founder of one of the largest community-driven events exploring end-of-life that I certainly have ever come across. I got the opportunity to visit Brad Wolfe at his base in San Francisco to hear about background story of Reimagine. It will take over the bay area for a week with 10,000 people attending over 250 diverse events. Letsreimagine.org for more information.
My name is Valerie Vetter and this programme is about planning my funeral. I’ll be speaking to a range of people from end-of-life experts to funeral directors to celebrants so I can get a sense of what you need to consider when planning ahead.
On my journey, I visit Angela Edghill in the Irish Hospice Foundation to learn about 'good death' and Advance Care Directives, funeral directory Peter Maguire of Massey Bros, academic Dr Kevin Myers, civil funeral celebrant Padraic Cawley, green graveyard owner Colin McAteer, Mt Jerome Crematorium director Alan Massey, Fergus Jamieson of Celestis and Katrina Spade of Recompose.
How dying is everyone's business. A preview of the Irish Hospice Foundation's upcoming tenth anniversary Forum taking place at Dublin Castle on 24 October. Angela Edghill shares details of its special line up of diverse speakers & practical workshops.
https://hospicefoundation.ie/programmes/public-awareness/forum-on-end-of-life-2019/
The woman who organised a funeral for a man she'd never met. Margaret Brown recounts the sad life of Joseph Tuohy and how she came to powerfully remind us of the plight of a generation of Forgotten Irish.
https://www.facebook.com/Friends-of-the-Forgotten-Irish-556819894362444/
Each year, over 2,000 families will experience the death of a daughter or son. Anam Cara was founded in 2008, by bereaved parents to address the lack of bereavement support services available for families in Ireland, who have experienced the death of a child. Guest Sharon Vard, CEO of Anam Cara shares how now three different organisations are combining their resources to help support bereaved parents.
You can find free tickets for the Bereavement support evening https://www.eventbrite.ie/o/anam-cara-parental-amp-sibling-bereavement-support-an-feilecain-and-pieta-house-26329975629 plus more information is available on anamcara.ie, feilecain.ie and pieta.ie
The story of St Francis Hospice as told by some the incredible people who were there at its very beginning. This special organisation is now celebrating its 30-year anniversary. Learn the fascinating and moving story of how it came to be created through the voices of founder Sr Bernadette MacMahon, its first volunteers Pat Breslin and Ann Langan, original board member and company secretary Joe Fallon, first home care palliative nurse Betty McDonnell and her friend and fellow palliative nurse Martina O'Dowd plus a special message from St Francis Hospice current CEO Fintan Fagan.
(pictured: current volunteers and staff from St Francis Hospice Raheny)
More information from SFH.ie Support Ireland's biggest coffee morning for hospice: https://www.sfh.ie/fundraising-event/coffee-mornings
Paul Fitzpatrick shares his moving story of receiving a life-changing diagnosis and what palliative care means for him and his family.
All Ireland Institute of Hospice and Palliative Care https://aiihpc.org/
St Francis Hospice SFH.ie
Karen Charnley is director of the All Ireland Institute of Hospice and Palliative Care. She explains the many strands that make up palliative care and how it creates a more holistic approach to treating patients and their families.
www.aiihpc.org http://www.thepalliativehub.com/public-awareness
Behind the scenes at Forensic Science Ireland in Garda HQ to hear how it's now possible to identify cold case missing persons from bone fragment DNA & discover the incredible range of forensic methods used to solve crime with guest Dr Tom Hannigan.
ForensicScienceIreland.ie
Story of extraordinary Jewish cemetery in Ballybough. Edwin Alkin, chairman of The Irish Jewish Museum shares its amazing history dating from 1714 and explains the ancient traditions involved in Jewish funerals. Dublin City Council is set to protect & restore this valuable part of Dublin's heritage.
https://jewishmuseum.ie
Talking to Kate and Miriam from Pushing Up The Daisies Scotland. Taking care of a loved one after they’ve died has been the norm ever since there have been people. However, in the 21st century it might seem daunting if you’ve no experience of seeing it done or even know what options are available to you.
https://pushingupthedaisies.org.uk/about/
I got the chance to visit the Irish Museum of Modern Art to go behind the scenes of a major new exhibition of internationally-renowned Colombian artist Doris Salcedo. IMMA's Claire Power walks me through the gallery sharing the background behind the pieces exploring profound themes of memorial and loss. 'Acts of Mourning' brings together six bodies of work exploring how we remember and acknowledge victims of violence.
[Pictured: Atrabiliarios (1996) Doris Salcedo - courtesy of IMMA.ie] https://imma.ie/whats-on/doris-salcedo-acts-of-mourning-exhibition/
Rebecca Lloyd shares her moving experience of the many death conversations she's facilitated with the Irish Hospice Foundation. These are free events where everyone is welcome to come along have a cuppa, some cake and be in a safe space to think about end-of-life and death. Death is such an individual and profound experience it can really help to learn and share fears and anxieties with others.
The next event takes place as part of the Bealtaine Festival - celebrating the arts and creativity as we age - where you get to drink tea, eat cake ... and think and talk about death on the 9th of May 2019 in St James Hospital, Dublin 8 at the Mercer’s Institute of Successful Ageing between 12pm – 2pm.
http://bealtaine.ie/events_list/1/2908 https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/comhra-bas-caca-agus-cupan-tickets-58594008256 https://hospicefoundation.ie/bealtaine-2019-tae-caca-agus-comhra-bas/
In this episode, UCC researcher Marian Caulfield shares her journey re-imagining the ancient practice of keening for 21st century Ireland. She also explores how lament might help change the way we approach mental health. Marian gives details of an upcoming three-day residential workshop – Learning To Cry Again – taking place in Bantry, Co Cork on April 26 2019. Details on Facebook: @PassionatePlanner and also @KeeningWorkshop
[16.41] My second guest is Jason Leach from AndVinyly. He's created a very special business accidentally. It came from developing a way of pressing vinyl records that include small amounts of cremated remains contained within them. He was looking to create a special record for his loved ones but found the idea quickly captured the public imagination. AndVinyly.com
How many asylum seekers die in Direct Provision Centres? Hear from artist Vukasin Nedeljkovic who has created Asylum Archive. He was in a Direct Provision Centre while seeking asylum in Ireland. His powerful body of work includes memorials to those who died within the system and examines the effects on those caught in Direct Provision limbo.
https://www.facebook.com/directprovision/
How do we grieve? Why do we grieve? And why are we afraid of those that do grieve? After their son Josh died, therapist Jane Harris & her BAFTA award-winning documentary maker husband Jimmy Edmonds made a powerful film to honour his memory and explore their grief through meeting other bereaved parents and hearing their stories.
https://alovethatneverdiesfilm.com/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/thegoodgriefproject/ Twitter https://twitter.com/GoodGriefProj Instagram https://www.instagram.com/thegoodgriefproject/
The innovative initiative quietly changing the concept of end-of-life care in Irish hospitals for families, patients & staff. Guests Alice Anderson from the Irish Hospice Foundation and architect Ronan Rose Roberts share the back story to some of the challenging projects undertaken under the Design and Dignity and Hospice-Friendly Hospital initiative.
HospiceFoundation.ie
The farming sector has the highest fatality rate in Ireland. Yet there's little or no emotional or practical support networks available to farm families suffering loss.
Norma Rohan, co-founder of EmbraceFARM shares her family's story and how they came to start a support network for those affected by farm accidents.
EmbraceFarm.ie
Des Nix is a retired journalist and member of the parish funeral team of St John the Evangelist Kilbarrack-Foxfield in Dublin. He volunteers his time to assist bereaved families organise the funeral of a loved one. Des shares how he came to be involved and tells the story of how the death of his father when he was four-years old marked his life.
Supporting the bereaved after suicide. I visited the team behind Friends of Suicide Loss to learn about the incredible range of services they provide to help people after experiencing this profoundly traumatic event.
FOSL.ie https://twitter.com/foslireland
Looking at a decade of homeless deaths in Dublin. Guest Dr Jo-Hanna Ivers from Trinity College Dublin shares findings from a new landmark study into the numbers and causes of death among the homeless population of the capital. Between 2005 and 2015, it has found 343 people died in the Dublin region. Shockingly, it also discovered that the average median age at death was 42 years old.
'Mortality amongst the homeless population in Dublin' can be found on homelessdublin.ie
Is death denied or revived in the 21st century? Guest Miriam Karrel shares her fascinating new research into Canadian Death Cafés. In the process, she gives an insightful historical overview of how we think about mortality – from the middle ages to the internet era. At the end of the programme, there's an extract from a previous interview with Jon Underwood, founder of the Death Café movement. In 2017, he tragically died at the age of 44. Jon describes how and why he started Death Café.
deathcafe.com
The story of The Dinner Party where guest Carla Fernandez explains the idea behind this unique get together. If loss tragically hits you in your 20s or 30, it's a good bet that your circle of friends haven't experienced it yet. Co-founder Carla knows what that feels like. She and her co-founder set up The Dinner Party based on their own experiences where you can vent, share stories and compare notes with peers who are going through their own grief journeys.
TheDinnerParty.org
Meeting the inspirational founder of the Children's Grief Centre. Sr Helen Culhane explains the story behind the centre and shares incredibly moving insights from the children she's supported over its decade-long existence. She and her colleagues are always learning from the incredible children who pass through the centre's doors.
childrensgriefcentre.ie
Comics and graphic novels are a great medium to explore some of life's more challenging subjects. Illustrator and comic-maker Debbie Jenkinson has created work exploring the highs and lows of the human condition. In this episode, we explore her work and that of other comic makers dealing with death, dying and bereavement. There is even a genre of 'hospice comics' where makers process the experience of coping with the decline and death of loved ones.
http://www.debbiejenkinson.net/ https://dublincomicarts.ie/
Guest Lucie Robson is a journalist and curator. She's proposing to hold a photographic exhibition – The Memorial Project – as a respectful comment on the brutal impact economic recessions/ depressions have on lives across the globe and to highlight both the need to support people going through such personal crises and the organisations that help them.
This dignified exhibition will display a selection of photographs provided by family and friends (the artists) of people who have taken their own lives because of economic reasons both in the aftermath of and since the 2008 crisis. She is in the early stages of the proposal and is looking for feedback and expressions of interest. Her email and website link listed below: robson@primehome.com http://robsonlucie.wixsite.com/imaginaryart/the-memorial-project
Also on the programme, can you leave your Twitter account as a legacy? An exploration of creating a will in the 21st century with solicitor Owen Burke.
The night when the living and the dead share the earth: 'The hearth is cleaned up, the fire set, and the kitchen tidied up ...The door left on the latch and all retire to bed, after the Rosary is said. All this is done, so that the Holy Souls, of our dead friends, let free for the night, may again visit their home on earth, to refresh and rest themselves there, for a short time.' Director of the Irish National Folklore Collection, Dr Críostóir Mac Cárthaigh (pictured) shares insights into the origins of Halloween. Exploring the ancient origins of 'trick or treat', wearing disguises and why it's such an important time in the rural Irish calendar.
duchas.ie
What does it mean to die? Marie Brett talks about her new filmic artwork - Last Breath. The artist collaborated with palliative care specialists and researched Irish folklore traditions to create this special piece. It reflects the liminal space between being alive and dead using soundscapes echoing the ancient Irish practice of keening and utilising evocative visuals. She explains what she learnt through making the piece. (A still from 'Last Breath' pictured above)
A Screening & Artist Discussion with Marie Brett - Last Breath takes place on Thursday 1 November 2018 / 6.30 – 8.00pm, Lecture Room, Irish Museum of Modern Art.
More information here: http://www.imma.ie/en/page_237387.htm MarieBrett.ie
The Irish Hospice Foundation are putting on a free public event - ‘Living with Loss, Observations on grief from the inside out’ where guest speaker will be Niamh Fitzpatrick, who is a psychologist and sister of the late Captain Dara Fitzpatrick.
To learn more about the event and to hear about the many different challenges people face living with a loss, I’m joined on the line by Breffni McGuinness, Training Manager - Bereavement and End of Life Care, Irish Hospice Foundation (pictured).
You can find out more about the Living with Loss event on hospicefoundation.ie or bereaved.ie. It takes place Thursday, 1st November 2018 between 5.30-8pm at the Alex Hotel in Dublin. It is free and no booking is required.
Also in this episode, THE GENTLE ART OF SWEDISH DEATH CLEANING - How to Make Your Loved Ones' Lives Easier and Your Own Life More Pleasant is a book written by Margareta Magnusson. It’s a very sensible approach to decluttering your life and in her short book, Magnsson packs in a wealth of compelling tips. Here is the author herself describing why everyone needs to Swedish Death Clean to Margareta’s daughter. Jane Magnusson for Editions Versilio.
How Day of the Dead is so important in Latin America. Sian Cowman from Latin America Solidarity Centre comes on the programme to share her experiences in Bolivia and to talk about the upcoming Day of the Dead event taking place in Dublin.
See event details here: https://www.facebook.com/events/2155822684738010/
lasc.ie
What is water cremation? Hear Sandy Sullivan, Scottish founder of Resomation explain this innovative process and share the story behind his award-winning company.
resomation.com
Joining the funeral revolution with guests Kate Tym and Kate Dyer from the Coffin Club UK. They share moving stories about the very personal and unique send offs devised by their members. The charity helps people obtain inexpensive flat pack coffins and provides a welcoming space to decorate their coffin and to talk about death with other members.
After founding the UK's first Coffin Club – inspired by the original New Zealand Coffin Club - Kate and Kate have been amazed at the deep level of frustration with the funeral industry. Typically, members want to know what's behind funeral director costs, how to create DIY funerals and what are the regulations you need to follow. The answers have been surprising.
www.coffinclub.org
In this episode, Dr Elaine Kasket shares what she's learnt while researching her book, 'All the ghosts in the machine: Illusions of mortality in the digital age'. We discuss how the internet is becoming a vast online graveyard filled with the digital reflections of the dead. What does this mean for online legacy? Do the dead have a right to privacy? And what does this mean for the corporations that own much of the content posted by the dead?
More information about Dr Elaine Kasket and her book: https://www.elainekasket.com/ https://www.facebook.com/ghostmachine2019/
Reimagining keening for the 21st century – Marian Caulfield is the woman behind Ireland's first keening workshops. She's guest on this episode of the aftering podcast. Marian describes how she became fascinated with the ancient Irish keening tradition, why she set up her first workshop April 2018 and the fascinating links between keening and positive mental health.
https://www.facebook.com/keeningworkshop/
First guest, Cor Geijtenbeek is founder and creator of CoffinInABox.com. This innovative company sells DIY eco-friendly flat-pack coffins. Each coffin can be ordered online and delivered straight to your door. Cor explains how the coffins are made and where the idea came from for this unique service. chistann.com coffininabox.com
Michael Owens from Citizens Information is the second guest. He guides us through the different State services available after a bereavement. Michael explains how Citizens Information can also help you to access assistance dealing with government departments, banks and utility companies. citizensinformation.ie
Guest Kyle Sherwood is co-owner of Save My Ink Forever. His company - based in the US - offers a most unusual legacy service where tattoos can preserved after death. The process then allows skin art to be framed as a unique keepsake for loved ones. In this episode he explains where the idea came from and how it all works.
SaveMyInk.Tattoo
Sharing the universal experience of grief through personal letters to lost loved ones is the basis of a book in aid of Our Lady's Hospice. Its editor, Orlaith Carmody came up with the idea as a way of giving back after the incredible end-of-life care given to her late husband Kieran. She was tragically left a widow at the age of 28. In this episode, Orlaith explains how she contacted writers, broadcasters and politicians to ask them to write a personal letter to someone they had lost. The book includes moving letters from Deirdre Purcell, Gloria Hunniford, Mary O'Rourke, Ivan Yates and many others.
https://lightupalife.ie/product/without-living-loss/ http://olh.ie/ http://www.dubraybooks.ie/Without-You-Living-With-Loss_9780995479395
In this programme, learning about the art of the eulogy from an inner city Dublin funeral director and hearing about Ireland's newest crematorium. Dara O’Callaghan is general manager of Shannon Crematorium and shares the background story of how and why it was built.
https://shannoncrematorium.com
Little Nellie of Holy God is considered Cork's unofficial patron saint. In this episode, John Flynn, local historian and guide for Spike Island, shares her fascinating story. I went to visit the island in Cork Harbour to learn more about its history, both as a brutal Victorian prison and mass grave site that was also a home to Little Nellie. Why is this small girl – who died in 1908 – now on the road to Catholic sainthood?
SpikeIslandCork.ie
How families remember their dead. Dr Laura King shares the background to this moving exhibition in Abbey House Museum, Leeds. Learn the stories behind pieces of Victorian hair jewellery to a single pair of unworn child's boots to one precious bottle of Old Spice cologne.
https://livingwithdying.leeds.ac.uk/2018/02/19/remembrance-unique-objects/
Dr Kevin Myers speaks about his fascinating research into changing attitudes to death in contemporary Ireland. How the role of the Catholic Church has evolved as Ireland shifts to a more secular society. We also discuss how technology is influencing bereavement. The rise of 'cyber solace' and how grief is policed online. He also points out the long tradition in Ireland of using humour as a way of coping with death and dying.
This episode explores the history of Corrigan and Sons Funerals. It's been on Dublin's Camden Street since 1884. I spoke to Gary Perry about the company's long history, how they've been serving Ireland's Jewish community for decades and why Corrigan and Sons came to be the funeral directors for medical school donor bodies. He gave me a tour of the venerable building which included the coffin showroom. Gary explained how families are now looking for more eco-friendly choices. As more and more opt for cremation, the company also stock a variety of urns and ash scatter tubes.
corriganfunerals.ie facebook.com/corriganfunerals Gary Perry is a qualified bereavement practitioner and civil funeral celebran. His personal website is finalfarewells.ie
This episode explores Sikh traditions around death, dying and funerals. I visited Ireland's only Sikh Temple, Gurdwara Guru Nanak Darbar in Dublin where Satwinder Singh (pictured) shared the history and practices of this particularly egalitarian religion.
www.gurunanakdarbar.ie facebook.com/GGNDDublin
Guest Josh Slocum is Executive Director of the Funeral Consumers Alliance. This is a not-for-profit organisation in the United States dedicated to protecting consumers rights to a fair, dignified and affordable funeral.
When it comes to funerals - both Ireland and the US share many of the same issues. Funeral poverty is a growing problem in Ireland as the cost of a funeral can come in much higher than a family anticipated. With the result that families can end up paying off a funeral debt for years to come.
Josh shares his insights into how the American funeral industry works and great advice on saving costs.
funerals.org www.facebook.com/funerals.org www.twitter.com/funeralconsumer
This is part two of an interview with Caroline Lloyd. She has written a fascinating new research-based book, ‘Grief Demystified’. On this programme, she’ll be delving deeper into the changes grief makes to the brain, the body and how some people can be literally heartbroken.
'Grief Demystified’ is available now on Easons.com, Omahonys.ie and also on Amazon.com. You can also visit her at TheGriefGeek.com and on Facebook and Twitter as @TheGriefGeek
What is 'normal grief'? Caroline Lloyd has written a remarkable research-based book on grief for people who support the bereaved and also for the bereaved themselves. She explains the fascinating history of grief theory, the effects internet can have on bereaved and the terrible toll when a loss isn't acknowledged by society.
https://thegriefgeek.com/
https://www.easons.com/grief-demystified-caroline-lloyd-9781785923135
https://www.amazon.com/Grief-Demystified-Introduction-Caroline-Lloyd/dp/1785923137
A visit to a traditional family-run monument maker reveals huge changes in how gravestones are produced. Shanganagh Marble and Stone Centre are one of the few businesses left still practising the craft of hand-carving. Fran and Colin O'Neill(pictured) share how they can cope with requests for 'teddy-bear' monuments to producing gravestones in Chinese for a new multi-cultural Ireland. Colin is a third-generation stonemason.
www.oneillsofshanganagh.ie
Learning about life & death in Dublin's shocking tenements. Guest Terry Fagan tells the story of his incredible Inner City Folklore Project.
He also generously shares – from his archive – a first-hand recorded account describing how death came to so many young tenement children.
Terry is pictured here holding a donated 'death set' kit which is over a century old. In tenement life, this kit was used by special women who would keep it safe and bring it along to wash and prepare the dead of the community.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/North-Inner-City-Folklore-Project-Railway-Street-Dublin/168000017283591
Talking to the director of Tot Zover, a very special Dutch museum that focuses on funerary culture over the centuries. Guus Sluiter explains how and why it came into being. He shares why a funerary bouquet delicately and beautifully woven from the hair of both the dead and the living is his favourite object in its collection. www.totzover.nl
Also on the programme, sharing the hidden history behind Ireland's illustrated Catholic memorial cards and how they came to be so important throughout 20th century Ireland. Academic Mary Anne Bolger shares her extraordinary research into these precious objects.
Discussing historic Dublin Glasnevin Cemetery's planning row. The cemetery wants to build a new crematorium chapel on some existing 'poor graves'. Mary Fitzpatrick, local resident, former Dublin City Councillor and Fianna Fáil candidate for General Election in Dublin Central explains what's been happening with the plan and why she's been strongly opposing it. Also, the Buddhist experience and philosophy of death is explored with help from the Dublin Buddhist Centre.
Guest Jennifer Moran Stritch is Lecturer and Research Group Director with Limerick Institute of Technology and teaches on the masters in bereavement studies with the Royal College of Surgeons and The Irish Hospice Foundation. She leads some very interesting research on grief and loss in marginalised groups. She also is part of the Death Cafe movement and has done a lot of work on death education and Thanatology in Ireland.
What do you say to a grieving child, especially at Christmastime? Brid Carroll (pictured), chairperson of the Irish Childhood Bereavement Network shares practical help and advice for bereaved families coping with loss. Using simple and clear language to explain death to a child is so important. For more information, there are lots of helpful resources on The Irish Childhood Bereavement Network website: childhoodbereavement.ie
Photographer Donal Moloney creates haunting images of abandoned places. These crumbling buildings where people lived, and sometimes died, are filled with stark echoes of the people who inhabited them. He's found that the process has had the unexpected effect of making him face his own mortality. Donal became fascinated with 'Urbex' and 'Rurex' (the process of exploring urban and rural abandoned buildings)as a personal project. He initially featured nude models in these art photographs but has since created different iterations of the project by taking pictures of the spaces alone or by placing a single white chair placed in the eerie scenes. He shares stories of the thrilling dangers of being where you are not supposed to be and explains the bizarre scenes he has witnessed on his journey.
donalmoloney.com www.facebook.com/DonalMoloneyPhotography/
John Wilde (pictured) set up a pet cremation service with a big difference. At his base in Enniscorthy, Co Wexford, he's set up a special room for families to say their final goodbye to a departed but beloved animal companion before they are cremated. Many families are now opting to hold wakes here with their pet with candles, music and flower petals. John shares the personal story of why he set up his business and how it's about giving a very personal and non-judgmental service to his clients.
www.Earth2Heaven.ie https://www.facebook.com/john.wilde2016/
What's your funeral song? Guest Sue Kemple is CEO of My Last Soundtrack. It's an American startup helping people create a lasting memorial online that can begin with a favourite music playlist. She shares her personal story of how she came to be one of company's founders and how the origin of My Last Soundtrack came out from the choice of music at funeral.
www.mylastsoundtrack.com www.suekemple.com
'Makers of Fine, Affordable Underground Furniture'. Katie Williams is the inspirational and delightful founder of the amazing Kiwi Coffin Club. There are now clubs opening across New Zealand and Australia with the purpose of bringing together seniors to have a bit of craic together but also to provide a space to design, make and decorate their own coffins. The original club in Rotarua, NZ also makes some very special tiny coffins for the babies that don't survive being born.
www.coffinclubs.co.nz loadingdocs.net/thecoffinclub/ http://janetkeen.blogspot.ie/
I got the opportunity to attend the fantastic Irish Hospice Foundation forum on End of life conference 2017 where there were excellent, thought-provoking speakers. On today’s programme, you’ll get to hear from three of them, Professor Jenny Kitzinger, Senator Mary Louise O’Donnell and Dr Stephen Higgins.
Professor Jenny Kitzinger explained the many challenges around how end of life decisions are made when the patient has lost the ability to make choices for themselves. Dr Kitzinger is Professor of Communications Research at Cardiff University, the School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies. After her sister Polly sustained horrific brain injury She founded, with her sister Professor Celia Kitzinger, the Cardiff-York Chronic Disorders of Consciousness Research Centre which specialises in examining social and ethical aspects of the vegetative and minimally conscious state. Senator Mary Louise O’Donnell has published a unique comprehensive report, 'Finite Lives'. For the first time bringing together information on the role state services have to play around death, dying and bereavement in Ireland. Dr Stephen Higgins is an experienced palliative care doctor who spoke about what it means to treat pain at end of life.
For more information please go to hospicefoundation.ie
Photo: Paul Sherwood Pictured are David McCullagh RTE, who chaired the morning session, Sharon Foley, CEO, IHF, Professor Jenny Kitzinger, University of Cardiff and Mrs Justice Catherine McGuinness, at today’s launch of ‘The People’s Charter on Dying, Death and Bereavement in Ireland’
How to make your workplace safe for grief. Breffni McGuinness explains why you should never be afraid to reach out to someone who has been bereaved. He gives practical tips for employers and colleagues to help someone return to work after coping with loss. Image: Paul Sherwood HospiceFoundation.ie
What do the people of Ireland think about death? Angela Edghill (pictured), Advocacy & Public Engagement Manager from the Irish Hospice Foundation shares the results from a unique nationwide survey and previews the Irish Hospice Foundation's Forum on End of Life in Ireland Conference 2017. Image: Paul Sherwood HospiceFoundation.ie ThinkAhead.ie
Everything you wanted to know about cremation but were afraid to ask. Guest Alan Massey, manager of Dublin's historic Mount Jerome Cemetery and Crematorium shares what really happens at a cremation and answers the questions he gets asked most.
www.mountjerome.ie
AdVic is a charity that tries to help families through the maze of the courts, police and multiple government agencies that become involved when someone dies by homicide. it’s impossible to imagine the pain of losing a loved one to homicide but for those bereaved they have the added trauma of trying to negotiate a complex legal system and deal with the complex practicalities of coping with such a devastating loss. Sharon Mitchell became involved with AdVIC following the loss of her son. She shares her story and explains what faces families in this horrific situation.
www.AdVic.ie www.facebook.com/Advic-advocates-for-victims-of-homicide-1832563260399411/
How do you tell someone they are dying? An innovative new study shows how communication between end-of-life patients and their physicians depends on body language as much as words. Ruth Parry and Dr Marco Pino (pictured)video recorded the interactions and were interested to find the nuanced methods used by doctors in a hospice setting to help the patients understand their prognosis.
Further information: https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/research/groups/ncare/projects/video-research.aspx http://www.ruthparry.org.uk/ http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0156174&type=printable
What is it like to die in an acute hospital? Mary Duffy is clinical nurse manager in the busy Dublin city Mater Hospital. She shares her moving experiences of what happens when a death occurs on a ward. Mary is passionate about ensuring patients and their families are given space to grieve and make their peace during the end-of-life process.
This programme goes behind the scenes in one of Ireland's busiest and biggest acute hospitals, Dublin's Mater Misericordiae University Hospital to find out about the 'hospice-friendly hospitals' initiative and the changes happening to help patients and their families at the end-of-life. In the image, Diarmuid Ó Coimín, the End-of-Life Care Coordinator, Mater Misericordiae University Hospital is standing with Mary Duffy, clinical nurse manager. They are holding one of the special blankets used to carefully drape the deceased which shows the spiral symbol designed to indicate end-of-life within the hospital.
The final, final frontier. It's now possible to have cremated ashes launched into space. Fergus Jamieson, MD of HeavensAboveFIreworks.com in partnership with Celestis facilitates space burials for people across the UK and Ireland. In the second half of the programme (14.55)LGBT activist Rachel Mathews-McKay shares her personal journey in training to be a civil funeral celebrant and why it matters so much to get it right. celebrantservices.ie
Katie Verling and Sinead Dinneen met and bonded through their life-threatening cancers. Katie shares the story of how they became friends and decided to set up Kicking the Bucket(KTB)as a way to process their experiences through art and humour. It's a thought-provoking participatory project dealing with the big themes of grief, illness, dying and death.
Useful links: Kicking the Bucket radio documentary by Katie Verling http://www.rte.ie/radio1/doconone/2016/1119/832639-kicking-the-bucket/
Sinead Dinneen: sineaddinneenvisualartist.tumblr.com
Kicking the Bucket events: https://www.facebook.com/Kicking-the-Bucket-1761680887388740/
This programme explores the fascinating story of the Irish funeral tradition. It traces its history from the neolithic to the present to find out what practices continued from the ancient world through the rise of the Catholic funeral rite to today's #FuneralSelfies. Historians, archeologists, folklorists and those who work in the death business shine a light on the Wake and its export to America, the forbidden practice of keening and the extraordinary sexualised funeral games played in rural Ireland.
I would like to sincerely thank all those who agreed to take part in the programme. Many thanks to Dr Maeve Sikora, Dr Ned Kelly, Dr Stephen Harrison, Dr Jenny Butler, Clodagh Doyle, Michelle Collins, Dr Laura Kelley, Michael Burke, Dr Ciaran Wallace, Dr Lisa Marie Griffith, Gus Nichols and Peadar Farrelly and Dublin City FM.
Sound clip of Kitty Gallagher is From the Alan Lomax Collection at the American Folklife Center, Library of Congress. Used courtesy of the Association for Cultural Equity. http://research.culturalequity.org/home-audio.jsp
Caroline Lloyd is an author and bereavement counsellor who has been running a series of popular Death Cafés around Dublin. On this programme, she explains the concept of a Death Café, why the medicalisation of grief can be counterproductive and how the process of bereavement is shaped by your personality.
@TheGriefGeek facebook.com/DeathCafeDublin
On this special edition of the programme recorded at the Irish Hospice Foundation's Death Cafe Conversation event in Dublin, I got the chance to talk to the brave right-to-die campaigner Tom Curran about his experiences with his late partner Marie Fleming and the very tough decisions he has had to make and his thoughts on his own end-of-life wishes. Also on the programme, Sharon Foley CEO of the Irish Hospice Foundation explains why it means so much to participate in the charity's innovative initiative #HaveYourSayIRL. It asks the public to share their experiences of death, dying and bereavement and to be part of the first ever Irish charter on end-of-life issues.
Irish Hospice Foundation: hospicefoundation.ie Take the survey here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/haveyoursayirl
Right-to-die campaign: rtdireland.com
Mary Lovegrove and Bryan Nolan from the Irish Hospice Foundation share the great work taking place in Irish hospitals and care homes to make them more hospice friendly. About half of the population of Ireland actually die in acute hospitals yet the facilities around end-of-life needed a lot of help. The Design & Dignity Project is providing practical support, expertise and financial assistance. The project has gone on to create peaceful family rooms, bereavement suites and even renovated out-dated mortuary facilities.
hospicefoundation.ie thinkahead.ie
Irish-American funeral director Michael Burke has over 30 years serving the families of Manhattan and Brooklyn. In this podcast, he shares his stories of funerals in the Big Apple recounting how Jackie Kennedy was laid out in her Upper East Side apartment, why one wealthy New Yorker had a full funeral for his German Shepard and how the Irish have had a huge and lasting impact on the American funeral service.
He has also written a biography of Fitz-James O'Brien, an Irish-born writer who died in the US Civil War (link below). Michael is currently writing a biography about John Mackay, an Irishman who emigrated to New York becoming the 17th richest person in the world by the time he died in 1902.
His book Fitz-James O'Brien: American Soldier can be found here:
https://www.amazon.com/Life-Fitz-James-OBrien-American-Soldier-ebook/dp/B00JS9OT1U/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1472646601&sr=1-1&keywords=The+Life+of+Fitz-James+O%27Brien%3A+Irish+Writer%2C+American+Soldier#nav-subnav
Ivor Williams is a designer who is making innovative changes to how hospitals help clinicians and patients with end-of-life care. He specialises in design for death and dying, through the Helix Centre as Senior Design Associate and his research and consultancy group Being and Dying. In this podcast, he shares his fascinating stories of the pressures on clinicians and patients navigating their way through communication around death in acute hospitals and how some small changes can have big impacts.
helixcentre.com ivorwilliams.info beinganddying.com
How we deal with death reflects our society. Lisa Marie Griffith and Ciarán Wallace are co-editors of a fascinating collection of essays 'Grave Matters: Death and Dying in Dublin, 1500 to the present'. They share stories from the book while being interviewed in Dublin's famous Glasnevin Cemetery. Hear how grave-robbers created an export business sending Irish cadavers to eager London anatomy schools; how 'garden cemeteries' were places where you could learn how to behave; and post-mortem photography was a valued way to remember a lost loved one.
Grave Matters: Death and Dying in Dublin 1500 to present is published by FourCourtsPress.ie
Can you leave your Twitter, Facebook and Instagram accounts in your Will? Legal expert and solicitor Owen Burke answers this and other questions. What happens to our digital assets when we die? Can I leave a database to my sister? Do children automatically inherit when a step parent dies?
beauchamps.ie
Meet the founder of Qeepr.com Mandy Benoualid and Jeremy Cohen, Communications Director explaining the new and fascinating possibilities of digital memorialisation. The young company has created a safe online space for people to share the stories and legacy of the dead.
qeepr.com
Jennifer Hollis is a professional Music Thanatologist. She prescriptively plays music to people at the end of their lives. This practice has been shown to help manage symptoms and relieve suffering in the patients. It creates a quiet, meditative space for dying patients and their loved ones. Jennifer explains the history of Music Thanatology. She also shares the intensity of what it feels like to be present for the deaths of patients.
PHOTO CREDIT: Jon Crispin
Further information: jenniferhollis.com jennifer@jenniferhollis.com www.facebook.com/Hollis.JenniferL @JenniferLHollis
Music Thanatology Association International www.mtai.org
Deaths in Irish prisons can be especially difficult for the prison officer. They aren't friends, family or even work colleagues, they are people under their supervision and guardianship. Colette Barry has been researching how prison officers cope with fatalities behind bars.
Rachel Henderson is a trainee funeral celebrant. She shares her fascinating journey and why she's embarking on this very special career. Her background as a therapist helps her bring a deeper understanding of the processes of grief and healing. As people move away from organised religious services there has been increasing demand for the work of the civil funeral celebrant. Someone who can incorporate both religious and secular elements into a loved one's final send off.
Writing a Will shouldn't be scary. Expert Owen Burke is Associate Solicitor and Estate Practitioner with Beauchamps Solicitors. He translates the 'legalese' surrounding Will-writing and explains what exactly is involved in putting your affairs in order.
www.beauchamps.ie
The Urban Death Project founder Katrina Spade shares her concept of deathcare completely reimagined. The innovative architect has a developed a genuinely green alternative to burial and cremation where we can compost our bodies after we die.
urbandeathproject.org
Raoul Bretzel is co-creator of Capsula Mundi along with fellow designer Anna Citelli. The two Italians embarked on an innovative cultural project to reimagine the coffin. The result, Capsula Mundi, launched at the Milan Furniture Fair in 2003. It's a unique egg-shaped eco-pod container for the deceased. Raoul shares the story of Capsula Mundi's journey and why they want trees not tombstones to honour the dead. They've launched a Kickstarter campaign to create a smaller version of the eco-pod that can contain cremated ashes.
http://www.capsulamundi.it/en/ https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/capsulamundi/capsula-mundi-a-tree-for-life
Dr Seamus O'Mahony is a consultant gastroenterologist and the author of 'The Way We Die Now'. He eloquently argues that modern medicine ill-serves the dying. He has seen patients at the end of their lives robbed of their dignity by excessive and hopeless medical interventions. He thinks that we have over-medicalised the natural process of death.
His book 'The Way We Die Now' is available in all good bookshops.
Would you like to become a tree after you die? Roger and his brother Gerard Moliné have invented the Bios Urn to make that happen. It's a special biodegradable container containing the ashes of a departed loved one or beloved pet and a tree seed of your choosing. The innovative designer brothers are hoping to turn the earth's cemeteries into forests.
www.biosurn.com
Jon Underwood is the innovative & inspirational founder of the Death Cafe movement. A non-profit initiative getting people together to discuss mortality. It has really captured the public's imagination. Currently, there are over 3,000 Death Cafes in 35 countries around the world and it's growing. Jon explains its origins and shares his other initiatives such as a review site for funeral services and his work with the UK's NHS.
deathcafe.com funeraladvisor.org.uk dyingmatters.org impermanenceatwork.org
Jennifer Muldowney is an entrepreneur, author and creator of an innovative range of jewellery that can contain a small amount of cremated ashes. You can literally keep a piece of your loved one near to your heart. She shares her story of being a funeral planner, developing her jewellery and the experience of selling her products in Ireland and the USA. Jennifer has been surprised at the increasing amount of customers asking to have the ashes of their pets immortalised into the pieces.
celtic-ashes.com
A very special charity doing some very special work: guest Rosie Inman-Cook is manager of the UK Natural Death Centre. She also manages the Association of Natural Burial Grounds in the UK, and editor of the free online e-zine, More to Death, she's also a voice on the end of the helpline.
She explains how difficult it can be for families to know their choices and rights when a loved one dies. Why it's possible to hold a DIY funeral, what's really involved with embalming and how creating a final send-off needn't cost the earth (in every sense).
Natural Death Centre is an educational charity which sees death as a natural part of life. Founded in 1991, it is committed to supporting cultural change and is working towards a situation where all people are empowered in the process of dying, and organising a funeral.
naturaldeath.co.uk
Civil funeral celebrant Padraic Cawley explains why what he does isn't a business, it's very much a vocation. Ireland has been moving away from religious funerals for some time now. The demand for a 'civil' service is sharply growing. Padraic explains the form of this new style of funeral and shares some moving stories of the families he's served over the last five years.
www.PadraicCawley.ie
The CEO of Glasnevin Trust shares what goes on behind closed doors at one of Ireland's most historic cemeteries. George McCullough talks about the incredible changes taking place there and how cremations are nearly evenly divided with burials. He also describes the strange experience of combining a 'working' cemetery & crematorium with one of Ireland's top tourist destinations.
Traditional Arts researcher Michelle Collins tells the fascinating story of keening in Ireland. She explains its origins and why it's such a powerful and important part of how people marked the death of a loved one. Michelle also shares why Ireland isn't the only country in the world to keen for its dead.
John Sherlock is an award-winning ceramicist making unique 'sacred vessels' designed to contain cremated ashes. He started his journey when faced with his own death, he decided one of his last tasks was to make an urn to hold his own cremated ashes. Fortunately, John's health turned around once he was correctly diagnosed and he stared getting requests to make these very special urns.
Suzie Carley from Dogs Trust Ireland explains the Canine Care Card programme. It's a free service from the charity helping dog owners ensure their beloved pets will continue to be looked after and re-homed should they die.
www.dogstrust.ie ccc@dogstrust.ie
Author and mariner Norman Freeman shares his stories of burials at sea during the years he was a Marconi radio officer aboard ship in the Indian Ocean.
Norman Freeman's book 'The Lure of Far Away Places' is sold by Dubray Books Ireland
IMAGE: The Burial at Sea by Frank Brangwyn 1890 Glasgow Museums
Folklorist and historian, Dr Jenny Butler, shares some insights into Irish funeral traditions. She gives a short explanation of the practice of 'keening' and why it was frowned upon by the 19th century Catholic hierarchy. We also explore the lineage from pre-history into contemporary pagan funeral rites. Dr Butler explains the power of the symbol and her work with the Amulet Project – helping women with the traumatic loss of a child.
Entrepreneur and former Dragons' Den contestant Kevin Walker founded and runs Your Final Journey. It's a company providing a very special service. He oversees the transport of human ashes into Ireland and then facilitates memorial scattering services wherever and however the deceased wanted. Kevin shares some of the extraordinary stories of the scatterings and wakes he managed.
www.yourfinaljourney.com
Design historian Mary Ann Bolger shares the complex and fascinating story of how the Irish Catholic Memorial Card was invented and how it grew to occupy such an important part of Irish cultural life.
Author and former grave-digger Jamie Moran shares the moving stories of those who didn't survive the 1916 Rising in Dublin. He explains the history of how Deansgrange Cemetery came to be opened in the 1860s. And tells of how so many volunteers, bystanders and children all had their lives brutally cut short with only their legacy hinted at on their gravestones.
Where did the New Orleans Jazz Funeral come from? Matthew Ahern, founder of the Irish Cultural Museum in New Orleans and sixth-generation Irishman shares his family story in that great Louisiana city and explains how the Jazz Funeral has even evolved into a Jazz Wedding.
Expert gamer Jay Hunter discusses how some videogames are breaking boundaries with sophisticated storylines where characters deal with death, loss and even suicide.
Archeologist and Viking expert Dr Stephen Harrison explains what really happens during a Viking funeral
Image: Henryk Siemiradzki’s 1883 painting of ibn Fadlan’s burial tale
Jay Hunter is a gamer and presents the world's biggest old-school wrestling video podcast. He explains the many types of death portrayed in the video game. We discuss the uneasy contrast between cartoon violence and dignified memorials in gaming storylines.
On this edition of the show, I talk to Fr Bartholomew Parys, SVD who's a Polish priest living and working in Ireland. He explains the traditions around funerals in Poland and what happens when a Polish person dies in Ireland. Also on the programme, Anne Bennett from Dublin North West Citizens Information shares how people can access their free Will service and why it's so important to write a will.
Fr Bartholomew Parys: www.barteksvd.net/en Facebook.com/frbartsvd Twitter: @frbartsvd
Dublin North West Citizens Information: http://centres.citizensinformation.ie/centre.php?cic=Finglas+CIC finglas@citinfo.ie
St Francis Hospice celebrates the dedication of the hundreds of volunteers who have made such a profound impact on the lives of patients, their families and staff for over 25 years.
Hear the stories of five very different volunteers. Pictured clockwise from top left, Janet and David Jeffrey, Doreen O'Dowda, Myra Malone and Noreen Gormely. Brenda Farrelly, head of volunteer services explains how vital volunteers are to the hospice and what a incredible difference they make.
Vivienne Clarke shares the story of her late-Father's decision to donate his body to UCC Medical School and why herself and her Mother both decided that they want to do the same when the time comes.
Vivienne is pictured here with her late Father.
Mezzo soprano Sonya Grimes explains what it's like to help a family create a special funeral service with their choice of music and shares what songs get requested the most. Also on the show, St Francis Hospice's head of Volunteer Services, Brenda Farrelly on what working in a hospice is like, what she thinks about her own funeral and the special bonds that can develop between patients and volunteers.
www.sonyagrimes.com www.sfh.ie
Rebecca Lloyd is Compassionate Communities project worker for Milford Care Centre in Limerick and was the voice of @Ireland for week where she provoked valuable discussions around dying issues in Ireland. She has made a series of animations to help people through the many difficult issues that come up when facing death.
compassionatecommunities.ie
Imagine what it would be like to live your life and then at the end of it, everything you were get erased? That is what happens to many transgender people when they die. Families can bury their loved one as someone unrecognisable to the life they had previously lived. Liath James movingly explains why this is such an important issue for transgender people. She talks through the legal hurdles she had to go through to protect her hard won identity and why she has a YouTube playlist called 'In the event of my death'.
Funeral Director Peadar Farrelly has no fear of death. He already knows that his own funeral will be a well planned celebration of his life's journey. For over 21 years he's seen many changes in attitudes. People want more personalised events. He has been asked to have 'Ring Of Fire' played during cremations, act as peacemaker for disconnected families and help parents explain death to small children.
More information: www.farrellyfuneraldirectors.ie
Irish Times technology journalist Karlin Lillington shares her choice of funeral music, how funerals can really differ between Ireland and the USA, why she wants her ashes mingled with those of her much loved pets and what she thinks about the brand new challenges of digital legacies.
Irish Traveller Bernard Cawley dispels some of the myths about his community. He shares the story of how Irish Traveller TV came about, the importance of social media to a younger generation and gives some personal and unexpected ideas on what he would like to happen for his own funeral when the time comes.
What's your funeral song? Have you ever thought about your final send off? The Lord Mayor of Dublin shares her thoughts on what she'll want for her last outing. In the show, I also venture out on the streets of the capital to ask tourists and Dubliners their views. And finally, I ask those working in the business at a funeral industry trade show had they ever thought about what kind of send off they would like?
Eileen Bennett from HorsesConnect explains how the idea of therapeutic horse assistance has gone back thousands of years. The Horses Connect human and equine team is on a mission to foster a society where every person is valued and enabled to reach their full potential by creating and delivering a range of equine facilitated programs to improve the well-being of people experiencing disability or disadvantage.
www.horsesconnect.com www.facebook.com/horsesconnect www.twitter.com/horsesconnect
On Social Business, Valerie talks to Conall O’Caoimh, founder & director of Value Added in Africa. Since 2008, it has created a sustainable, quality-assured & ethical supply chain supporting small businesses in Africa and helping them sell their products to the world.
www.ProudlyMadeInAfrica.org www.facebook.com/valueaddedinafrica www.linkedin.com/company/value-added-in-africa www.twitter.com/ValueAddedAfric
Siobhan O'Keeffe of (SEI) Social Entrepreneurs Ireland shares the story of how, over a decade ago, people were not even aware of the term 'social enterprise'. During that time, SEI has come to support over 179 people with big ideas – changing Ireland for good.
socialentrepreneurs.ie info@socialentrepreneurs.ie facebook.com/socialentrepreneursireland twitter.com/SEIreland
For over two decades Paul Mooney founder and CEO of Jobcare has been helping people lift the barriers they face in getting work. He and Niamh Curtis, Jobcare's Training Officer, explain the special challenges former offenders and older people have to deal with and explain how the skills Jobcare imparts changes lives.
jobcare.ie info@jobcare.ie facebook.com/jobcareireland twitter.com/jobcaredublin
Award-winning NeuroHero CEO Aviva Cohen tells the story of the huge challenges faced by her family after her husband had a devastating stroke. As a result of her research and learning how to help him communicate, she created apps that have gone on to help thousands of other people find their words.
www.neurohero.com www.researchandhope.com
What you need to know to be a successful social entrepreneur. Mentor & coach Lynda Stopford shares key advice for startup businesses on what it takes to fundraise, power of networking and how to tell your story.
lyndastopford.com @lyndastopford
On Social Business, Valerie meets the tech startup connecting best ideas of social entrepreneurs to communities wanting to make change. Paul O’Hara (pictured) CEO and founder of ChangeX.org explains how.
Business mentor Lynda Stopford shares tips on avoiding the pitfalls as a startup social enterprise. She is running workshops in Boston College, St Stephen’s Green during September and October. More information at LyndaStopford.com
On Social Business, talking to Speech Therapist Rachel Moore, founder of Express Your Gender. A startup social enterprise that helps transgender people find their voice.
facebook.com/expressyourgender Expressyourgender.com info@expressyourgender.com @xygender
Sarah Martin is founder of Uniqube. This social enterprise plans to take recycled shipping containers and transform them into affordable housing. She explains how it will be done and the impact this will have on our housing crisis.
@sazmartin sazmartin@hotmail.com
Lisa Ruttledge is founder of Sen Academy. It’s a social enterprise transforming the learning experience of children by showing how problem solving can actually be fun.
senacademy.com @senacademy facebook.com/senacademy
Meet Michael Kelly, the hacker grower, writer and founder of the Grow It Yourself movement. He wants to reconnect people to the food they eat. “Our relationship with food is broken, we are finding kids that don’t know peas come from a plant"
GIY supports people to grow their own food. Started six years ago, it has helped set up 1,500 diverse Grow It Yourself groups within local communities, the probation service, schools and disability organisations not only in Ireland but in Australia and the UK too.
www.giyinternational.org Twitter: @giyireland www.facebook.com/GIYinternational
John Murphy tells the uplifting story of the social enterprises that have been transforming the lives of the long-term unemployed in north Dublin for two decades. He heads up Speedpak and Shamrock Rosettes. These companies provide education and work for people wanting to get back into the labour market.
www.speedpak.ie Facebook: www.facebook.com/Speedpakltd @schoolofwork www.shamrockrosettes.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/ShamrockRosettes @shamrockrosette
Meeting two young companies creating impact in very different ways. First up, Elaine Doyle of Boltz Sustainability explains the idea of her product Secret Seeds. These seed bombs can literally change the environment around you by creating bio-diverse habitats to help urban bees to flourish, flowers for you to enjoy and help teach children about the joys of growing plants.
Also on the show, Ronan O Dalaigh CEO of SedCo tells the story of his ambitious social enterprise development company that creates new businesses and helps to scale existing ones. Their aim? 1,000 commercial social enterprises by 2020. One of their first companies, fashion-house Aki-Na creates employment for migrants and creates positive sustainable products for a global audience.
www.facebook.com/boltzsus Twitter: @tigersandtutus
www.facebook.com/socialenterprisedevelopmentcompany website: sedco.ie Twitter: @SED_co
St Francis Hospice Raheny volunteer Doreen O'Dowda explains her varied work. Over the years, she has been a driver, a fundraiser, continues to help patients in the Intensive Palliative Unit and still knits chickens to help fund raise at Easter.
St Francis Hospice Raheny volunteer Noreen Gormley explains why she loves helping out in reception and what it feels like to help staff, patients and their families with requests and queries. How she enjoys having the chat and hearing their stories.
St Francis Hospice Raheny volunteer gardeners and married couple, David and Janet Jeffrey share the pleasure they get going in to tend to the Hospice grounds. Their recent addition of a bird box and feeders have provided much delight to patients and staff.
Meet Stephen Cluskey, the inspiring young managing director of GoAccessible 365: “Only 4-5% of the overall taxi fleet in Ireland is wheelchair accessible. Realistically, I have a 1-in-20 chance of getting a taxi”.
He decided to start his company after experiencing the sheer frustration and anger of being left stranded for five hours at the side of the road in Dublin city centre simply because no wheelchair accessible cars were available to transport him home. So he decided to do something about it.
www.goaccessible365.com facebook.com/goaccessible365 @goaccessible
Inspirational architect & social entrepreneur George Boyle shares her very personal reasons for founding the non-profit Fumbally Exchanges. At their heart, the Exchanges renew neglected properties to provide space and support for creative startups to thrive. Its guiding mission also requires that the 'Fumballeers' roll up their collective sleeves to engage in local community initiatives. The result: A healthy, sustainable & uplifting human eco-system.
fumballyexchange.com @fumballyExch
Kritika Ashok tells the story of her business MyArtGallery.ie. How she started a company out of solving a problem. When she went looking to get a photo she had taken of a penguin on a holiday to Antarctica made into an original painting it was prohibitively expensive. So she now connects artists directly to people at a fair price. Since starting last year, she has found her customers have been commissioning paintings as anniversary gifts, weddings and most surprisingly of all, as memorials to deceased loved ones (see image).
myartgallery.ie hello@myartgallery.ie @myartgalleryie
Matthew Larkin and Danielle Robinson of Dublin Ink on what compels an incredible range and variety of people to come through their doors for 'Trash Polka' art and very intimate body piercings. Why they draw a line at swastikas and how they protect customers from making mistakes they'll regret later (but if they do make one, they can provide the tattoo removing services too).
www.dublininktattoos.com www.facebook.com/dublininktattoo www.bodyartexpodublin.com www.facebook.com/bodyartexpodublin
Meeting a family who have been building a business through hard work and determination on Dublin’s Parnell Street. Authentic Vietnamese restaurant, Pho Viet has been the dream of husband and wife owners Tri Quoc Nguyen and Tuyet Pham. Tri fled Vietnam with his family in 1979 and subsequently met and fell in love with fellow-refugee Tuyet in early 90s Dublin. They got engaged two weeks after they first met. Now, parents of five children ranging from 6 to 21 years old, they have hopes that the restaurant will continue into the future with them.
phoviet.ie @PhoViet_Dublin
Chef and owner, Hugo Camacho Romero shares the challenges of running one of Dublin's first Mexican restaurants. He was born in Mexico City and came to Europe originally via a Water Polo scholarship to France. This is where he also met his Irish wife when the pair both worked at the newly-opened EuroDisney Paris. An evangelism for authenticity in cooking and passion for the food of his home country has helped Hugo through the many ups and downs of restaurant life.
www.azteca.ie @aztecaireland www.facebook.com/pages/azteca/233481985608
For over 200 years, J&C Nichols have been serving the people of Dublin. Current MD Gus Nichols is a sixth-generation funeral director and shares the unique story of his family business. He explains how the Irish funeral has been changing and the challenges facing the business in the 21st century.
www.nichols.ie
Meet the traders of one of Dublin's oldest markets in the heart of an area known as 'The Liberties'. Founded in 1973 by Michael Fitzgerald who still runs it to this day. Shop Talk visits a range of traders including Pat the gadget man who sells an intriguing variety of electronics that include tiny video cameras disguised as lighters, car key fobs and watches. One of the longest serving traders, Larry Mooney has been selling his amazing bargain wool to generations of Dubliners from his spot for 40 years (pictured).
www.libertymarket.ie www.facebook.com/libertymarketdublin @libertymarketd
Sewing, growing, selling (& eating) fresh organic food from the rooftop of a forward-thinking secondary school in the heart of Dublin's inner city. Urban Farm's Andrew Douglas (left in picture) talks us through how you can create clean eco-systems with live fishtanks to fertilise the plants above. How Belvedere student Thomas Arnold (right in picture) and supportive teachers like Simon O'Donnell are creatively exploring educational opportunities to grow ethical foods and a social enterprise at the same time.
www.urbanfarm.ie/belvedere-farm.html www.facebook.com/inspireorganics belvoblog.com/urbanfarm/ twitter.com/belvederefarm
An interview with fintech startup CEO Ann Hunt about her company Chasing Returns. Exploring how she came up with the idea and the rollercoaster journey of creating her company. Chasing Returns harnesses the power of psychology to help traders trade better. The platform captures trader data to help users avoid their hidden and ingrained emotional habits.
The businesses that don’t need a shop front. Oisin Ryan co-founder from Localmint.com explains his clever app that allows people to find shop info quickly and easily just when you need it, like where is the nearest late-night pharmacy. Also on the programme, Ann Hunt's company Chasing Returns harnesses the power of psychology to help traders trace their patterns of behaviour to create better decisions and make more money.
Master tailor's Jas Fagan (and musician) started out making suits for the showbands during their heyday (including Joe Dolan’s very last trademark white suit which has pride of place over the counter). Still going strong 47 years later, Jas's son Leonard Fagan explains how they create handmade bespoke suits for Communion, Confirmation … and Christenings. They recently created matching three-piece suits for a father and his infant son.
Polonia Pharmacy in Smithfield is Ireland’s first Polish chemist and just opened January of this year. Inside its pristine bright shop, Sylvia Wojtczak explains that they have been surprised at how many different ethnicities are crossing their threshold including, Irish, Russian, Ukrainian, Slovakian and Romanian. Some days they are speaking over three different languages.
Author and historian Maurice Curtis talks about his fascinating book 'To Hell or Monto' and tells the incredible true story of Molly Malone and the denizens of Dublin's notorious red light districts. How at one time Ireland had the biggest area of prostitution in Europe and its clients included kings and Nobel-prize winning authors. thehistorypress.ie
Dara Hogan, an award-winning and inspiring social entrepreneur, paragliding enthusiast and harmonica player shares his story. He has helped to build businesses providing education to a deeply marginalised community which in turn is helping families to lift themselves out of the poverty trap. ancosan.com