Our interviews explore the human experience of death and help dealing with loss and grief.

We have spoken with a wide range of people who have given us a glimpse into their world, from coping with bereavement to making eco-friendly coffins, from help with the repatriation of a deceased loved one to the pain of losing a pet.

Our sister series of podcasts is called Going Out in Style.

• February 11, 2015  Duration 9.38

Making coffins with Willow Wonder 

Beth Murphy teaches a unique class on how to create your own willow coffin.
willowwonder.net

• February 10, 2015  Duration 11.27

Special funeral video services to help families deal with loss

Gerry Duffy talks about his special service to create videos of funerals to help families deal with the loss but also share the event with relatives who cannot make the actual service.

• December 3, 2014  Duration 7.13

Meeting the Griefwalker: Stephen Jenkinson

Stephen Jenkinson speaks about his work with the dying and the film Griefwalker. FIlmed over 12-years, the documentary explores his journey. orphanwisdom.com

• December 3, 2014  Duration 15.33

Celebrating a human life

Civil funeral celebrant Padraic Cawley talks about the process of celebrating someone’s life when putting together a funeral service.

• November 25, 2014  Duration 12.47

Samhain: looking at Age & Opportunity

Ciaran McKinney, director of Age & Opportunity on the Samhain exhibition in the National Museum, Kildare Street, Dublin.

• November 24 2014  Duration 26.33

Samhain: reflecting on aging and death

Mo Murray and Brendan McHugh, participants in the Samhain: Shadows, Sounds and Stories exhibition at the National Museum in Kildare Street, Dublin,  tell their stories.

• November 17, 2014  Duration 9.53

Cemetery travel and tourism

Author Loren Rhoads speaking at the Death Salon event in San Francisco. She has written a book about how cemeteries in the city were destroyed to make way for houses and roads. cemeterytravel.com

• November 17, 2014  Duration 12.30

Anam Cara: helping bereaved parents

Sharon Vard CEO of AnamCara.ie An organisation that provides support for bereaved parents and families after the loss of a child.

• November 16, 2014  Duration 12.21

The story of Irish Heritage Urns

Lianne Kinnane on her family’s traditional hand-crafted urn-making business in Tipperary. irishheritageurns.com

• November 12, 2014  Duration 11.08

The world of crazy coffins

Want to be buried in a whiskey bottle, the starship Enterprise or a giant guitar? Ursula Williams from crazycoffins.co.uk talks about her customers and the designs they want to create for their final journey.

• March 23, 2015  Duration 10.50

Bestselling author and mortician Caitlin Doughty

New York Times bestselling author Caitlin Doughty talks about her book ‘Smoke Gets In Your Eyes’. She is a mortician who also happens to be funny with her own youtube channel.

• November 11, 2014  Duration 29.08

The Kevin Bell Repatriation Trust

Colin Bell, who tragically lost his son, speaks speaks about helping other families going through the same expense and hardship of trying to pay to get a loved one’s body home. KevinBellRepatriationTrust.com

• November 11, 2014  Duration 12.20

Taxidermy: A woman’s perspective

Chel Saltin tells us about her work, some would see as an unusual choice, as a female taxidermist.

• September 27, 2014  Duration 8.01

The Buddhist experience of death, with Prainia Gheeta 

Prajnagita from the Dublin Buddhist Centre on the philosophy and differences in dealing with funerals between the different orders of Buddhism

Podcast pending

• September 27, 2014  Duration 13.27

Irish wake games

Folklorist Clodagh Doyle with the Museum of Country Life in Mayo describes games people played during the wake in Ireland going back to the late 1800s

• September 27, 2014  Duration 8.31

Traveller’s death traditions and beliefs

Martin Collins of Pavee Point on Traveller death traditions and beliefs

• September 27, 2014  Duration 14.58

Atheists’ challenges with religious death traditions

Michael Nugent, chair of Atheist Ireland, on why one small change on a headstone can make a huge difference

• September 11, 2014  Duration 24.29

Glasnevin Cemetery’s incredible history

George McCullough, CEO of Glasnevin Trust, talking about the rise in people opting for cremation, Michael Collins’ graveside female admirers, and how Glasnevin became the first cemetery museum in the world.

• September 3, 2014  Duration 11.15

Damien McCallig on media law and your digital remains

Do you own your digital life? What can happen to your Twitter, Facebook and iTunes account after you die. Damien McCallig talks about these legacy issues @DamienMcC_dli.

• September 3, 2014  Duration 11.20

Keith Ellis on crime scene cleaning

Meet Dublin’s crime scene cleaners. What it’s like cleaning up after violent crime, drug dealers and dead bodies. @BioHazard

• August 27, 2014  Duration 9.14

The art of writing a eulogy with John Kennedy

How to write eulogies, tips and advice from funeral director John Kennedy

• August 27, 2014  Duration 10.51

Colin McAteer on natural burial grounds

Ireland’s first and only natural burial ground, contains no headstones, no crosses just wild flowers and a tree to mark the spot where you lie, with the Green Graveyard Company.

• August 27, 2014  Duration 22.37

Irish Carers Association 

We chat to Catherine Cox from the Carers Association and family carer Harriet Conlon. There are extra special challenges to face when looking after a terminally ill loved one in the home. @carersireland

• August 27, 2014  Duration 6.44

Sam Harnett on near death experiences

We explore near death experience stories with Sam Harnett who interviews rideshare passengers and puts their fascinating stories together.

• August 27, 2014  Duration 13.06

The pain of losing a pet

Gillian Bird of the DSPCA discusses how the loss of a pet can be as important as the loss of a human loved one

• August 27, 2014  Duration 7.10

A life that never was: Age progression imaging

Emanuel Craciunescu explains how his company in America can use a photo of a deceased child to create an image of what they would look like now as an adult, had they lived.

• August 27, 2014  Duration 15.13

A day in the life of a funeral director

We talk to John Kennedy about the challenges of dealing with grief, dead bodies and the delicate logistics of funerals.

• August 1, 2014  Duration 13.33

State suppport for funerals in Ireland

Grainne Griffin, Citizensinformation.ie about State financial supports available for funerals and bereavement

• August 1, 2014  Duration 7.45

The Muslim experience of death

Dr Ali Selim from Islamic Cultural Centre Ireland @islamireland about the Muslim experience of death in Ireland

• July 23, 2014  Duration 12.19

The rise of non-religious funerals

Brian Whiteside, Director of Ceremonies Humanist Ireland on the rise of the non-religious funeral.

• July 23, 2014  Duration 9.09

Sharing end-of-life wishes

Aine McCambridge talkes about thinkahead.ie and why it is so important to ‘think, talk, tell’ your end-of-life wishes.

• July 16, 2014  Duration 11.06

Dealing with the death of a baby

Marie Creegan from the organisation Feileacain help on coping with the death of a baby

• July 16, 2014  Duration 11.02

The story of RIP.ie

Talking to Dympna Coleman on the story behind the obituary website RIP.ie and its 2.5m online users

• July 8, 2014  Duration 7.43

Making a Living Will

Roddy Tyrrell from Tyrrell Solicitors on what is involved in making a will, what ‘living wills’ or advanced care directives are and why they are not yet fully recognised in Ireland

• July 8, 2014  Duration 11.23

Farewell Funeral Planners

Jennifer Muldowney from Farewell Funeral Planners who talks of cremation jewellery and on being called the ‘glam reaper’!