Covid-19 and funerals
If someone close to you has just died, or you know someone who has recently been bereaved, you may have concerns about planning the funeral during the COVID-19 pandemic. We have put together some information about wakes and funerals.
After a bereavement, you should contact your preferred funeral director as soon as you can. During the COVID-19 pandemic, funeral services will remain open as they are an essential service. Funeral directors and undertakers deal with the burial or cremation arrangements. Your funeral director will have the most up-to-date information and know the details of procedures during the pandemic.
Wakes, in homes or in funeral homes, are not advised during the pandemic.
Close family members can still attend funeral services burials and cremation provided the social distancing rules are respected. This relates to all funerals, including those of people who have died of COVID-19. There should not be more than 10 people in a church or at the graveside. This number may need to be smaller in small closed spaces and local churches may have other restrictions.
The Health Protection Surveillance Centre advises close contacts and relatives of the deceased to use their own transport to attend the funeral, where possible.
The Irish Hospice Foundation have suggestions about how to support family members through grief and remembering people we have lost during the pandemic. Following the funeral, you can arrange a memorial service for a later date when restrictions have been lifted. Visit hospicefoundation.ie or call (01) 679 3188.
Information for those affected by bereavement (pdf ) is a publication for people who have been recently bereaved. It provides information and advice on practical and material matters that arise following a death. It includes information on what to do immediately after a death, possible social welfare entitlements, tax, financial and legal issues that may arise and where to go for further information and support. You can visit citizensinformation.ie to download a copy.