The following is a list of items covered by the funeral director. All of these may not be relevant to every funeral and sometimes the bereaved arrange items like flowers or music themselves.
• Collection of the body from place of death; washing, dressing and presentation of the deceased; embalming; engraving of coffin breastplate.
• Conveying the deceased from the place of death to the funeral home, residence, church and cemetery as required.
• Contacting the clergy; arranging times for the church services and funeral home prayers; providing copies of readings to the bereaved; arranging organist or other church music.
• Placing notices in the papers and internet also announcements on local radio.
• Opening and closing of the grave, providing grass matting for around the grave and graveside amplification, purchasing a new grave if required.
• In the case of cremation completing all the necessary forms to enable the cremation to take place.
• Supplying flowers, wreaths or organizing a collection for a favourite charity.
• Booking of a funeral reception for after the funeral for the bereaved and their guests.
• Providing door crepes, black ties, books of condolence, coffin pads, grave markers and Mass card holders, coffin trollies, umbrellas, holy water, candles, rosary beads, etc.
• Liaising with traffic Gardaí and cemetery, crematorium and airport staff.
• Providing transport for the bereaved if required.
• Maintaining a comfortable, well heated funeral home and clean, reliable vehicles.
• Paying all disbursements on behalf of the bereaved.
The funeral director is occasionally called upon to repatriate a deceased to another country. This involves a substantial amount of paperwork and dealings with the coroner and airlines. More regularly, remains are returned to Ireland from abroad which is a straightforward procedure as all the paperwork is completed in the country of origin. Because of our international links through the Irish Association of Funeral Directors it is possible to arrange a funeral in another country through any member of the association in Ireland. Members of the IAFD also adhere to a customer care charter. This along with the IAFD striving for excellence programme enables IAFD members provide the highest possible standards to their customers, fulfilling every request as far as possible.
Along with all of the above the funeral business provides round the clock cover to the Gardaí for coroner’s removals (victims of sudden or unexplained deaths who are removed to hospital for post mortem examination). Many funeral directors also provide pre-paid funeral plans. The person taking out the plan can pre-arrange every detail of their funeral and pay in advance. The money is invested in a trust fund which then pays the entire cost of the funeral when the need arises. Funeral plans are attractive to people living alone who have no relatives and to people who have very specific funeral requests.