Analysis: New death technologies are emerging that could radically alter the ways we deal with the dead in Ireland
It has been said that 'the Irish get death right'. With their deep, pre-Christian roots, the rituals that surround death in Ireland – notably the wake with its open casket – allow complex emotions (grief, regret, relief, love) to come to the fore in a safe, and quasi-sacred, place.
These practices extend to the final disposal of the body. For hundreds of years, the Irish funeral has culminated in what we might call a ‘traditional’ burial, in which the (possibly embalmed) body is carried in a coffin to a local cemetery and buried at a depth of eight feet, with a tombstone erected to mark the grave.
But all of this could be about to change and there are new death technologies emerging around the world that could radically alter the ways we deal with the dead in Ireland. Companies like Tomorrow Bio provide people the opportunity to be cryopreserved after their death. This involves replacing the blood in a body with a cryoprotectant fluid, before the body is placed in a vat (called a 'dewar') of liquid nitrogen at -196º Celsius.
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From RTÉ Radio 1's Brendan O'Connor show, funeral director and embalmer Elizabeth Oakes talks about Ireland's first Water Cremation facility
There are also new death technologies emerging around the world that could radically alter the ways we deal with the dead in Ireland. Companies like Tomorrow Bio provide people the opportunity to be cryopreserved after their death. This involves replacing the blood in a body with a cryoprotectant fluid, before the body is placed in a vat (called a 'dewar') of liquid nitrogen at -196º Celsius.
The ultimate aim is to preserve the body until a time when medical science is able to cure the person of whatever caused their death, thus bringing them back to life. This may sound like science fiction, but it is estimated that there are already over 600 cryonic ‘patients’ in suspended animation around the world.
In the United States, natural organic reduction – colloquially known as human composting – has been championed by Recompose and is now legal in seven states. To 'compost' a body it is placed in a specially designed vessel along with wood chips, alfalfa, and straw for five to seven weeks, before being removed from the vessel and spending another few weeks in a curing bin. The end result is a cubic yard of nutrient-rich soil that can be returned to the family to be scattered or used in the garden, or donated to land conservation programs.
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From RTÉ Archives, RTÉ News report from March 1982 on the new crematorium at Glasnevin Cemetery in Dublin
The emergence of companies like Resomation in the UK have led to so-called water cremation (or alkaline hydrolysis) becoming increasingly popular. This process uses a solution made up of 95% water and 5% an alkaline substance, such as sodium hydroxide. The corpse is submerged in the solution and the soft tissue of the body is dissolved through the application of heat and pressure. The bones are then ground down into a powder that resembles cremated ashes and returned to the family.
It is easy to think that these decidedly non-traditional means of disposing of a body would have little chance of taking off in Ireland. After all, cremation – the 'new' death technology that came to Ireland with the opening of Glasnevin Crematorium in 1982 – hasn’t had the same uptake here as it has elsewhere. Cremation rates in Ireland remain stubbornly low (around 28%), eben though it is by far and away the most popular form of body disposal in England (where around 81% of bodies are cremated), Australia (around 70%) and Canada (75%).
However, these figures don’t give the whole picture. While only around three in 10 people are cremated, the percentage of Irish people who say they want to be cremated is much higher at around 47%. In the past 15 years, two natural burial grounds – where the body is buried in a field or woodland area at a shallow depth calculated to promote swift decomposition and no tombstone is erected – have opened in Ireland, showing there is definitely a desire for non-traditional disposal on the island.
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From RTÉ's Doc On One, The Undertakers Art asks what type of person becomes an undertaker (first broadcast 1989)
Perhaps the most obvious indicator that attitudes to body disposal are changing in Ireland is the fact that the first water cremation facility in Europe was opened in 2023 in Navan, Co Meath. Pure Reflections says it is 'redefining tradition', and promotes itself as being a gentler and more sustainable means of body disposal.
We know that increasing concern about climate change and environmental degradation is the main reason why people choose to have their body water cremated. But there are also practical reasons that might influence the decision. The average cost of a traditional burial in Ireland is €6,250, compared with, for example, €3,700 to €4,300 for a water cremation at Pure Reflections. With funeral poverty on the rise, and 94% of Irish people being concerned about the financial impacts of the cost of a funeral on their loved ones, new death technologies are increasingly becoming a more cost-effective option for dealing with the dead.
Read more: How the rituals around Irish deaths, wakes and funerals have changed
Beyond these considerations, there are also other factors that are likely to influence the uptake of alternative body disposal methods in Ireland. From a county council perspective, for example, these could help ease the cemetery space crisis being experienced across the country. Changing demographics, generational turnover and increasing immigration to Ireland will almost certainly alter disposal preferences at a national level.
With this in mind, perhaps the ultimate takeaway is the need to overcome the reluctance and fear of talking about death. We need to have conversations with our families and friends about what we want to happen to our body when we die. At least it might be a little bit more interesting than talking about the weather...
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The views expressed here are those of the author and do not represent or reflect the views of RTÉ
