Armagh-born academic seeks local memories of Northern Ireland’s changing funeral traditions

An Armagh-born academic is asking people across Northern Ireland to share their memories of funerals and wakes as part of a study examining how the region’s traditions around death are changing.

Dr Sharon Mallon, a Senior Lecturer in Social Work and Wellbeing at the University of Staffordshire, is leading research into what changing funeral, wake, burial and cremation practices reveal about identity, community and belonging.

The project, funded by the British Academy, is called Death ‘Practices in Transition: Meaning, Ritual, and Change in Northern Ireland. Working with historian Dr Peter Morgan Barnes, Dr Mallon wants to document everyday experiences before customs and memories disappear.

Her work is intended to look beyond high-profile political funerals. She said there was little written about the ordinary funeral and the small, familiar practices that matter to families and communities when someone dies.

A study shaped by family experience

The idea for the research came from Dr Mallon’s own experience of bereavement. She noticed a marked difference between the arrangements following her father’s death 25 years ago and those surrounding her mother’s more recent passing.

“I’m from Armagh myself and I had a really significant bereavement 25 years ago with my Dad and things were done a very particular way. As a 26-year-old, we were kind of taught this is how it’s done, and then Mummy died three years ago and it was just so different.”

The same undertakers and family were involved, she said, but the way the funeral and wake were organised had changed. That contrast led her to ask how people remember older customs, what is changing now and whether those changes are deliberate.

Dr Mallon’s research interests include bereavement, but she said existing writing about Northern Ireland has focused more heavily on major political funerals than on the everyday experiences of people dealing with death.

She also identified the Covid pandemic as a possible tipping point for some traditions. However, the study is designed to explore the reasons for change through people’s accounts rather than assume a single explanation.

Wake houses, funeral homes and changing routines

Early pilot interviews have raised questions about the growing use of wake houses and funeral homes, as well as the move away from keeping vigil with a deceased person overnight.

Dr Mallon said some people viewed these arrangements as making the first days of bereavement easier. At the same time, they could alter the way relatives, friends and neighbours gather around a family.

“So far I’ve only done two pilot interviews and I suppose the things that are coming out from them is that it is a bit easier now, that some of the changes, particularly around like the opening of the Wake House or having the deceased at the funeral home, that that’s actually making it a little bit easier in those first few days.”

She said participants had also questioned why some older practices were no longer followed. The research will consider whether changes result from choice, convenience, professional advice, wider social change or a gradual shift that people do not consciously notice.

For Dr Mallon, the idea of giving someone the right “send-off” remains important, but the definition of “right” is not fixed. It may differ between families, generations, faith communities and individuals.

“The send-off is still very important to people, absolutely. It has to be done right.”

The study will examine who helps shape those expectations. Interviews are planned with ministers, priests, humanists and undertakers, alongside members of the public. Dr Mallon said churches have historically tried at times to control or limit wakes, while families have also wanted funerals conducted in their own way.

Undertakers are another important part of that conversation because they may both respond to changing expectations and influence the choices available to bereaved families. Dr Mallon hopes to speak to the undertaker involved in her mother’s funeral to explore that relationship further.

Public invited to share experiences

The researchers are looking for people aged 18 and over who have attended a funeral or wake in Northern Ireland within the past five years. Participants do not need to have lost an immediate family member. Dr Mallon said the study is interested in anyone’s experience of attending a funeral, including ceremonies for people known only indirectly.

Interviews were planned across the week beginning Sunday, October 25, as the researchers travelled to different parts of Northern Ireland. The source material does not specify the year of that planned interview period.

The team aims to speak to people across as much of the six counties as possible because ideas about what is normal or traditional can vary significantly between places and communities.

Older participants are particularly welcome because they may remember how funerals were conducted in the past. Younger people are also being sought to help researchers understand how practices are changing and whether those changes are welcomed, resisted or simply accepted as they happen.

The project will look at experiences across different religious backgrounds. Dr Mallon said her own experience was rooted in a Catholic background, while early interviews with people from Methodist and Presbyterian backgrounds had suggested there may be more similarities than expected.

Researchers also hope to hear from people who have moved from the Republic of Ireland to Northern Ireland. Their experiences may help identify differences between funeral practices north and south of the border. Comparisons with research already conducted in the west of Ireland are also being considered.

Interviews and future exhibition

Interviews are expected to last between 30 and 40 minutes. They can be conducted online, or researchers can travel to meet participants in person. No specialist knowledge is required; the team is seeking personal observations, memories and opinions.

Anyone interested in taking part can contact Dr Mallon at [email protected] for more information and details of the study.

The research may later be presented through an exhibition at the Folklore Museum in Belfast. Dr Mallon hopes the exhibition will combine historical artefacts held by the museum with material gathered during the project to show how funeral customs have developed and what those changes mean for life in Northern Ireland.

Subject to participants’ consent, some recorded voices and memories may also be added to the National Archives. The aim would be to create a historical record of how people gather, say goodbye, support bereaved relatives and remember those who have died.

Dr Mallon said preserving these accounts was particularly important because Northern Ireland’s history is often understood through the Troubles and major political events. Her project is focused instead on the ordinary experiences surrounding one of life’s most significant events.

“It’s a way of tracking our transition as a society as much as anything, but also acknowledging the everyday person’s meaningful existence.”

She said the research would record what people carry forward, what they change and what may be lost if those stories are not collected. The study also links those personal rituals to wider questions about religious practice, community support, social diversity and how Northern Ireland understands itself.

Dr Mallon said the timing of the project’s public appeal, around Hallowe’en, was fitting because the period has long been associated with transition and the relationship between the living and the dead. The researchers want to hear how funeral customs help people navigate loss, remember loved ones and make sense of life and death.