RIP.ie is a death notices website in Ireland, launched in 2005. As of 2021, the website received approximately 250,000 visits per day and more than 50 million pages were viewed each month. Accounts for 2019 showed net assets of over €1 million. Since 2024 it has been owned by

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It was launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is Ireland's leading n ...

Group. Death notices may only be submitted by

funeral director A funeral director, also known as an undertaker or mortician (American English), is a professional who has licenses in funeral arranging and embalming (or preparation of the deceased) involved in the business of funeral rites. These tasks o ...

s and not directly by members of the public. Members of the public may submit messages of condolence on individual death notices, which are reviewed by the business prior to publication, and which are organised into a downloadable book of condolence. The website contains a service directory, which lists funeral directors, florists and caterers, and an online shop selling handwritten sympathy cards.

History

Jay and Dympna Coleman, based in

Dundalk Dundalk ( ; ) is the county town of County Louth, Ireland. The town is situated on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the north-east coast of Ireland, and is halfway between Dublin and Belfast, close to and south of the bor ...

, County Louth, founded the RIP.ie website in 2005. Restrictions on funeral attendances due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

saw a large increase in online condolences. The Central Statistics Office (CSO) used RIP.ie in an attempt to calculate excess mortality from March to September 2020, in a study it published in November 2020. Entrepreneur Mike Feerick, has made a claim to 20% of the shares in the company. Feerick had a business relationship with the Colemans from 2007 to 2010, which was terminated by the Colemans. Legal correspondence over the claim ended in 2011 but resurfaced in 2021 when RIP.ie was reported to be on the market for up to €5 million. The matter was before the

Irish High Court The High Court () of Ireland is a court which deals at first instance with the most serious and important civil and criminal cases. When sitting as a criminal court it is called the Central Criminal Court and sits with judge and jury. It also ...

. On 2 May 2024, The Irish Times Group announced that it had acquired the website. RIP.ie was receiving 60 million page views per month when it was sold. In December 2024 RIP.ie stated it would start charging €100 for death notices.

References

External links

* {{Official website, https://rip.ie/ 2005 establishments in Ireland Acknowledgements of death Internet properties established in 2005 Irish news websites Death in Ireland