We are the national charity addressing dying, death and bereavement in Ireland.
Our vision is an Ireland where people facing dying, death and bereavement are provided with the information, care and support that they need.
07/08/2025
🌻 Applications are open for our Arts & Culture — Bereavement & Grief training course commencing October 2025.
This part-time blended course, running over two full weekends and four mid-week evenings, explores the many roles of arts and culture in contemporary dying, grief, and bereavement.
If you work in the arts, culture, or health sectors supporting people experiencing dying, death, grief, and loss, we invite you to apply.
Our booklet 'When Someone You Care About Is Dying at Home – What to Expect' aims to support people who are caring for a person who wishes to die at home.
It provides information on:
💙 What is needed to provide end-of-life care
💙 The physical changes that happen as the person is dying
💙 How to provide care as the person is dying
💙 How to access supports
💙 What to do after the person has died at home
💙 How to you look after yourself
Download the booklet for free from our website 👉 hospicefoundation.ie/dying-well-at-home
04/08/2025
Applications for our Design & Dignity Small Grants Funding are open until Friday, September 5th.
Research shows that the physical environment can significantly impact the experiences of patients and families at end of life. This funding aims to help hospitals improve their end-of-life care rooms and spaces.
Applications are open to hospitals engaged with our Hospice Friendly Hospitals programme.
👉 For further information and to apply, please email our team at d&d@hospicefoundation.ie
The photos below are from Letterkenny University Hospital's ICU Family Room. They were awarded Design & Dignity Small Grants Funding in 2024 to improve this space.
03/08/2025
When we acknowledge and sit with our grief, we create space for honouring the love and the loss.
❤️ You are not alone. If you need grief support, our Bereavement Support Line is here for you. Please call us on freephone 1800 80 70 77, Monday to Friday, 10am to 1pm.
01/08/2025
As the long weekend begins, many are taking time to rest. But for those caring for someone who is seriously ill or dying, rest can feel out of reach.
If you're caring for someone, it's important to maintain your own health and look after yourself too.
This is our End-of-Life Symbol. We post it on the last Thursday of every month to remember those who've died in Ireland recently. Our thoughts are with all those who are grieving.
Please remember you're not alone in grief.
Call our Bereavement Support Line
☎️ 1800 80 70 77
Mon - Fri, 10am - 1pm
Visit our Bereavement & Loss Hub for grief support 👉 bereaved.ie
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29/07/2025
Join us for our next Lunch & Learn. We will explore quality improvement initiatives for healthcare settings developed in response to findings from the National End of Life Survey (2023).
We will focus on our co-produced resource ‘A Helpful Guide for Healthcare Workers: Supporting Parents and Carers of Bereaved Children and Young People'.
This resource prompts healthcare professionals to consider if a child or young person will be impacted by bereavement and encourages conversations with parents and carers about supporting children bereaved by the death of someone in their care.
🌻 A huge thank you to the incredible Tom Horan for hosting his second annual Country Music Hoedown this month and raising over €1,000 in support of Irish Hospice Foundation.
With sunshine and a lively crowd on their feet, it was a day full of music, joy, and generosity.
Tom chose to fundraise for three very worthy causes, and we’re truly honored that Irish Hospice Foundation was one of them.
❤️ Your continued support means the world to us, Tom. Thank you for making a real difference by supporting our work in end-of-life and bereavement care.
28/07/2025
If you or someone close to you is grieving and needs support or would just like to talk to someone without judgement, please call our Bereavement Support Line. All in the strictest confidence. ❤️
- If you know someone who has lost someone close, don't be afraid to mention the person who has died.
Many people who have been bereaved welcome the opportunity to talk about the person who died. ❤️
If you're grieving or seeking advice about how to support someone who is, our Bereavement Support Line is here for you.
☎️ 1800 80 70 77 (freephone)
🕒 Mon-Fri, 10am-1pm
24/07/2025
Well done and a massive thank you to the team at KDA for raising over €25,000 for Irish Hospice Foundation. Incredible work! 🌻❤️
24/07/2025
Do you have queries about advance care planning, end-of-life care, or palliative care? We're here to support you.
Our Information and Support Line is a confidential line that provides signposting, practical supports, and resources about end-of-life care in Ireland.
📞 Call freephone 1800 60 70 66, Monday to Friday from 9am to 1pm.
Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Irish Hospice Foundation posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.
Irish Hospice Foundation was set up in 1986 to fund and develop specific hospice services. Since then our work has expanded to address the needs of people dying in hospitals, at home and in other care settings. We work to provide equity in access to palliative care services for all patients with life limiting illness. We also promote discussion of a broad range of issues related to dying, death and bereavement, in order to identify what matters most to Irish people at the end of life and how best to address their concerns.
Our mission is to achieve dignity, comfort and choice for all people facing end of life.
Death and dying affects each and every one of us. Every year, 30,000 people die in Ireland and up to 300,000 are newly bereaved. Irish Hospice Foundation strives for the best care at end of life and in bereavement for these people and practical support for their loved ones.
THIS IS SOME OF WHAT WE DELIVER:
Hospice Home Care for Children: We have invested €2.5 million in providing Children’s Outreach Nurses all around Ireland, a Consultant Paediatrician with a special interest in palliative care and training for healthcare staff. All of these programmes are delivered in partnership with the HSE.
Education and research: Every year nearly 3,000 people take part in our training programmes and we estimate that over 50,000 people have received training in aspects of good end-of-life care and bereavement since we were established. We also fund pioneering research on end-of-life and palliative care issues across Ireland.
Nurses for Night Care: This free national service for people with illnesses other than cancer enables more people fulfill their wish to die at home. This service costs €500,000 per annum.
Hospice Friendly Hospitals: This programme aims to improve end-of-life care in hospitals. The learning from this programme is now being applied in residential care settings for older people.
Innovation in primary care and in people’s homes: We support developments in these settings so that better end-of- life care can be delivered everywhere and for everyone.
Innovation in new areas: We are committed to nurturing new areas. In 2013 we were able to attract philanthropic funding for an ambitious national programme, ‘Changing Minds’, which aims to promote excellence in end-of-life care for people living with dementia.
Advocacy: Through advocacy and awareness-raising, we work to promote a better understanding of end-of-life care issues and to influence decision-makers to make services more widely available to all who need them. We actively promote discussion of issues related to dying, death and bereavement in order to identify Irish people’s concerns about these matters and consider how they might be addressed.
