Jerh. O'Connor & Sons Ltd

When someone we love and respect has died it is a very emotional and upsetting time in our lives. Sometimes it is the first time we have to face dealing with death, so when it comes to making funeral arrangements we want to do the right thing.

The right funeral is not necessarily the same for everybody, all funeral arrangements are made to respect the needs and desires of the person that has died and the family we are serving. There are no two funerals the same, we are all unique, therefore a funeral should reflect a persons own life.

Our funeral directors at Jerh. O'Connors Undertakers Cork, want to assist you in making arrangements that suit you. With a choice of funeral home locations in Cork our role is to care for the bereaved and to care for the deceased.

Burial or cremation

The cost of what we term as a traditional funeral does not vary much whether you decide on burial or cremation. The major difference is when a family grave has to be purchased.

It is you the family who decide on burial or cremation, the choice is yours. It is important that you let your executor or next of kin know of your wishes.

Cremation: Cremation is available all over Ireland with crematoriums in Belfast, Cork and Dublin.

The coffin is always used in the cremation process. The ashes may be interned in a family grave, inserted in the columbarium wall or scattered at a favourite place.

Burial: Graves are generally allowed to accommodate three burials or four depending on space in the plot. Even after the burials cremated ashes may be interred in the grave. You may purchase a grave through us at Jerh. O'Connor Funeral Homes Cork.

Children's Funerals

If any funeral director is ever asked about his most difficult funeral you will find it is usually the funeral of a child or young mother, we do not expect to have our young die before us, therefore it can be difficult to accept.
On a professional note at O'Connors we encourage families to take their time and not to be rushed. Our role is to assist and advise the family with their choices and always be compassionate, competent and prepared to listen.

Care of the body

At jerh.O'Connors Funeral Homes we believe that the care and presentation of the body is our most important function. We have a fully qualified team of embalmers and modern facilities to achieve this. We would recommend normally that the persons own clothes are used and maybe a recent photograph so that we can arrange a natural appearance and correct hair style.

Coffins

Our coffins can all be seen in our showroom at our head office in Coburg Street or selected from a brochure while making funeral arrangements with our funeral director.

The coffins vary in style from obeche with mahogany trim to veneer oaks or veneer mahoganys to solid oak or solid mahogany coffins. We also have a selection of eco friendly coffins, pine unpolished coffins, willow or water hyacinth and plain unpolished or unvarnished with timber or rope handles.

Our funeral directors are happy to advise families on style and cost variations.

Newspapers/Radio

On behalf of the family, we will arrange the content and structure of the death notice and as requested publish the notice in a newspaper or radio station of choice. We are also able to assist families with acknowledgements and anniversary notices.
The death notice must be received the evening before to be published in the newspaper.

Cost of a funeral

The cost of a funeral can vary according to the needs and requests of a family. At the time of making the funeral arrangements our code of practice dictates we offer an estimate of the expenses. This should not be a time for awkwardness as all arrangements can be tailored to meeting the family's requirements within a suitable budget.

The cost of a funeral is made up of three distinct areas:

• The coffin
• The funeral directors professional service charge
• The disbursements (payments made on the family's behalf)

1. The coffin:

Coffins vary from a plain simple veneer oak coffin to a solid mahogany coffin with brass style inlay. There are many different styles from the traditional to the eco-friendly range, depending on the family's choice

2. The funeral directors professional service charge:

This covers the cost of the removal of the deceased from the place of death to our preparation room, the embalming and presentation of the body for viewing, the moving of the deceased back to the funeral home, hospital mortuary or residence. The necessary transportation needs for the removal to the church and funeral afterwards.

This charge also covers the cost of the co-ordination and carrying out of all the wishes of the family and the use of our staff and premises for the funeral obsequies.

3. The disbursements:

There are expenses incurred by the funeral director on the families behalf. They range from the purchase and openings fees of the grave, cremation fees, church offerings, organist and soloist fees, flowers, newspaper and radio announcements, cremation charges, doctors and coroner fees and gratuities.

The expenses of the funeral services vary according to a families needs and we are happy to discuss cost on an individual family's requirements.

Funeral expenses do not attract V.A.T. There are grants available, some depends on your P.R.S.I. contributions and others involve an application to your local community welfare officer.