RIP.ie
 | |
Type of site | Death notices website |
|---|---|
| Owner | The Irish Times Group |
| Created by | Jay Coleman Dympna Coleman |
| URL | rip |
| Launched | 2005 |
RIP.ie is a death notices website in Ireland, launched in 2005.[1] Funeral directors were able to post death notices on the website without additional costs to the family,[2] but funeral directors will be charged from 2025. 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.[3] Since 2024 it has been owned by The Irish Times Group.
History
Jay and Dympna Coleman, based in Dundalk, County Louth, founded the RIP.ie website in 2005.[4]
The website contains a service directory, which lists funeral directors, florists and caterers. It also contains an online shop selling handwritten sympathy cards.[5]
Restrictions on funeral attendances due to the COVID-19 pandemic 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.[6]
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.[3]
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.[7] In December 2024 RIP.ie stated it would start charging €100 for death notices.[8]
References
- ^ Ryan, Nicky (10 June 2017). "'You can only do a funeral once, and you have to do it right': The story behind RIP.ie". TheJournal.ie. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
- ^ "Contact RIP.ie - Publish a death notice". rip.ie. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
- ^ a b "Sale of a deaths brand: the struggle to offload RIP.ie". The Currency. 30 July 2021.
- ^ "Website for bereaved relatives". independents.ie. The Argus. 13 September 2006. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
- ^ O'Connor, Amy (14 July 2018). "'Would you ever whisht up while I catch up on the death notices?'". Irish Times. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
- ^ Daly, Adam (2 November 2020). "Excess mortality of between 876 and 1,192 recorded during March and September, CSO data shows". TheJournal.ie. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
- ^
- Hancock, Ciarán (2 May 2024). "The Irish Times Group acquires online death notice platform RIP.ie". The Irish Times.
- "The Irish Times acquires death notice website rip.ie". RTÉ Radio One. 3 May 2024.
- Mora, Shannon (16 October 2024). "How RIP.ie became an Irish cultural phenomenon". RTÉ.
- ^ Cooke, John (17 December 2024). "RIP.ie to charge €100 per death notice from January". RTÉ News. Retrieved 17 December 2024.