Study to investigate impact of Covid-19 and technology on mourning practices in Ireland

Posted on: 17 December 2025

A new study to investigate the impact of Covid-19 and technology on mourning practices in Ireland has been launched by a digital humanities researcher in Trinity College Dublin. 

The ‘Mourning and Technology in Ireland’ project is a small-scale qualitative study which aims to broaden our understanding of modern mourning practices in Ireland and the impact of COVID-19 and technology on mourning.  

“I am looking for people aged over 50 who have experienced mourning before and during Covid-19 to participate in this study,” explains Shannon Mora, PhD researcher in the Trinity Centre for Digital Humanities at the School of Languages, Literatures and Cultural Studies. 

“In particular, I’m looking to gather information on people’s experiences of traditional mourning practices as well as their experiences of using technology such as online condolence books and live-streamed funerals.” 

The study involves a combination of interviews and observation and will last for 36 months, from data collection to conclusion. Participation will include 1-3 interviews across a span of 4-6 weeks. 

Ms Mora, who comes from a public health background, also hopes to investigate whether mourning has been a social or cultural factor that influenced health for individuals and communities during and after the pandemic. 

Outputs from the study will include a thesis and an oral history collection, which will be made available to the public and future researchers. 

Previous research undertaken by Ms Mora as part of her Master’s studies revealed significant social, cultural, and linguistic changes in condolence messages on RIP.ie, which became a central platform for death notifications in Ireland during the Covid-19 pandemic and raised many questions about the role and impact of technology in mourning. 

More information about the study:  

Participants must be aged 50 years old or older, live on the island of Ireland, have experienced a bereavement before the COVID-19 pandemic (before 2020), and have experienced a bereavement during COVID-19 pandemic restrictions (2020-2022). Participants will be invited to do three interviews about their experiences of mourning. More information available on the ‘Mourning in Ireland’ website.  

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