RIP.ie
{{short description|Death notices website in Ireland}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2022}}
{{Infobox website
| name = RIP.ie
| logo = File:RIP.ie_logo_2024.jpg
| url = {{URL|rip.ie}}
| type = Death notices website
| launch_date = {{start date and age|df=yes|2005}}
| author = Jay Coleman
Dympna Coleman
| owner = The Irish Times Group
}}
RIP.ie is a death notices website in Ireland, launched in 2005.{{cite news|url=https://www.thejournal.ie/death-notices-ireland-rip-ie-3415982-Jun2017/|title='You can only do a funeral once, and you have to do it right': The story behind RIP.ie|publisher=TheJournal.ie|first=Nicky|last=Ryan|date=10 June 2017|accessdate=2 June 2020}} 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.{{Cite web|url=https://thecurrency.news/articles/55407/sale-of-a-death-brand-the-struggle-to-offload-rip-ie/|title=Sale of a deaths brand: the struggle to offload RIP.ie|date=July 30, 2021|website=The Currency}} Since 2024 it has been owned by The Irish Times Group.
Death notices may only be submitted by funeral directors and not directly by members of the public.{{cite web|url=https://rip.ie/Help|title=Contact RIP.ie - Publish a death notice|website=rip.ie|accessdate=2 June 2020}}{{cite web |title=Frequently Asked Questions |url=https://rip.ie/faq |website=RIP.ie |access-date=21 January 2025 |language=en}} 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.{{cite web |title=Frequently Asked Questions |url=https://rip.ie/faq |website=RIP.ie |access-date=21 January 2025 |language=en}} The website contains a service directory, which lists funeral directors, florists and caterers, and an online shop selling handwritten sympathy cards.{{cite news|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/people/would-you-ever-whisht-up-while-i-catch-up-on-the-death-notices-1.3558929|title='Would you ever whisht up while I catch up on the death notices?'|publisher=Irish Times|first=Amy|last=O'Connor|date=14 July 2018|accessdate=2 June 2020}}
History
Jay and Dympna Coleman, based in Dundalk, County Louth, founded the RIP.ie website in 2005.{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.ie/regionals/argus/news/website-for-bereaved-relatives-26906535.html|title=Website for bereaved relatives|website=independents.ie|publisher=The Argus|date=13 September 2006|accessdate=2 June 2020}}
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.{{cite news|url=https://www.thejournal.ie/excess-deaths-covid-19-ireland-5252481-Nov2020/|title=Excess mortality of between 876 and 1,192 recorded during March and September, CSO data shows|publisher=TheJournal.ie|first=Adam|last=Daly|date=2 November 2020|accessdate=2 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.
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.
- {{cite web
| title = The Irish Times Group acquires online death notice platform RIP.ie
| first = Ciarán
| last = Hancock
| date = 2024-05-02
| website = The Irish Times
| url = https://www.irishtimes.com/business/2024/05/02/the-irish-times-group-acquires-online-death-notice-platform-ripie/
}}
- {{cite web
| title = The Irish Times acquires death notice website rip.ie
| date = 2024-05-03
| website = RTÉ Radio One
| url = https://www.rte.ie/radio/podcasts/22391233-the-irish-times-acquires-death-notice-website-rip/
}}
- {{cite web
| title = How RIP.ie became an Irish cultural phenomenon
| first = Shannon
| last = Mora
| date = 2024-10-16
| website = RTÉ
| url = https://www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2024/1016/1475807-rip-ie-irish-times-death-notices-condolences-cultural-phenomenon-data/
}} In December 2024 RIP.ie stated it would start charging €100 for death notices.{{cite news |last1=Cooke |first1=John |title=RIP.ie to charge €100 per death notice from January |url=https://www.rte.ie/news/ireland/2024/1217/1487048-rip-death-notice-price/ |access-date=17 December 2024 |publisher=RTÉ News |date=17 December 2024}}
References
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