UCC study: Tech around mourning ‘complex and evolving’

A new study from University College Cork has shown how digital tools shaped Irish mourning experiences during the covid-19 pandemic.

Conducted by researchers at UCC, the study is one of the first to investigate how people experienced the use of technology in mourning rituals during this time, and showed that people found live-streamed funerals challenging and deeply unfulfilling during the pandemic.

However, the data further showed that there is growing recognition of the established role that the live-streaming of funerals and the use of online condolences now have in the social dimension of mourning in Ireland.

“In the Irish experience of mourning, there is a rich history of ‘a good send-off’, with rituals dating back centuries still remaining today,” professor Luigina Ciolfi, professor of human computer interaction at UCC School of Applied Psychology, said.

“The loss of mourning rituals and gestures of support such as handshaking, hugging, house visits, and physical gift giving were mentioned as being particularly missed.”

While the study found that the use of digital tools during this time was a challenging experience, it still yielded some positive outcomes.

Participants acknowledged the importance and utility of digitally-mediated experiences, when alternatives were and are not available, and following the lifting of restrictions, the study showed that there was a consensus in favour of the continued, sensitive integration of digital mourning tools into established mourning practices.

Study co-author, Ava McCoy, graduate of the BA Applied Psychology at UCC, said: “Our findings indicate that the experience of technology surrounding mourning is complex and still evolving.

“Participants faced a series of emotional and social challenges as they were managing these changed ways of participating in rituals and showing support to the bereaved during the pandemic.”

Additionally, the study found that while communal aspects of mourning and shared traditional practices remain enduring, using technology to attend online funerals has become a meaningful experience for people who are unable to attend in person.

The online obituary platform RIP.ie is now fully a part of how people participate in mourning, with, at the time of its acquisition by the Irish Times Group in 2024, a reported average of 60m page views per month.

Ms Ciolfi added: “Digital tools and systems are expected to remain part of mourning practices in the foreseeable future.

“There is important work to be done to integrate digital and in-person experiences in sensitive ways, for example thinking of mourners who are abroad or unable to participate in person and only have limited ways to share their own grief and their support.”