Suicide Bereavement Support
Suicide has a devastating effect on families, friends and the wider community. You may be reading this following a tragedy in your own life and may not know where to turn for support to help you through this heartbreaking time. Or you may wish to support someone who's been recently bereaved by suicide. Here you will find practical information on managing suicide grief and accessing supports to help guide you through the grief.
Suicide grief will always remain, but good suicide bereavement support can help you find a way to live with your grief.
Bereavement by suicide is devastating, but there are people and organisations who would like to support you through this hardest of times. It's ok to reach out for help when you need it. Other people have had similar experiences and with help they've learned to live with their grief. It's not easy but it's worthwhile.
Nowadays specialised help and support is available and is easily accessible with thanks to a number of excellent voluntary groups and organisations such as HUGG (Healing Untold Grief Groups).
Groups and voluntary organisations provide bereavement support, both at local level and nationally. In our Get Help Section below, we have spotlighted some organisations who provide these services and we also have a more comprehensive listing of local support services in all regions. Fortunately, since the pandemic organisations also provide supports online, making groups and other supports accessible no matter where in the country you are.
Irish Hospice Foundation provide a wide range of information and supports for both adults and children experiencing grief. The Bereavement & Loss hub on their website is a great resource. See here.
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Recommended Reading
Here we've listed two recommended publications together with a comprehensive list of local and national bereavement support organisations in Ireland. We to keep our listings up to date but please let us know if you find any contact details have been updated.
Our Self Help Guide for Bereavement is a useful resource if you are grieving a recent death, whether by suicide or through any other causes. See link below.
You are not alone
A useful guide with practical information & resources together with lists of organisations in Ireland providing help & support. It is suitable for anyone who has been bereaved by suicide or who would like to help someone recently bereaved. The booklet is not intended to be read cover to cover, just the sections that are relevant to you. It focuses on five key areas:
- Taking care of the practical matters
- What you may be feeling
- Your connection with the person who has died
- Getting through and creating a new future
- Help and support
Help is at Hand
Another useful resource for people affected by suicide, providing both emotional & practical support. This is a UK publication which was used extensively as a reference for the "You are not alone" guide. It was written in collaboration with people bereaved by suicide and uses their experiences to help inform the resource. The various sections focus on feelings and practicalities, both in the immediate aftermath and beyond. Suitable for people bereaved by suicide and for those who wish to help someone recently bereaved. As it is a UK publication, so some listings apply to UK only. However, the contents have a universal relevance.
Specialist Bereavement Support Services that can help you
Although the primary focus of this page is bereavement by suicide, we brought together a list of services that are also helpful to parents or others grieving the death of a child or other loved one.
HUGG is a peer support organisation providing both in-person and online support groups, email and telephone support for anyone who has been bereaved by suicide. Through their peer support groups, the charity provides the opportunity to meet others who have experienced a bereavement by suicide. HUGG groups meet every two weeks at a number of venues and online. There are HUGG groups in Dublin (Leopardstown, Tallaght and Smithfield), Cavan, Cork, Galway, Limerick and Donegal, plus two virtual HUGG groups that meeting online. All groups are facilitated by trained volunteers, who have also been bereaved by suicide. Everyone over 18 years is welcome. Details are on the website which is also a useful resource of information on grief management and practical information in the aftermath of a suicide, including information on the Coroner process. Registered Charity Number (RCN): 20204480.
- Tel: +353 1 513 4048 (Monitored Answer Machine)
- Email: info@hugg.ie
- Web: HUGG.ie
Free 24 Hour Support service with therapeutic approach for people in suicidal distress, who engage in self-harm, are particularly low or who are bereaved by suicide. See website for branches.
- Freephone 24 hour Helpline: 1800 247 247
- Text HELP to 51444
- Web: pieta.ie
Based in Limerick, the Children's Grief Centre provides a listening support service for participants aged 4-18 years old to help them come to terms with their grief. Parents / Guardians can call to refer their child and request an appointment. NB They do not provide services for children or young people who have lost a loved one to suicide.
- Tel: 00353 61 224 627
- Email: info@childrensgriefcentre.ie
- www.childrensgriefcentre.ie
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The CRY charity was founded in 2002 by parents who had experienced the effects of Sudden Cardiac Death and unexplained death within their families. CRY provides a range of Family Support services to loved ones and families throughout Ireland (32 counties). Provides support to loved ones who have been bereaved and also those who live with an inherited cardiac condition. CRY's team of volunteers listen in confidence and provide emotional support and information where necessary.
All Island Freephone Helpline No: 1800 714 080 from Rep of Ireland and 0044 714 080 from NI & UK.
Based in Gorey with a Branch in Arklow, Futures in Mind provides a range of suicide prevention services both locally and nationally for all ages including children & adolescents. Services include counselling, child & adolescent services, bereavement support and community outreach programmes including training. Also provide group sessions such as depression and bereavement support groups.
- Helpline: (0818) 30 30 61
- Email: info@futuresinmind.ie
- Web: futuresinmind.ie
Irish Hospice Foundation provide a range of support services and resources for people who have experienced the death of a loved one. Their range of supports includes bereavement support helpline, information evenings, information resources for bereaved children and young people and supports for bereaved parents. The website has recommended reading, signposts to supports, videos and events, both upcoming and recordings of past. IHF is a fabulous resource whatever the nature of your gried.
- Tel: Freephone 1800 80 70 77 (Monday to Friday 10am to 1pm)
- Web: www.hospicefoundation.ie
Jacinta's Smile is a sibling bereavement organisation founded by siblings who had lost their two brothers and a sister to acknowledge sibling loss and the struggles that accompany it. The charity provides various supports for bereaved siblings. Services include subsidised counselling & psychotherapy, online creative events & workshops, adventure days and information on grief and its effects. The charity works in association with Vita House, Counselling & Psychotherapy.
- Tel: 0906 625898
- Mobile: 087 422 0000
- Web: www.jacintassmile.ie
Providing fast and easy access to counselling and psychotherapyface to face and online. MyMind work to deliver affordable counselling with a sliding pay scale according to client. Also, for those directly affected by Covid-19, MyMind are now also delivering FREE online counselling appointments all over Ireland. For more information CLICK HERE .
- Email: hq@mymind.org
- Web: www.mymind.org
Online mental health community providing support groups, peer support and one to one online counselling. Turn2me provide 6 free counselling sessions to anyone over 18 years living in Ireland. Website is a good resource of information on mental health issues.
Contact: via form on the website