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Voluntary Gravedigging in the West of Ireland
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Voluntary Gravedigging in the West of Ireland
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The Open University has a long-established history of researching death-related topics, and the Centre for Open Thanatology, an interdisciplinary research centre dedicated tothe study and education of death, dying, loss, and grief across the life course and in diverse contexts. The Centre’s vision is to use research and education to foster open dialogue and critical engagement with death and loss.
In this podcast episode, Centre Director Erica Borgstrom talks to Danny Conway on his research into the unexamined tradition of men voluntarily digging the grave when a neighbour dies, focusing on communities in the West of Ireland. You’ll hear more about what gravedigging involves, why people do it and the traditional practices surrounding it.
The recording mentions several projects, online items, and publications – links to these can be found in the further resources below.
- Find out more about The Open University's Health and Social Care courses and qualifications.
- Follow the Centre for Open Thanatology is on Bluesky
- To learn more about Danny’s work, you can read his doctoral thesis on Voluntary Gravedigging in the West of Ireland here and on supplementary work the OpenLearn platform.