Omagh funeral director wants to open new ‘Spiritual Rest Centre’

A Co Tyrone undertaker wants to create a new facility at his premises due to a fall in the number of traditional ‘house wakes’.

J.R. Pollock & Co. Funeral Directors have applied for planning permission to establish a ‘Spiritual Rest Centre’ at their Doogary Road base.

The local company says they want to create the new facility because there has been a ‘significant shift’ in the last 20 years from people lying in ‘wake’ at home.

The application will provoke debate about the importance of ‘wakes’ in modern society.

A ‘wake’ following the death of a loved one has been a tradition in Ireland for centuries.

It provides an opportunity for people to visit the home of the deceased to pay their respects.

The deceased is usually laid out in an open coffin in the house.

While ‘wakes’ are still popular in many areas, particularly in rural areas, there has been a marked change in funeral arrangements in recent years.

Undertakers have reported more and more families asking for their loved one to lie in rest at a funeral home, with people able to instead pay their respects there.

1929. R. Pollock & Co. is one of the longest-established funeral directors in Tyrone, having been established in 1929.

The company has helped organise thousands of wakes, but its new planning application shows that times and traditions are changing.

A design statement submitted with the application states the proposal is to convert a storage building into the ‘Spiritual Rest Centre’.

Explaining the background to the application, the design statement adds: “In the last 20 years there has been a significant shift from bodies lying in rest at the family home to facilities provided at funeral homes.

“Subsequently, the existing business has a ‘rest room’ where family and friends come to briefly pay their respects to the deceased.

“At present, the rest room is very cramped and often people have to wait outside in their cars before they can enter. Overall the facility is too small for purpose.

“It is intended to convert (with modest extension) the existing general storage building into a purpose made Spiritual Rest Centre and close the existing one.

“As this replacement is intended to be for this specific need it will contain a number of facilities which the old rest room severely lacks.”

The application now being considered by Fermanagh and Omagh District Council’s planning department.