A very Irish phenomenon: Looking back on 20 years of RIP.ie

With 70 million page views per month, the website RIP.ie has become firmly established in the national psyche as it nears its 20th anniversary, says Jonathan deBurca Butler, who analyses the reasons behind its popularity

TIME OF SORROW: RIP.ie "is kind of unique to Ireland. Different countries have tried this because they’ve seen how successful it’s been as a platform, but it hasn’t worked as well."

When you open RIP.ie and see the carousel of names of the recently deceased, it’s the younger faces that grab your attention.

The 32-year-old man who “died suddenly and unexpectedly” and who leaves behind a pregnant wife and young son, the 24-year-old daughter, sister and friend who died “peacefully surrounded by family” and has asked for donations to cancer charities instead of flowers. They are the ones that hit you.