Limerick business men create cloud-based website for funeral directors

The dead’s access to the high heavens is being given an even smoother passage on their final journey through the clouds.

A cloud-based website specially designed for funeral directors has been created by two Limerick businessmen.

The site, called Obit, deals with all the paperwork involved in organising funerals, cutting down on time.

Dick Lynch and John Mark Griffin are confident their package will become a global product.

Mr Lynch, who previously held senior management positions in manufacturing and aviation, said: “Obit is a cloud-based package specifically designed for funeral directors.

“We have been working on it for over a year and there has been very significant interest among funeral directors from all over the country.

“Limerick funeral directors, Griffins, has taken it on and we pitched recently to a regional meeting of the Irish Association of Funeral Directors which was held in Athlone.

“The response was very good and we are taking a stand at their annual meeting which takes place in Sligo in November. This is a product we intend to market worldwide.”

Mr Lynch runs software company Lytesoft with his son Mark.

The Obit site allows undertakers organise funerals remotely.

He said: “Mark is based in Madrid and has 20 years’ experience in developing software platforms. He did much of the work on Obit.”

John Mark Griffin, whose family are long-established funeral undertakers in Limerick, joined with Mr Lynch to develop Obit.

Mr Griffin said: “We wanted to find ways of reducing the time that goes into administration when organising a funeral.

“Obit is an internal administration package for funeral directors and it’s the first cloud-based website package for the profession. My father and our colleagues here in Griffins helped in the development of the website. We now have it in place and I would say there is a market for it not just in this country, but worldwide.”

Mr Griffin said the work of a funeral director is 24/7 as bereaved families may need to make contact at any time.

“With Obit you can be on call no matter where you are, and you have access to the system to commence making arrangements for a family,” he said.

“We have Obit operating for the past three months and the start-up testing is completed. I have a background in design and I was able to use this when we were working on Obit.”