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Previous research identifies the increased exposure of birth children of foster carers to experiences of separation, grief, and loss due to the transient nature of foster care, but little is known about how birth children manage this loss. This paper reports findings from a qualitative study that examined the retrospective experiences of 15 adult birth children of foster carers (aged between 18 and 28 years) in Ireland. Findings suggest that birth children experience grief and loss when foster children leave their families. They report experiencing a range of emotional responses such as guilt, blame, and sadness. A reluctance to discuss their emotional responses with either their parents or foster care professionals was also reported. Instead, birth children developed strategies to manage the loss, such as distancing themselves from the foster care process. The study highlights the importance of social workers and foster carers explaining to birth children why foster children are leaving and, where possible, maintaining contact between birth children and foster children. Additionally, findings indicate the need for birth children to have safe nonjudgmental spaces to discuss their emotional reactions to loss. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Suicide bereavement evokes particular emotions that can hamper recovery processes, if neglected. This Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) study explored five women's experiences of bereavement following the death by suicide of a male relative. One superordinate theme, directing from the shadows, and three interrelated subordinate themes: roller coasting, speaking the unspeakable, and finding meaning and living with suicide were identified. This study highlights that women bereaved by suicide may occupy a complex position in the family when trying to balance caring for themselves and others, sometimes leading them to negate their own support and therapeutic needs. However, women in this study felt supported by timely, flexible and sensitive professional responses and found a proactive outreach approach, peer support groups and counselling helpful at different stages in their bereavement process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the colonial period (1910-1945), Korean intellectuals introduced Irish artists and their works to the public through newspapers and magazines. Because of the political similarity between Ireland and Korea at that time, these intellectuals considered Ireland as an ideal to emulate. The impact of the Irish dramatic movement on modern Korean theatre was significant, in that it provided a direction for Korean intellectuals involved in establishing modern theatre. One of the most famous modern Korean plays from this period, Yu Ch'ijin's A Mud Hut was indirectly influenced by Irish playwright Sean O'Casey whose trilogy is based on Dublin's working class. The work of another Korean playwright, Ham Sedŏk's Sanhuguri, was indebted to the works of J.M. Synge, whose plays deal with Irish peasants. In their plays, Yu Ch'ijin and Ham Sedŏk depict the miserable lives of some common Korean people as realistically as they can, by imitating the writings of Sean O'Casey and J.M. Synge. The main motif that appears in their works is that of a mad mother and her dead son. In Yu Ch'ijin's play, this motif is represented by the land as an absent space. In Ham Sedŏk's play, it is illustrated by the sea as an absolute space of fate. The mother figure in both plays is presented as a languid, defeatist and self-pitying figure who is confronted by the colonial reality represented by her dead son. Through these images, the future is portrayed as hopeless. This paper attempts to shed a light on a particular strand of modern Korean plays and their emergence under the influence of Irish theatre in the early twentieth century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The influence of grief and bereavement on the lives of people with intellectual disabilities is currently receiving much interest. Many of the long-standing rituals associated with bereavement are still practised in Ireland, probably more than in many other Western countries. The present authors were interested in studying the experience of bereavement for people with intellectual disabilities in Ireland, and in making international comparisons. This mixed method study was carried out using two questionnaires. The first was used to study national service and organisational approaches to bereavement. The second questionnaire (based on ) was used to study a staff group working in Ireland, assessing staff knowledge and understanding of the grieving process. The results were compared with a UK staff group who were assessed using the same questionnaire ( ). Staff and service attitudes were found to be very positive in supporting people with intellectual disabilities who have been bereaved. There is considerable understanding of the needs of bereaved individuals, and there is a high level of support in the participation in grief rituals. When compared with a UK staff group, Irish staffs were more inclined to encourage individuals to take part in bereavement rituals, though they had less actual experience in supporting bereaved people. Only one service had written bereavement guidelines. There appears to be cultural differences in the experience of bereavement for people with intellectual disabilities. This is important in the context of staff training and policy development in grief and bereavement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]