A great many of the cards we print are organised by a son or daughter in London, Boston, Sydney or Toronto, for a funeral in a parish they grew up in. It works perfectly well, provided a few practical things are agreed at the start.
You do not need to be in Ireland
Every part of the process works remotely: choosing the format, sending the photograph, picking a verse, reading the proof and paying. Families in the UK, US, Canada and Australia order from us regularly and never set foot in the shop.
The only thing worth being deliberate about is who does what, because the confusion in remote orders is almost never technical — it is two siblings sending us two different photographs.
Sending photographs from another country
Send the original file. What ruins a photograph is compression from being forwarded through several messaging apps, saved from social media, or screenshotted from a video call.
If the only good photograph is in a frame on a mantelpiece in Ireland, ask a relative there to photograph it flat, in daylight, near a window, and send that. It works better than people expect. Or they can drop it into our Gorey shop and we will scan it properly.
- Best: the original camera or phone file, emailed or sent on WhatsApp as a document.
- Good: a flat, well-lit photograph of a printed picture, taken in daylight.
- Poor: a screenshot, a photo of a screen, or an image saved from Facebook.
Agree one approver before you start
Nominate one person to be the point of contact and the approver. They can circulate the proof to whoever they like, but they send us one set of changes rather than four.
Where families are spread across time zones, this single decision is the difference between a card approved in two days and one still in discussion three weeks later.
Reading a proof across time zones
We email or WhatsApp a proof before anything is printed, and revisions are free. A proof looked at properly on a laptop rather than glanced at on a phone catches far more — particularly with fadas, townland spellings and family name order.
If Ireland is asleep when you are awake, put your changes in writing in one message. We work Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm Irish time, closed for lunch from 1pm to 2pm.
Splitting a delivery between two countries
This is the most common request from families abroad, and it is straightforward: we can post the bulk of the order to the family home in Ireland for the funeral, month's memory or anniversary, and send a smaller batch to an address overseas.
Tell us the split when you order — how many to each address — and we will price the postage for you before you pay. Free delivery over €150 applies to the Irish leg; overseas postage is charged at cost.
| Where | Quantity | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Family home in Ireland | Most of the order | Handed out at the Mass and to neighbours |
| One address abroad | 20 to 40 | Distributed to relatives and friends overseas |
| Kept back | 10 to 15 | For people who ask later |
Timings to allow
We print and post within two to three business days of approval. Delivery within Ireland takes another two to three business days. Post to the UK is usually a few days more; to the US, Canada or Australia, allow one to two weeks and more around Christmas.
Working back from a Mass date, three to four weeks is comfortable for an overseas order. If you are tighter than that, ring us and we will tell you honestly whether it will make it.
Paying from abroad
Card payment works from any country. Prices are shown in euro, and design and VAT are included in every price — the only extras are delivery, and overseas postage where it applies.
If you would rather not pay online, we can take payment over the phone during Irish office hours.
If it feels like a lot from a distance
Send us what you have — a name, a home place, the dates and whatever photographs exist — and we will come back with a proof and questions. You do not have to have it all worked out first.
We have been printing memorial cards in Gorey since 1987, and a good share of them are organised by families who have not lived in Ireland for years.
Frequently asked questions
- Can I order Irish memorial cards from abroad?
- Yes. Photographs, wording, proofs and payment are all handled by email or WhatsApp, and we post to Ireland and overseas.
- Can you send some cards to Ireland and some to another country?
- Yes. Tell us the split when you order and we will confirm the postage cost before you pay. Free delivery over €150 applies to the Irish delivery.
- How long does overseas delivery take?
- We print and post within two to three business days of approval. Allow a few extra days for the UK, and one to two weeks for the US, Canada or Australia.
- What is the best way to send an old photograph from another country?
- Ask a relative in Ireland to photograph it flat in daylight and send the original file, or to drop it into our Gorey shop so we can scan it properly.
Sources and further reading
Need help with a memorial card?
Design and VAT are included, and we will email or WhatsApp a proof before anything is printed.
Talk to our design team