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Documentary on One: Death, Don’t Leave It To The Last Minute

DOC Undertaker Pat McHugh with Gray Cahill in his giftshopfuneral parlor. Photo credit Michael LawlessRTÉ Image Name: DOC Undertaker Pat McHugh with Gray Cahill in his giftshopfuneral parlor. Photo credit Michael LawlessRTÉ
DOC Gray Cahill, aged 81, visits Clontuskert graveyard searching for ancestors. Photo credit Michael LawlessRTÉ Image Name: DOC Gray Cahill, aged 81, visits Clontuskert graveyard searching for ancestors. Photo credit Michael LawlessRTÉ
DOC Dog admires Gray.Theresa Barnett, Mollyo, Gray Cahill and Sean Carthy. Photo credit Michael LawlessRTÉ Image Name: DOC Dog admires Gray.Theresa Barnett, Mollyo, Gray Cahill and Sean Carthy. Photo credit Michael LawlessRTÉ
DOC Clontuskert graveyard in Roscommon, where Gray would like to be buried. Photo credit Michael LawlessRTÉ Image Name: DOC Clontuskert graveyard in Roscommon, where Gray would like to be buried. Photo credit Michael LawlessRTÉ
DOC Theresa Barnett, Mollyo, Gray Cahill and Sean Carthy. Photo credit Michael LawlessRTÉ Image Name: DOC Theresa Barnett, Mollyo, Gray Cahill and Sean Carthy. Photo credit Michael LawlessRTÉ

She mentioned to the GP that, at some future date, she’d like to talk about end-of-life matters.  The GP gave her a leaflet from the Irish Hospice Foundation on the kinds of things you should have in place before you die. But the next time Gray phoned for an appointment, she was told that her doctor was in Hospice care dying. Her GP died a few months later.

This spurred Gray to consult the leaflet and follow its advice and so she visited a solicitor to talk about her will. She went to her bank and closed an investment account; she met with an undertaker in Roscommon who told her not to rush and that ‘she won’t be left on top’, she looked at a plot and also visited Trinity College to discuss donating her body to medicine.

Gray Cahill was born in 1938 in Providence, Rhode Island, America as Mary Grace Cahill.  After finishing High School, Gray became a Sister of Mercy and worked as a teacher but left the order at the age of 31.

In 1977, she came to Ireland and planned to stay for just one year but has stayed here ever since, occasionally returning to the US to earn extra money.

Gray lives in a one-bedroom council house in Dundrum, Dublin with her dog Mollyo and when the time comes, she wants to be buried without a coffin to minimise the impact on the environment. 

In school, Gray was chastised, by one nun, for being ‘independent’. She saw this as a compliment then and has tried to live her life, as such, ever since. She does not intend to approach her death any differently.

Produced by Michael Lawless, Ronan Kelly & Liam O’Brien

RTÉ Radio 1, Documentary On One, Saturday 14th August, 2019 @ 1pm

RTÉ Radio 1, Documentary On One, Sunday 15th August, 2019 @ 7pm