Service of Remembrance and Thanksgiving

Register for the 41st Annual Service of Remembrance & Thanksgiving

Honouring organ donors. Supporting families. Giving thanks for the gift of life.

Saturday, 21st November 2026

1.00pm

Church Of The Holy Child, Thatch Road, Whitehall, Dublin 9, D09 E2R2

Service of Remembrance | Irish Kidney Association

About the Service

The Service of Remembrance and Thanksgiving is a special annual gathering organised by the Irish Kidney Association to honour organ donors and support their families.

The first Service of Remembrance and Thanksgiving was held in 1986 at St. Mary’s Church, Haddington Road, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4.

It was established by the Irish Kidney Association to publicly recognise the courageous generosity of organ donors and their families.

People of all faiths and none are welcome. You do not need to be a member of the Irish Kidney Association to attend. The tone of the Service is gentle, inclusive and non‑judgemental.

Service of light

At the Service of Light ceremony, the congregation will be invited to light a candle to remember all organ donors who gave the ‘gift of life’ to others.

Girl lighting a candle at Irish Kidney Association event with adults.

The Book of Remembrance

The same calligrapher, Annette Daly, has been entering the names of organ donors in the Book of Remembrance since it was first introduced, and this Roll of Honour has been an important and deeply meaningful aspect of the Service where families of organ donors can view their deceased loved ones’ entry.

The Book of Remembrance is available for families to view as part of the Service.

If you are a donor family and would like to talk about including your loved one’s name, you are very welcome to contact us.

Forget-Me-Not

The ‘Forget-Me-Not’ flower is a symbol of life.

The dead wood represents the failed organ.

The bandaged graft represents the wound after a person receives a transplant.

The flower represents the new life received after transplantation.

A History of Our Service

The concept for the Service of Remembrance and Thanksgiving evolved when a grieving mother was speaking to Lorraine Costello, the Patient Support Officer at the Irish Kidney Association expressing her distress and sadness that her son’s organ donation had not been acknowledged. At the time there was no system in place at the Old Jervis Street Hospital to acknowledge and thank organ donors and their families.

Lorraine (who passed away in 2026) consulted with Phyllis Cunningham, the National Transplant Coordinator (now retired), and it was decided that a Service held to publicly acknowledge organ donors and their families.

The inaugural Service organised by the Irish Kidney Association in 1986, was attended by 300 people in St. Mary’s Church, Haddington Road, Dublin 4. In 2001, the Service moved to Corpus Christi Church in Drumcondra, where it continued to be held annually. While the Service has been predominantly based in Dublin, it has taken place outside the capital on two notable occasions: once in Galway Catherdral in 2014, attended by the then President of Ireland Michael D. Higgins, Patron of the Irish Kidney Association, and in Mullingar at Christ the King Cathedral in 2023, marking the first in-person gathering following the COVID-19 pandemic

Over the years, attendance has steadily grown, and the event now draws a congregation of close 1,500 people.,
The Service continues to be a unqiue and meaningful event on the annual calendar, offering a special place for transplant recipients and donor families to come together in remembrance, gratitude and solidarity.

More Information

Join us for the Service

Whether you are a donor family member, transplant recipient, kidney patient, carer or friend, you are warmly invited to attend the Service of Remembrance and Thanksgiving.

About the Irish Kidney Association

The Irish Kidney Association is a national charity supporting kidney patients, transplant recipients, donor families and carers.

Learn More

Learn more about organ donation

Organ donation can transform and save lives. Understanding how it works, and sharing your wishes with your loved ones, can bring comfort and clarity at very difficult times.

Find out more