A Co Monaghan native was recently crowned 'Celebrant of the Year' at the Northern Ireland Funeral Awards. Ian Fee previoulsy spent over 20 years in the priesthood before taking up his role as a celebrant at Lakeland's Crematorium Cavan. According to Ian, working as an in-house celebrant at the crematorium as well as carrying out his own independent work allows him to use the skills that he learnt throughout his church ministry years. Speaking to Northern Sound about his recent award, the local celebrant said it was "wonderful" to see the funeral industry acknowledged in this way. He added that the real honour is not the award itself but the trust that is placed in him as a celebrant by families during such a significant and emotional time.
"It's wonderful to see the funeral industry being acknowledged in this way and I'm very pleased that I can continue to do the work that I love," explained Ian. "I enjoy communicating with people, I enjoy meeting new people and I just love telling someone's story whether that's as a wedding celebrant or funeral celebrant. I just love telling their stories. It's a real gift and it's something that I've always been so grateful for. Everyone has the right to live life their way, with all the diversity and uniqueness life can offer. The award is certainly a recognition of this, but the real honour is the trust that is placed in me as the celebrant, as with the funeral director, to help the family say farewell and to be part of such a significant and emotional gathering."
