Waterford-based bilingual celebrant Ciara (Kíra) O’Connor is set to feature in a new RTÉ documentary exploring how Ireland now marks life’s biggest moments, from births to marriages and funerals, outside traditional church settings.

A teacher at the Gaelscoil in Ballygunner, O’Connor began celebrancy training during COVID while teaching from home. What started as a favour for friends’ weddings has grown into a thriving business, which she now combines with her school role in a hybrid week: teaching Monday to Wednesday and ceremonies towards the weekend.

The documentary, titled ‘Breith, Bás, Pósadh‘, follows several celebrants from different backgrounds, charting how Irish family celebrations have evolved over the last decade, particularly since the marriage equality referendum. Producer Shaun Boyle of Below the Radar focuses on the personal stories behind CSO statistics and Ireland’s growing openness to diverse family structures and cultures.

O’Connor specialises mainly in weddings, but also leads funeral services and increasingly popular naming ceremonies – secular gatherings where parents, families and friends welcome a child and place letters, poems and keepsakes into a ‘memory box’ for later life.

A proud bilingual celebrant, she weaves Gaeilge into her ceremonies and frequently performs Celtic handfastings, where couples’ hands are bound with ethically made cords from Waterford maker Anam Cara Cords, symbolically ‘tying the knot’.

O’Connor says her work is driven by a love of storytelling, people and community, and believes modern ceremonies are at their best when they are relaxed, personal, and reflect ‘who’s beside you’ on the day.