About The ABE Project

Why ABE Exists

The ABE Project emerged from a simple and enduring question: What happens when communities lose their ways of tending death and grief together?

In many contemporary contexts, death has become increasingly medicalised and isolated from everyday life. As a result, many people reach the end of life without cultural reference points, communal support, or clear guidance. This is particularly true for those whose identities, relationships, or histories fall outside dominant norms.

ABE exists to help restore cultural and communal approaches to death, dying, and grief, while remaining grounded in the realities of modern care systems.

  • A Beautiful Ending does not suggest that death is easy, desirable, or free from pain.

    It names the possibility of meeting death with dignity, care, and relational presence. It recognises that how people die is shaped by access, support, culture, and the quality of care surrounding them.

    A beautiful ending may include:

    • Being accompanied rather than isolated

    • Having relationships recognised and respected

    • Understanding available options and making informed choices

    • Having space for grief, ritual, and remembrance

    • Being seen as a whole person rather than only as a patient

    ABE holds this as a cultural and ethical commitment, not as an idealised outcome.

  • The ABE Project works at the intersection of cultural deathcare, community practice, and practical system navigation.

    Our work is guided by shared principles that shape how we gather, collaborate, and offer care:

    • Community-led practice: Those most affected by death and loss are central to shaping how care is held.

    • Cultural humility: We approach traditions, identities, and lineages with respect, curiosity, and care.

    • Relational care: Death is understood as both an individual and collective experience.

    • Practical grounding: Cultural work is paired with clear, usable guidance within existing systems.

    These principles inform both our public programs and our internal ways of working as a collective.

  • ABE’s work includes:

    • Community deathcare gatherings, grief circles, and seasonal events

    • Cultural and educational writing on death, dying, and grief

    • Advance care planning education and resources

    • Inclusive long-term care initiatives and pilot projects

    • Creative collaborations that explore death through art, conversation, and shared presence

    Each offering is designed to be accessible, responsive, and rooted in lived experience.

  • ABE’s work is informed by a range of cultural traditions and contemporary practices.

    This includes, but is not limited to:

    • Folk traditions of death and mourning

    • Irish cultural practices and diasporic memory

    • Community-based end-of-life care models

    • Queer and chosen-family frameworks of care

    • Contemporary palliative and end-of-life systems

    Rather than presenting a single cultural lens, ABE works relationally. We recognise that people arrive with different histories, beliefs, and needs, and that care must remain responsive to this diversity.

  • ABE’s work is open to all, with particular attention to communities who have historically been underserved in end-of-life care.

    This includes:

    • 2SLGBTQIA+ individuals and chosen families

    • Older adults navigating care systems

    • Caregivers and community members

    • Artists, practitioners, and educators

    • Organisations seeking culturally responsive approaches

  • The ABE Project is an evolving initiative.

    As the work grows, ABE will continue to:

    • Develop practical tools and shared resources

    • Deepen cultural and creative collaborations

    • Support community education and advocacy

    • Strengthen pathways that honour dignity at the end of life

    At its core, ABE is about relationship. Relationship to one another, to culture, and to the realities of mortality we all share.

  • If this work resonates, you are welcome here.

    Whether through reading, gathering, collaborating, or supporting the project, ABE invites ongoing relationship rather than one-time engagement.