My dad died on my birthday, July 19, at the age of 95. We are having a memorial service for him in a redwood grove in California, and I will be speaking. Is there something Irish? Also, Dad was not a particularly religious man, but loved all nature.

An Irish Funeral Prayer

Death is nothing at all.
It does not count.
I have only slipped away into the next room.
Everything remains as it was.
The old life that we lived so fondly together is untouched, unchanged.
Whatever we were to each other, that we are still.
Call me by the old familiar name.
Speak of me in the easy way which you always used.
Put no sorrow in your tone.
Laugh as we always laughed at the little jokes that we enjoyed together.
Play, smile, think of me, pray for me.
Let my name be ever the household word that it always was.
Let it be spoken without effort
Life means all that it ever meant. It is the same as it ever was.
There is unbroken continuity.
Why should I be out of mind because I am out of sight?
I am but waiting for you, for an interval, somewhere very near, just around the corner.
All is well. Nothing is hurt; nothing is lost.
One brief moment and all will be as it was before.
How we shall laugh at the trouble of parting, when we meet again.

Why not use the "redwoods" as a visual aid to introduce or end your eulogy.

Strong and upright.

Hidden depths because they are nourished by their 'Irish' roots.

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Im an Irish man, just buried my father. The eulogy posted is so what he was. Thanks for posting that