An exceptionally high number of deaths in the Dublin area over the holiday period means some families have been having to wait up to five days to hold a funeral.
The combination of a large number of funeral bookings, and with cemeteries being closed over the holidays, has meant the normal three days, from the time of death until the funeral, have in many cases had to be extended by two days.
The president of the Irish Association of Funeral Directors, Mr Peter Dixon, said that in Dublin there was a build-up of funerals.
"Certainly, some funerals have had to be delayed for one or two days, and this year the holidays were for a more extended period, so it put our members under tremendous pressure," he said.
This week in Dublin there was still a build-up from the New Year weekend and there was a backlog right up to Saturday, Mr Dixon said.
One of the cemeteries where problems in bookings arose was at Deansgrange, Co Dublin.
Mr Eugene Veasey, senior administrative officer of the Environment and Parks Department of Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, said the number of bookings from undertakers from Monday and Tuesday this week was 36.
"This is a phenomenal figure. Normally there would be four or five funerals booked per day for Deansgrange and one or two for Shanganagh cemetery," he said.
Some of the 36 bookings had a five-day wait and they were fully booked until Saturday, he said. Funeral directors agreed there had been delays. Mr Alan Fanagan, of Fanagans funeral directors, Dublin, said that over the two long weekends the coroner's office and pathology departments had been closed.
This had slightly extended the backlog. Cemeteries were also shut. At Massey Bros, a spokesman said they had a problem with Deansgrange. A Staffords spokesman said there were delays of one or two days.
At Glasnevin cemetery, a spokesman said normally there would be about eight cremations daily. On December 30th there were 18, and on December 31st, 14. This meant some families had to wait until lunchtime on December 30th. There were no problems with burials.
Mr Finbarr O'Connor, of O'Connor Bros, Cork, and Mr Joseph Irwin, of Irwin's funeral home, Galway, said there were no problems, as cemeteries had been open for longer than in Dublin over the holidays.