Hospices help to banish the darkness...The lighting up of a life even in the final hours

A HOUSE chiming with unconditional love, a turret of tenderness on the crumbling castle of existence, it is as serene and warmhearted and beautiful a way-station as exists along the road of life.

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When the electrics of life fray beyond repair, Our Lady's Hospice in Harold's Cross - that soothing, peaceful acreage immediately south of Dublin's Grand Canal offers a gentle glow and abundant warmth, a refuge for those who are ebbing.

For family after grateful family, it is an invaluable crutch at a time when grief makes it difficult to put one foot in front of the other.

Like all its palliative care siblings, here is a haven of dignity at that crushing moment when it is time to say goodbye, a few days that live on eternally afterward as a repository of precious memories.

The annual Light up a Life festival takes place next weekend on the grounds of this oasis of tranquility, one so many of us regard as an unheralded wonder of the world.

For those who find the time to attend, it is unlikely they will experience a more rewarding or deeply touching hour during this or any Christmas season.

The kind of evening that fills the soul with a blaze so powerful that even the cold spurt of sadness for a lost loved one is impotent to extinguish its warming flame.

It may seem counter-intuitive to suggest that a venue which has death as a daily visitor might rank among the more life-affirming landmarks a person is ever likely to visit.

Yet somehow, that's the case.