Our Story

Welcome to The Solace

The Solace was founded on a simple idea—grief deserves a space where care, connection, and remembrance come together.

Mark Legge, the founder of The Solace, found his way to this deeply personal endeavour through the quiet yet meaningful thresholds of loss and reflection.

Both personal and professional experiences shape Mark’s journey to The Solace. As a co-founder of &Open, a corporate gifting platform working with brands like Airbnb, Etsy, and Revolut, Mark is no stranger to creating meaningful connections at scale. But it was his father’s death, and his own near-death experiences during that time, that reshaped his perspective on life and loss and inspired a vision for something more human in how we commemorate life.

“In times of crisis, the natural world is a source of both joy and solace. The natural world produces the comfort that can come from nothing else”.

Sir David Attenborough

Founding Letter

Dear friends,
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Today, I’m delighted to introduce The Solace - a project shaped by love, remembrance, and a deeply personal journey of loss.

When my father died, I found myself facing a landscape of grief that felt cold and detached from the emotional weight of the moment. He was a man who feasted on life, with a spirit as vast and eclectic as the landscapes we explored together. Yet, the services available to honour him felt rigid, clinical, and entirely out of step with the person we were mourning. This experience planted the seed for The Solace.

In Ireland, we pride ourselves on "doing death well”. Yet, many of our traditional rituals remain rooted in religious institutions and focus on serving small, geographically bound communities. Services and supports for the bereaved no longer reflect the lives that we, or our loved ones, live today.

I believe that death deserves the same care, dignity, and thoughtfulness as any of life’s milestones. I began to imagine a space where grief can coexist with beauty and where the rawness of loss meets the warmth of personalised remembrance.

Over the past 12 months, I’ve been working with a small team to design and build The Solace. Together, we’ve been creating an online space for navigating death. Our aim is to create spaces that reflect the complexity and beauty of life, helping families find meaning and connection through their grief.
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‍When death is overwhelming, we bring clarity, guidance, and resources.
When remembrance feels generic, we offer tools, personalisation, and inspiration.
When grief feels isolating, we enable the kindness of others to create a space for healing and shared strength.

Our ambition is to inspire a cultural shift in how we view grief, navigate remembrance beyond religious and institutional influence, and build connections between people in their time of loss. Here’s a glimpse of what will soon be available:

Honouring loved ones with care and intention
‍Personalised memorial pages: Digital tributes that capture the essence of a loved one through stories, photos, and memories. These pages are more than announcements—they are lasting legacies that family and friends can revisit and cherish for years to come.

Practical tools for families, friends and funeral
directors
‍Support: Grief can feel isolating, but The Solace fosters connection. Through shared memories, condolences, and “small gestures”—simple acts like preparing meals or offering help with logistics.Tools for funeral directors: Designed to streamline services and improve the family experience. From creating and publishing obituaries in minutes to managing funeral attendances and sharing resources, these tools ensure the process is seamless and thoughtful.

Thoughtful resources for navigating grief
‍A curated marketplace: Partnering with trusted vendors to offer meaningful products such as, notecards, keepsakes, flowers, books and urns. These products have been carefully selected to align with the needs of those navigating loss.

At the heart of The Solace is my father’s inspiring life. He was a man of endless curiosity and casual adventure. He believed the path less travelled often led to the most meaningful experiences. My father may have been far from perfect, but he lived with a spirit that brought joy and meaning to all he did, and it’s his spirit that I hope you’ll feel in every corner of The Solace.

The Solace will officially launch early next year.
‍If you’d like to help shape what we are building by becoming a beta tester, sharing your story of loss, or suggesting a feature you’d like to see, I’d love to hear from you. Sign up for updates to follow our journey and gain early access to new features.

And, why did we choose the name “The Solace”? Solace is the emotional comfort that comes from support. This adventure has already taught me that grief, while deeply personal, becomes lighter when shared.

Thank you for being part of this journey with me.

With gratitude,
Mark Legge
Founder, The Solace