I take it that they were not neighbours?
Can I ask, having experienced this, what do you think of it as a practice/ritual, or whatever you want to call it, by those who want to ââpay their respectsââ?
I would have thought it was a load of tokenism until I was the wrong side of it. Found it a massive help at the time.
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No. Carlow and the Nire.
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That was one of the first big funerals I recall. A proper country one. Two nights waked at his house while we waited for the uncle to get home from Canada. His dog didnât leave the window outside where he was waked the whole time. Some amount of coming and going.
I couldnât believe the amount of people at the funeral home. My auld lad said it was the biggest funeral in the parish for someone who died of fairly natural causes (although the poor divil nearly burnt himself to death a few years earlier up the fields and I think spent about four months in Nenagh hospital after). I always thought he was a bit of a legend but to see so many others come out was a great comfort alright. Himself and the grandmother played cards six nights a week between four different parishes so he was well known through that too
PS my grandmotherâs funeral wasnât for another decade and while big, was much smaller. A realised afterwards that a lot of the folks who were at my grandfatherâs one would have passed on by then.
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I remember the great @Atticus_Finch turning up to a funeral with a black eye one time.He was at a stag one Saturday with the crew he was working with(it was the bosses stag). Anyways there was a bit of slagging and whatnot(the facts were a bit hazy)but Atticus gave the boss a bit of an elbow into the jaw and that was that.Next morning Atticus hears a banging on the door and goes down to see the boss(a big thick Donegal man) raging outside the door then bang smacks Atticus in the face and takes off.Lo and behold didnât yer manâs wife pass away the next day.Anyways her funeral was the next Saturday and all the chat all week was would Atticus show up as he knew them both very well.In strolls Atticus half way through the removal with his big black shiner, queues up like a man and shakes hands with the boss
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Agreed on both counts, my experience being âânormalââ funerals, my grand-parents/aunts/uncles, MIL were elderly and the funeral home hours announced were on schedule. There was solace from them. @caulifloweredneanderthal
However I have seen some funerals recently with queues of 4/5 abreast continuing for 2 to 3 hours after the announced removal time. The usual is open at 5pm removal at 7pm. But I wonder is it inconsiderate of these mourners to put the bereaved family thru this marathon. Is joining a queue at 6.50 that is clearly taking 30 to 45 minutes before you reach the entrance good etiquette? And look behind you then to see the queue extending?
Our granny was very holy. VERY HOLY. i remember myself and the younger brother down in Nenagh one time waking up cos sheâd come in in the middle of the night to throw holy water over us. We flipped out and dad came running in and fucked us out of it and smoothed her away. When she died the church in nenagh was full and its a big oul church. One of the cousins decided to open a book at the wake on how many priests would be there the next day. An uncle is a priest so we knew theyd show. The guesses went from about 8 to 20.
On the day the sacristy door opened and two came outâŚfollowed by another 2âŚand another twoâŚ34 priest in total walked out of a sacristy that only looked the size of a shed. Like a weird priest making machine gone mad. All of us were pissing ourselves. Apparently we all looked very emotionalâŚ
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You grandparents were legends God rest them. If they were avid card players as you say itâs no wonder your grandad got such a send off. My great grandparents died 11 months apart back in the 80s. My great nan died sudden and I dont remember much of it but my great grandad was a while parting with us. Just natural old age, he took his time and went peacefully but there was a full weeks vigil at the house and the funeral was 3 days going on. Like yours, the dogs went daft when his corpse was being removed. It was a hard time for my mother who cared for him and oul fellow too, they were very close I remember
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A priest connected to the secondary school I attended passed away young from cancer I suspect and a student representation from the school was sent to attend his requiem mass in Castlerea. Yours truly was selected on the delegation. It was incredible. I couldnât believe the number of clergy of all ranks. The gallery was jammed and the majority of the ceremony done thru Gregorian chant. Unrale
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An Irish wake is a beautiful thing.
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Always reach into the coffin, and place a hand on the dead personâs cold, bony hand. DO NOT WINCE, have a facial expression of great peace, bow the head and pretend to be reciting a latin prayer to the departed souls, ignore the smell of the corpse beginning to rot if it is the end of the second day of the wake, unclench the bumcheeks, and retreat to the safety of long sighs to pensioners amid golden lines like âwasnât it great he didnât sufferâ, âhe was a great hurler in his dayâ and âGod has a special place in heaven for himâ. Rosary attendance optional.
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I hope it wasnât anyone close to you pal.
A lad died recently locally at home. Late 60/. A good man. Apparently it was the biggest ever after funeral gig the GAA club did. The aul lad couldnât wait to tell me - 250 people he said.
We let the obvious sentiment hang in the air.
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Anyone ever hear of sending a funeral bouquet to the bereaved? Never heard of it. Northern funeral, is it a nordie thing?
fucking tans.
Perfectly fine. Just make sure there isnât a âfamily flowers onlyâ advisory on the death notice.
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Do any of ye remember the time John Mullane mixed up a Mass Card with a Card for a lad going to Australia?
Gave the Mass Card to the lad going to Oz and when the bereaved opened up their card they saw 20 euro and a message saying âBon Voyage!â
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Most death notices have that nowadays and request a donation to a charity/hospice in lieu of flowers
âDonations to the Human Fundâ
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