This is not meant to criticize anyone and in fact alot of my views on it are positive.
But the question is, why are we so obsessed with death in Ireland?
And why in some cases do we use it as an excuse to get out of things?
Why do some, and i emphasize some, feel they have to go to a funeral of someone they disliked?
I have mixed feelings generally. The use of death to get games cancelled when the links are tenious to say the least annoys me. Our obsession with having to make a removal of someone we barely know or indeed we barely know a relative in some cases i find bizarre.
However on the flip side i like how we honour dead and the comforts it leaves close family and friends with. I like the way we do wakes and all of that.
I suppose bringing a foreigner home with you kinda highlights some of our customs and being away for 1/4 of my life makes me questions some things too. My missus for instance found it incredibly strange (we got landed with 3 fairly quick closish deaths this year of family and parents friends) how it all works although by the end of it i think she understands the grieving part.
There is no doubt though we are more comfortable with death in this country than most places i have been.
Would have thought its fairly easy. Most of us would have had parents who lived under rule from the Catholic Church and historically a lot of rural gatherings would have been GAA games and funerals. Even when I was in primary school 20 years ago the local parish priest had more say in things that the Gardai.
It’ll take a generation or two for it to eventually change and then it will become the minority.
Our fascination with death and celebrating the passage to the other side pre-dates the church. I think it’s fantastic. That’s all I have to say for now, but I will chip in later on.
Yes, we have tight knit rural communities, and we are a friendly shower where everyone knows everyone. So yes, we get big crowds at funerals. But it’s the same in other countries. I’ve seen funerals in small Mexican villages/towns that would put what we do to shame for turnout, grieving, drinking, general carrying on.
I don’t see how we are FASCINATED with death, as KKKev puts it.
Would agree with a lot of that. I hate the whole pomp and ceremony surrounding funerals. When i’m dead and gone just put me into a cannon and fire me into the River Shannon for all i care. This thing where every Tom, Dick and Harry has to attend funerals really grates on me. We all know people who partake in this, mostly it’s politicians and nosy old biddies but there are more. I have an acquaintance my own age that goes to funerals where he has any sort of tenuous link to the deceased and the same fella is a bollocks who’d walk all over his own mother to get ahead. So it’s a bit rich i feel. But he’s only going in case he needs a favour off that someone down the line. Which is a scumbag thing to do but there’s no other reason, same applies in a lot of these cases.
I don’t go to funerals unless i know the people and care about the people involved. I’m fucked if i’m going to funerals where i wouldn’t cross the road to meet the relative of the deceased involved. If i go to your funeral or of your relative because i know you, then you can feel honoured.
what I find very strange for a country that was in the grip of the catholic church for so long how afraid of death these devout Christians are!!..I thought it was meant to be the beginning of a new life according to all the teachings??..wasn’t just the kids not listening in church on sunday!
The use of death to get games cancelled is used by a particular club in Limerick everytime they are missing a couple of players. Complete joke
Re how we honour our dead, I think we do it well and it’s one of our better traditions, obviously you have the nosey cunts with nothing better to do showing up for a bit of grief excitement, but from my experience the vast majority of people are genuine and it helps having extended family, friends, neighbours etc around after a death.
