Orlagh Winters: The Irish Are Great For The Funerals

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Orlagh New 1SOCIAL media was a little crazy this week when Radio Kerry announced that there were no deaths to report.

It made me laugh as one of the things I hate when I go home to Loughrea is the silence that has to be observed after the one o’clock news bulletin on Galway Bay FM to listen to the death notices.

Never mind that there may be some major news in the headlines, the mere fact that there may be a funeral to attend is far more important. I often joke that if you listen long enough, you may hear your own death announced.

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We Irish are great funeralgoers and it is often the case that an Irish funeral is as good as a wedding, particularly if the deceased had a long life and is more a celebration of their life rather than mourning their death.

Hatched, matched and dispatched is often used to describe the births, marriages and deaths in the daily newspapers and that in itself is quite humorous.

It’s amazing how, as a nation we turn up in our droves to show solidarity to our friends and neighbours. It gives huge comfort to the bereaved as the funeral home has a line of people offering their condolences.

A few years ago in Cork, my friend’s mum passed away and before I left Cork to return to Kerry I went to the funeral home in Glanmire to pay my respects.

I signed the book of condolences on the way in and shuffled my way up to shake hands with the family. It was only when I was half way through the line of relatives that I looked at the remains in the coffin.

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The penny dropped when I saw an elderly man lying there that I was at the wrong funeral. I continued along shaking the hands of complete strangers and eventually headed towards the exit as fast as my legs could carry me.

I asked the undertaker on the way out where the funeral of Mrs. X was and he told me that it would be immediately after the one I had just gatecrashed. Cheeks red with embarrassment I joined friends of mine who were just joining the queue.

The cheeky devil in me was going to let them make the same mistake as me but the little angel in me confessed to them what had just happened. When later on that evening, well on the way back to Kerry (after eventually attending the correct removal), my friends regaled my misfortune to the family who needless to say got a good kick out of it.

Death and funerals are by their nature a very sad affair but it is amazing how there is always a little bit of black humour. At a funeral mass I once attended, right at the silent part of mass an altar boy let the incense burner crash to the floor nearly causing a multitude of funerals with the congregation having heart attacks.

What made it funnier was the loud expletive that his fellow altar boy shouted in shock.

Until next week,

Tune in to see if your name is read out…!

Orlagh xx

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