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Very Irish Things

684 replies

RocketPanda · 21/07/2023 10:10

A thread of appreciation of things that only seem to happen in Ireland.

I was away for two weeks and a couple of days after I returned the postman knocked on my door with a big bag of packages ( they were sent from work, only two were very delayed orders). He realised I was away so instead of leaving them and risking theft or damage he stored them for me.

Anyone else any good stories?

OP posts:
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24
Mooshamoo · 28/09/2023 00:12

Kettering · 28/09/2023 00:07

It will surely help that she's written down her wishes @Mooshamoo. That was a good idea.

I know they'll still try to bully me into having a big funeral for her, to "show face" in the community.

I can see my aunt saying "of course she has to have a funeral".

I'm not close to my aunt. None of my aunt's and uncles are loving to me. They're just cold bullies at the best of times.

JaneJeffer · 28/09/2023 00:28

Ah sure they might all be dead before her @Mooshamoo

honeyrider · 28/09/2023 00:32

Unfortunately I've been to a number of very close family and friends funerals in the last 3 years and all the funerals haven't been the same and the family wishes were respected.

One of my friends died earlier this summer and her funeral was nearly 2 weeks later and was a humanist ceremony.

My DH's 85 year old uncle's funeral was just a 2 hour removal in the funeral home where people called to pay their respects, light refreshments available, no prayers, eulogy/speeches, music, nothing then brought to the nearby cemetery where the undertakers just played Danny Boy and that was it no prayers or anything despite him being one of twelve siblings including a priest and a nun.

My friend's DH died last Christmas, no separate removals the night before just a poem read out at the funeral home then straight to the crematorium.

honeyrider · 28/09/2023 00:36

Mooshamoo · 28/09/2023 00:12

I know they'll still try to bully me into having a big funeral for her, to "show face" in the community.

I can see my aunt saying "of course she has to have a funeral".

I'm not close to my aunt. None of my aunt's and uncles are loving to me. They're just cold bullies at the best of times.

Show quote history

Would you mother be on for making her own arrangements with the undertakers so it would take away any pressure on you to conform to your aunts way? That way the undertakers can step in and say this is what your mother arranged? I know someone who did that and it preempted any expected railroading.

Orders76 · 28/09/2023 07:43

I found the rush to organise almost began straight away in the hospital, I would have liked longer to just stay with them, but it was all about getting things done.

Soonenough · 28/09/2023 08:52

I have lived in different countries with different traditions and I still think the Irish way is the best. There is a comfort in knowing what is expected and funeral directors and priests are very good at helping through the process. We did have time to just be with them at a wake and anyone who came had a kind word in a story to tell . Also it is called sympathise for a reason as most people have been touched by death and feel sorry that it is happening to you.
I would hate to think of my loved one awaiting burial in a mortuary. And having to get on with normal life without them for weeks .
In US it seemed to be all about money . No sooner had doors closed in funeral home , my family member had to sit and hand over vast sums.

You no longer have to have a traditional Catholic funeral. Many other options available and most people respect people's choices . But the essence remains the same .

honeyrider · 28/09/2023 09:15

A lot of people no longer leave the deceased in the church overnight before the funeral, they're keeping their deceased family member at home in an open coffin for a wake and then bringing the deceased to the church or funeral home on the day of the burial or cremation.

Abhannmor · 28/09/2023 09:27

But we have people visiting the house or funeral home. Then the removal to the church , usually involving a few prayers . The funeral Mass itself and finally the burial of crematorium. Lots of chances to meet and condole.

When my friends dad died in London his funeral Mass - actually in the crematorium - was all over in 25 mins. The priest had no idea who he was and kept consulting a scrap of paper with his name on it !

One of his daughters had flown from LA and was quite upset about the lack of ceremony. She never got to say goodbye. So it is swings and roundabouts. But I agree it is intense here and then it suddenly ends. This newish idea ' months mind' , a mass around a month later sounds good to me.

DeanElderberry · 28/09/2023 09:38

Months minds have been around for at least half a century, probably longer, so not all that 'new'. They're very useful for people who can't travel in time for the funeral. Anniversary masses are sometimes occasions for families getting back together as well - there can be a noticeable increase in the congregation with lots of unfamiliar people who obviously know each other and are planning to go for a meal afterwards.

Mooshamoo · 28/09/2023 16:27

Being told things about people who you've no idea who they are. My mother is funny.

I'll go to see her.

Mam: "you know Mary Dooley".

Me: racking my brains. "No".

Mum: "ah you do. You went on a date with her boyfriends cousin once when you were 18. ".

Me: ehhh Jesus was a long time ago I don't remember him mentioning her.

Mam: well she died

Mooshamoo · 28/09/2023 16:31

Or my mam will also think that anyone I went to school with 20 years ago, are my good friends now.

I've moved away from the area and moved back a few times.

If I see my mam:

She will say "David Ryan just had a new baby. "

Me: "ah that's nice".

Mam: "youre good friends with him. He works in this factory now. now I think David Ryan's wife works in a post office. Is that right? And his brother is working in the pharma company. And he has two other kids. What are their names now? You know him well".

Me " I wouldn't say I'm good friends with him mam. I last saw him twenty years ago"

Mooshamoo · 28/09/2023 17:26

JaneJeffer · 28/09/2023 00:28

Ah sure they might all be dead before her @Mooshamoo

My mam is the second eldest unfortunately. And her most bossy sister is fifteen years younger than her.

girlswillbegirls · 28/09/2023 19:11

Mooshamoo · 28/09/2023 16:27

Being told things about people who you've no idea who they are. My mother is funny.

I'll go to see her.

Mam: "you know Mary Dooley".

Me: racking my brains. "No".

Mum: "ah you do. You went on a date with her boyfriends cousin once when you were 18. ".

Me: ehhh Jesus was a long time ago I don't remember him mentioning her.

Mam: well she died

I love your posts 😂😂

Missingthegore · 03/10/2023 11:35

I'm in Australia and my local Woolies supermarket has started selling "Kerrygold". It is made in Australia to the Irish recipe. Saw it the other day and bought it, of course I had to say outloud "who's taking the horse to France?" In a bad parody of the SE accent in the advert. Got a strange look from the teenager restocking the chiller cabinet that i hadn't noticed was there :)

'Who's Taking the Horse to France' Kerrygold TV Ad

https://youtu.be/AvsXPtMzXME?si=LMrLPVo9hBzfOPw9

Kettering · 03/10/2023 15:51

I love the older woman in that ad. The look she gives😂

Chickenkeev · 03/10/2023 16:07

I love the 'any minute' 🤣

Mooshamoo · 03/10/2023 22:22

Do you know what advert I remember.

It was about an Irish man and am American woman. They are living in America. And

The advert starts showing him in the kitchem in the night.
He is frying bacon at 3am in th le morning.

And the wife gets up and says "John ! It's three in the morning".

And d Irish guy says moodily and dramatically "yeah but it's breakfast time back home".

It has everything. Bacon. Melancholy for home. 😂

Kettering · 03/10/2023 22:56

Oh yeah, I'd forgotten all about that Galtee ad!

Missingthegore · 04/10/2023 02:38

Kettering · 03/10/2023 15:51

I love the older woman in that ad. The look she gives😂

That's where I learned it from!

Amazing for upity surgeons when you are the nurse in charge and they try to dump a dirty procedure trolley on you!

@Mooshamoo another great ad

The late 90s advertising was really the time those "ad executives " earned their extortionate wages 😀

I adore the Donegal catch ad from that time
"You may be beautiful, but they are keeping my idea on file, in a filing cabinet"

It gets lost in translation here in Oz so pull it out when I am with a similar aged Irish person any chance I can

Donegal Catch Filing Cabinet Ad

https://youtu.be/303VMR0sRRw?si=oOI3AgPtqltVkF3d

Abhannmor · 04/10/2023 11:13

Yes @Mooshamoo And in real life there is nostalgia for Irish bacon. My son was in the USA for a few years. He said they ' don't have proper bacon - it's just warm ham' 😭

He met a young Irish guy who used to sleep with his hurley stick over there 😂

Kettering · 04/10/2023 11:39

That's brilliant@Missingthegore, thank you😂
I never saw it before. Don't know how I missed it.

Kettering · 04/10/2023 11:43

He met a young Irish guy who used to sleep with his hurley stick over there 😂

Awww! I'm welling up now!
(Or was he just scared of burglars or something?🤔 )

Soonenough · 04/10/2023 11:49

Most cities with a large Irish / American population have stores which stock Irish products . Very expensive though . Chrimas crackers for $20. I lived there and we always laugh at the Koren grocery guy who gestured us in shouting Lucozade , Ariel. !!
How homesick would you have to be to buy Ariel washing powder at outrageous mark-up? I😁

Mooshamoo · 04/10/2023 12:13

I think that another very Irish thing is that Irish people can be a bit obsessed with where you are from, and try and place exactly you are are and who you know - when you meet them.

I went to a big international meetup in cork last month. It was mainly foreign people. There were 20 foreign people and 2 Irish people. I said hello to everyone. The foreign people just meet you as who you are. They said oh it's lovely to meet you. They talk about what you are doing in life now.

When I said hello to the two Irish people Both of them did the exact same routine with me. They asked me where I was originally from in Ireland (though I haven't lived there in twenty years). They both asked me did I know certain people from that area. . The first person asked me did I know a guy. I said "well I saw that person 20 years ago". He said "oh so you know him!!

The second guy asked me - did I know a certain woman from that area. . Again it was woman that I would have seen 20 years ago, I was in the same secondary school as her , I wasn't in her year and I never spoke to her. I said "yes she was in my school 20 years ago, she was a couple of years ahead of me ,I never spoke to her" he said

"ah you know her!!!! I used to work with her. ""

And then he proceeded to show me loads of Facebook photos of him and her working together.

I barely knew her , and hadn't seen her in 20 years!

3luckystars · 04/10/2023 12:15

Yes that’s all reasonable, you have to make the LINK.