School: Cúige (roll number 10773)
- Location:
- Coogue Middle, Co. Mayo
- Teacher: Mícheál Ó Briain
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0108, Page 032
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- Long ago when a person was dying they used to take him out of the bed and put him on a kind of a shake-down which was called a "crocán" for him to die there. Any of the person's relatives wasn't supposed to wash him, two women out of the district usually washed the corpse. The women that washed the corpse were supposed to get whiskey or some kind of drink or it wouldn't be lucky. A man usually shaved the corpse if it was a man that died and he always kept the razor. The water that washed the corpse was buried in the corner of a field or garden, so that any person couldn't walk over it or he would lose the walk. After he was washed he was put over-board and he was waked that night and there used to be tobacco and clay pipes left on the breast of the corpse. Anybody that got a pipe used to say a prayer for the dead person's soul or else the dead person would haunt him. The people that made the grave were brought to the house and given drink before they made the grave. There used to be a certain crowd of women in each district for crying the dead. They used to cry at three(continues on next page)
