School: Druim Míleadh (roll number 14898)

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1. Wakes (continued)

   

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   believed that if the cat crossed the corpse and then crossed somebody else that person would soon die. This belief probably was due to a hazy idea that a cat's fur very easily transmitted the disease from the dead to the living. In this proness to infect we see the mixing of cause and effect which accounts for so many of our old Irish beliefs and taboos.
   3. Every hanging picture was removed from the walls and three candles inserted in a brass candle stick representing the Trinity stood lighted at the head of the bed.
   4. If a mother went to the funeral her eldest son would die before a year.
   5. The coffin must not be carried across the house or all the household would die.
   6. No coal must leave the house on the day of the funeral.
   When a person died it was, and is, usual to lift one's hat and say - Lord have mercy on him." During the evening of the death two of the relatives were despatched to the town for the "Carplements," i.e. the coffin and shroud together with the requirements of the wake and funeral. These consisted of a couple of pounds of uncut plug, clay pipes, say

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   Transcribed by a member of our volunteer transcription project.

   History Edit

   Topics

   1. activities
      1. social activities (~7)
         1. rites of passage (~573)
            1. death (~1,076)

   Language

   English

   Collector

   Albert King

   Gender

   Male