School: Clareen, Birr
- Location:
- Clareen, Co. Offaly
- Teacher: S. Ó Néill
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0821, Page 339
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- XML Page 339
- XML “Wakes”
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- When a person dies news is sent at once to a next door neighbour who goes to town with a member of the family to order a coffin, bring supplies for the wake and make arrangements for the funeral. Another neighbour informs relatives.
The clock is stopped immediately the person dies.
The corpse is laid out in abed in the best bedroom. A table is placed at the foot of the bed on which there are six candles in large brass candlesticks, a crucifix and a plate of snuff. There is always some person in the corpse room.
Women come to the "corpse house" during the day and men attend the "wake" at night. It is not considered respectable for girls to attend a wake at night, except in the case of immediate relations or very near neighbours. In this case they take over the household duties.
At nightfall the men begin coming to the wake. They walk to the bedroom door, knock down and say a prayer for the dead. They remain in the kitchen all night. The good story teller is always welcome.
A couple of neighbours are very busy filling pipes and when they have a good(continues on next page)
