School: Mulhuddart (roll number 16675)

Location:
Mulhuddart, Co. Dublin
Teacher:
Tomás Ó Broin
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The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0790, Page 125

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The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0790, Page 125

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  1. XML School: Mulhuddart
  2. XML Page 125
  3. XML “Wakes”

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  1. When one of the people around the village dies the remains is waked. A person going by the house is always allowed in to say some prayers for the repose of the dead man's soul. In the night-time people crowd to the wake. When a person comes in and before they go out they say prayers beside the remains. During the night until day break the next day the house is generally full with people. There is plenty of beer at every wake and while people are drinking it they converse on all the good things the dead man did during his lifetime but very little is said about the bad things he did. When every-body's stomach is satisfied games are played. The following are some of the games that are played at wakes:
    "The grass that grew crooked around the crooked crab tree", "Band Master" "Bird lost" Chew, "Chew the Button" "My Man Jack" "All hammers on the block" Little bit of fish".
    (continues on next page)
    Transcribed by a member of our volunteer transcription project.
    Topics
    1. activities
      1. social activities (~7)
        1. entertainments and recreational activities (~5,933)
          1. games
            1. wake games (~170)
        2. rites of passage (~573)
          1. death (~1,076)
    Language
    English
    Collector
    Kathleen Caffrey
    Gender
    Female
    Address
    Mulhuddart, Co. Dublin