Irish traditions - those under threat or already extinct?

whisky_galore

Pixel Eater wrote: »

It may have originated in America but that doesn't necessarily mean that it was to be almost totally American in nature, it's our national day after all. You mentioned Macnas; they have actually done St. Patrick's Day parades before. We have a rich heritage, mythology and folklore to draw upon that could inspire some truly amazing floats and street performances.



It's hard to garner people's taste in regards to these old traditions due to the sheer amount of Anglo-American culture we are being bombarded with, essentially the reason these customs are being eroded. I'm sure most people would be approving of Irishising the parade or Halloween if it was promoted properly.


I don't get your mentality to be honest; you seem to somewhat bemoan the loss of our traditions on one hand yet almost take glee in dismissing any idea of resurrect them. Do you even want to see any of them return?


And I know your 'blazing sobs on a pike' was a jibe but a choreographed dance with that would be amazing!

It wasn't a jibe, many political demonstrations were done that way if you actually went to the bother of looking. Probably Health and Safety would shoot that one down.

Like I said before, traditions flourish and traditions fade away. I'm not bemoaning, it's just the way of things. The people created them and the people can continue them, if they're actually bothered about doing so. If you wanted to make a change, even in a small way, get on the organising committee of your local parade and actually DO something, not just sit on the sidelines.

laoch na mona

theyoungchap wrote: »

I tried on here to see if I could find people in Dublin to play 25 and got no response, which is sad. It is sad that patience levels to learn a card game seem to be now replaced by mobile phones, WhatsApp, Facebook and other anti-social media.

One which I strongly lament is children playing music instruments, GAA - once the kids stop being needed to be babysat for an hour or two, the parents let them give up.

The saddest lost Irish tradition of all though? The ability to sit down and have a conversation with the distraction of looking at phones, beeping, etc. We have lost the gift of the gab and replaced it with the gift of half-listening and more interest in our phone than those whose company we are in.

:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

what are you on about technology changing society is hardly unique to Ireland

nor is it necessarily a bad thing

Pixel Eater

whisky_galore wrote: »

It wasn't a jibe, many political demonstrations were done that way if you actually went to the bother of looking. Probably Health and Safety would shoot that one down.

Like I said before, traditions flourish and traditions fade away. I'm not bemoaning, it's just the way of things. The people created them and the people can continue them, if they're actually bothered about doing so. If you wanted to make a change, even in a small way, get on the organising committee of your local parade and actually DO something, not just sit on the sidelines.

Cheap shot; I often 'bother' to look up and read about Irish traditions and culture; that's why I'm active on this forum.

Water John

Where did 25 come from? A mickey mouse game, we always played 35.

laoch na mona

Pixel Eater wrote: »

Cheap shot; I often 'bother' to look up and read about Irish traditions and culture; that's why I'm active on this forum.

I think his point was traditions are a living thing, its up to the society to decide which ones they want to preserve

An_Toirpin

laoch na mona wrote: »

theyoungchap wrote: »

I tried on here to see if I could find people in Dublin to play 25 and got no response, which is sad. It is sad that patience levels to learn a card game seem to be now replaced by mobile phones, WhatsApp, Facebook and other anti-social media.

One which I strongly lament is children playing music instruments, GAA - once the kids stop being needed to be babysat for an hour or two, the parents let them give up.  

The saddest lost Irish tradition of all though? The ability to sit down and have a conversation with the distraction of looking at phones, beeping, etc. We have lost the gift of the gab and replaced it with the gift of half-listening and more interest in our phone than those whose company we are in.

:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

what are you on about technology changing society is hardly unique to Ireland

nor is it necessarily a bad thing

Technology has made life a lot better but it has all sorts of negative side effects. Hard to argue otherwise.

tabbey

Water John wrote: »

O'Donnell Abu in the morning, opening the Radio station.

It still is played in the morning at 0600, on RTE radio 1, although a very brief chime.

Sort of marks the boundary between the night before and the new day.
Most of the night is repeats of the day before.

It demonstrates an uncertainty in RTE as to when the day begins, as the newsreaders will announce seconds after midnight: "XYZ will appear in court later this morning"- confusing listeners who still think it is the night before.

Pixel Eater

Was in the National Museum a few weeks ago and came across a display of an old hurl and a 'hair' sliotar. Apparently back in the day it was the custom for a newly wed or single young lass to knit and present the sliotar to her fella on hurling day gettogethers. Before the ball was standardisted and made from leather and cork, it was often constructed of animal hairs and other material. Now this is a very aul tradition, it died out in the 19th century, but interesting nonetheless.

The Crowman

bobbyss wrote: »

Saying the family rosary at night time is well and truly gone.

Going to confession?

Picture of JFK/Sacred Heart in house?

As per above somewhere, the stations in your house where neighbours who you don't know can have a nosey around.

The national anthem at about midnight on TV.

Re: Stations in the house, were they ever a city or town thing?

6541

A tradition that is going strong is the wake. I dunno just going to put this here. I was at the most grief stricken wake last night for a very young man. The cakes, sandwiches, tea etc. Everything had its place. Everybody had a role. Thank you Ireland and tradition for this eases the pain.

Water John

Down here in Cork, wakes are making a comeback. Many have a bit of time with the remains in the house even if its for a few hours with close family and neighbours.

Balmed Out

Water John wrote: »

Where did 25 come from? A mickey mouse game, we always played 35.

45 is better but 110 is best.
extra hand dealt, players try to take extra hand by betting on how many tricks they'll win with the dealer being able to take it at the top bid or let them go ahead. rules pretty much similar otherwise., 5 of trump - jack of trump - joker - ace of hearts - ace of trump best cards. Whoever takes extra hand keeps best 5 cards dumps the rest.

riffmongous

Would not be a fan of wakes myself from the families viewpoint, especially since the tradition/standard practice in Ireland is to have the funeral within a few days.

whisky_galore

6541 wrote: »

A tradition that is going strong is the wake. I dunno just going to put this here. I was at the most grief stricken wake last night for a very young man. The cakes, sandwiches, tea etc. Everything had its place. Everybody had a role. Thank you Ireland and tradition for this eases the pain.

I think with the general moving away from rituals of the church, wakes may become even more popular.

An_Toirpin

whisky_galore wrote: »

I think with the general moving away from rituals of the church, wakes may become even more popular.

Unlikely.

The Crowman

6541 wrote: »

Bonfires night is definitely on the wan. Its probably a good thing as well.

Not on the Northside of Cork city.

oceanman

6541 wrote: »

Bonfires night is definitely on the wan. Its probably a good thing as well.

not here in south co Dublin..

Jellybaby1

A couple of my neighbours have had wakes in the last few years here in westish South Dublin. So its not gone completely. The two that I know of, the families were originally from outside of Dublin. I don't attend wakes myself so can't say what they were like.

whisky_galore

An_Toirpin wrote: »

Unlikely.

Why not?

People are gradually moving away from the carbon-copy Irish church wedding formula. Why not funerals as well?
Not every child is baptised either now.

The church no longer has a monopoly on hatching, matching and dispatching.

LoughNeagh2017

Fishing on Lough Neagh, the biggest lough in Ireland is dying out in it's current form, my uncle does it full time and father does it part time, I go out to help him sometimes so it is interesting to witness the final days of a culture that has been going thousands of years, it was the whole reason why the settlements around here were formed, the reason why the Ui Neill would have wanted to conquer the eastern lands, to get to the fishing supply.

You cannot get mortgages as a fisherman you see, I think in 30-50 years the fishery will employ people to go out fishing for them rather than the way it has always been, self employed fisherman selling the fish to them, I would imagine it will be European people who will do it.

LoughNeagh2017

Water John wrote: »

Down here in Cork, wakes are making a comeback. Many have a bit of time with the remains in the house even if its for a few hours with close family and neighbours.

Wakes are still a big thing in Ulster, I think people thrive on the misery, I was at a place in Donegal, a reenactment type place and they had a section on the Irish wake with mannequin things around a coffin.

A townland comes to a standstill when someone dies, people love it, it gives them something to gossip about, that is why I don't plan on having a wake, I hate the thought of people eating sandwiches that I paid for, sitting on my sofa. My grandfather is having a private one too.

Water John

Had a wake for a close family member a few years ago. The neighbours came in and took over the running of the kitchen. No one, was gossiping or speaking ill of anyone. Too many connected to each anyway to put a foot or word out of place.
I stayed up two nights and it was cathartic. Grief is open and honest. That way the family can move on easier, I would say.
I would liken it to emergency intervention where a group have experienced trauma.

CelticRambler

As the offspring of two culchies, reared in 70s-80s Dublin, I've quite a lot of traditional "baggage" What I find most interesting, though, as I tootle around rural western and central Europe, is how many of my parents' traditions were and are replicated in other places. Just last week at an exhibition in Italy, I saw a reference to school children being expected to bring one log each to heat the classroom - exactly as my mother was expected to bring a sod of turf.

In Switzerland, the booleying tradition is still alive and well, and in these times of mega-herds, it was comforting to see that the alpine cowsheds sheltered single-digit herds (they had plaques on the wall outside stating how many stalls were attributed to different owners).

As for hitchhiking ... well, that seems to have been killed off by a combination of motorways, ride-sharing apps and fear of the unknown. I'll pick up anyone who has the good sense to thumb a lift at place where I can actually pull in, but the likelihood of it being a great character on a proper journey, rather than someone who just missed their bus and is only going down the road, is rare.

LoughNeagh2017

Water John wrote: »

Had a wake for a close family member a few years ago. The neighbours came in and took over the running of the kitchen. No one, was gossiping or speaking ill of anyone. Too many connected to each anyway to put a foot or word out of place.
I stayed up two nights and it was cathartic. Grief is open and honest. That way the family can move on easier, I would say.
I would liken it to emergency intervention where a group have experienced trauma.

But that is the fine skill of it, gossiping is done in private, I have seen it many times, it is the main talk over the kitchen table whenever someone in the parish dies, I am surprised people don't get the pen and paper out to draw out the persons family tree.

laoch na mona

LoughNeagh2017 wrote: »

But that is the fine skill of it, gossiping is done in private, I have seen it many times, it is the main talk over the kitchen table whenever someone in the parish dies, I am surprised people don't get the pen and paper out to draw out the persons family tree.

tracing is a great Irish tradition, I love the way my older relatives can sit down and go back generations as if these people aren't long dead

Mickiemcfist

laoch na mona wrote: »

tracing is a great Irish tradition, I love the way my older relatives can sit down and go back generations as if these people aren't long dead

Yea I don't really know what his/her problem with that is, it's why we're such networkers as a nation. As the saying goes you die two deaths, the first is when your heart stops beating & the second is the last time someone ever says your name.