Funeral processions and traffic

Rubeter · 07-08-2013 06:52AM

I just buried two members of my family and all I can say is the slow walk was something special, I have done it loads of times but have never been the person directly behind the hearse before and my overriding feeling at the time was how wonderful it was to be outside taking them through their town on a beautiful summers day, there was just something about it that I can't put into words here.
Someday OP you could well be doing that walk, then you will realise why it is done.

corktina · 07-08-2013 07:10AM

i've often see a Gard directing traffic when a funeral is due.
Generally they will salute as the hearse passes, a nice show of respect.
When my old Boss died, the whole company formed a Guard of Honour all the way to the Cemetary, no one asked us to
When my Father , a Bus Driver, died, his colleagues brought a Double Decker along to the Church and set up a Guard of Honour alongside it...it's the only thing i recall of his funeral

Irish Guitarist · 07-08-2013 07:22AM

Some drivers are just selfish pricks. They think they own the road and nothing or no one should get in their way. The people that get annoyed about being held up by a funeral are the same bastards who would risk running a pedestrian over rather than stop at a zebra crossing or red light for ten seconds.

When I die I want to be cremated but it would almost be worth being buried just to inconvenience these dickheads.

PizzamanIRL · 07-08-2013 08:01AM

I was behind about 10 or 11 cars on a bendy backroad. I couldn't see any tractor or anything slow at the front so I let out a beep. Coming around a bend I got a better view and I saw a hearse with a coffin in it. Needless to say i felt a bit guilty after that.

Shenshen · 07-08-2013 08:43AM

I have to admit I don't understand the whole thing - these processions don't exist where I come from.

The coffin is taken to the chapel on the cemetery by the funeral business, service (if there is one) is held there, then the coffin is carried to the grave.

I don't really mind the processions much, we live on route from a church to a cemetery now, but I did once miss a flight due to being stuck in Cork city for around 2 hours, as the procession had managed to seriously f*ck up rush hour traffic. That I did mind, as while I respect that people have died and other people are grieving, I don't really see why that should leave me out of pocket having to pay for another flight.

RoyalMarine · 07-08-2013 08:53AM

Buried a great friend last year and two granparents around christmas time just gone.

Only thing that bothered me about traffic was some muppet sitting in a civic with music blaring out the window. Pretty sure everyone in the funeral gave him a stare when passing, but he didn't give a shít. Pretty sure he even turned it up when people started saying it to him. Eventually the guards who were there for the funeral told him to just leave.

He did so as any good civic driver does..... the dickhead tore up the street.

But so did the guard

Lando Griffin · 07-08-2013 09:04AM

Beware.
Has one ever heard of the Mayo Football Curse....

I N a recent comprehensive review of Mayo football, containing multiple recommendations on how to end perhaps the most storied All Ireland drought, there is one marked omission. No reference can be found to the priest's curse reputedly placed on the county in 1951. The story goes that the team's Sam Maguire cavalcade passed through Foxford while a local funeral was taking place, incensing a priest who duly unleashed his wrath. He vowed that Mayo would not win another until all the members of that expedition were deceased.

Two of that team remain to this day alive.

07-08-2013 09:09AM

Hownowcow wrote: »

It's the last time you walk with your friends.

That's lovely

seamus · 07-08-2013 09:14AM

The people who complain the most about being held up are the ones who are least likely to have anywhere important they need to be.

Ficheall · 07-08-2013 09:24AM

C.K Dexter Haven wrote: »

it's a dying custom

'tis, aye...

Nopeare · 07-08-2013 12:46PM

Lando Griffin wrote: »

Beware.
Has one ever heard of the Mayo Football Curse....

Two of that team remain to this day alive.

I work in an office full of Mayo lads and they have kept a count on there numbers, the last 2 years since I've been here the start of the championship there is a check on how many are left. I think one died last summer, just for the last 2 is why I'd like to see Mayo win it this year.

Anyway on point of the thread I think its a nice way to pay your final respects.

elfy4eva · 07-08-2013 12:49PM

Shenshen wrote: »

I have to admit I don't understand the whole thing - these processions don't exist where I come from.

Whereabouts do you come from may I ask. I'm wondering whether there are localized areas in Ireland that don't do processions or whether its a cultural thing from another country.

Kinzig · 07-08-2013 01:02PM

I attended a funeral in Donegal a short while back...the procession walked the mile and a half or so on a main road to the graveyard..complete with two black horses and carriage..cars gave way and everyone paid respect to the burial..it was a fitting end to the guy..

We lost so much cultural identity during the myth of the celtic tiger we need to hold on to what we have left..

Lapin · 07-08-2013 01:19PM

Zen65 wrote: »

I would not wish to be remembered as the guy whose last act was to inconvenience people I didn't know by being walked along the road. That (in part) is why I plan to be cremated.

What difference does the ultimate disposal of the deceased make?

I've been to a number of funerals using cremation where traffic has been just as disruptive as those involving burials.

iguana · 07-08-2013 01:19PM

Senor Fancy Pants wrote: »

That's someone's final journey, I wouldn't begrudge anyone that or tarnish it by being in a pisser over a small delay.

I agree with this in principle and I do like the idea of that last journey having a sense of ceremony and the idea of strangers taking a minute to acknowledge someone else's loss. But the simple fact is that if you hold up a lot of people there are pretty good odds that some of those people actually do have somewhere important to be as quickly as possible. Perhaps they are rushing to the hospital bedside of a dying relative and delaying them by 10 minutes means they don't get to say their final goodbye. Maybe they are rushing to the airport and miss their flight. Maybe they are on a commute with several legs and a few minutes delay now means they miss a connection and their journey home takes 70 minutes longer than it should and they don't get to say goodnight to their kids and tonight was a night when that kid really needed them. Maybe someone behind you is in labour and in agony desperate to get to the hospital.

The more urban an area you live in, the more likely you are to seriously inconvenience someone. Even though your loved one's funeral is a massively important event deserving of respect, that doesn't mean that everyone else is in the middle of something less important and it doesn't matter if they are delayed.

Shenshen · 07-08-2013 01:22PM

elfy4eva wrote: »

Whereabouts do you come from may I ask. I'm wondering whether there are localized areas in Ireland that don't do processions or whether its a cultural thing from another country.

No, I'm from Germany. They don't do funeral processions at all there.

elfy4eva · 07-08-2013 01:26PM

Shenshen wrote: »

No, I'm from Germany. They don't do funeral processions at all there.

Very interesting to see another cultures viewpoint on the topic!

April O Neill · 07-08-2013 01:26PM

Lando Griffin wrote: »

Beware.
Has one ever heard of the Mayo Football Curse....

Two of that team remain to this day alive.

No, they're all dead now apparently!

April O Neill · 07-08-2013 01:30PM

iguana wrote: »

I agree with this in principle and I do like the idea of that last journey having a sense of ceremony and the idea of strangers taking a minute to acknowledge someone else's loss. But the simple fact is that if you hold up a lot of people there are pretty good odds that some of those people actually do have somewhere important to be as quickly as possible. Perhaps they are rushing to the hospital bedside of a dying relative and delaying them by 10 minutes means they don't get to say their final goodbye. Maybe they are rushing to the airport and miss their flight. Maybe they are on a commute with several legs and a few minutes delay now means they miss a connection and their journey home takes 70 minutes longer than it should and they don't get to say goodnight to their kids and tonight was a night when that kid really needed them. Maybe someone behind you is in labour and in agony desperate to get to the hospital.

If you have a flight to catch, give yourself plenty of time, it's nobody's fault but your own if you miss it.

As for the dying relative thing, a tad emotive, don't you think, considering that scenario probably happens very rarely? Ditto the commuting thing. Also emotive. You mightn't get to say goodnight to your kids one night? Hardly the end of the world.

lertsnim · 07-08-2013 01:34PM

MugMugs wrote: »

Amazing the cultures in different parts of the country! In the pale you drive by but in the south I always noticed that oncoming traffic stops until the hearse is past!

Where does oncoming traffic stop for a funeral procession? I live in the south and have never seen that.

Cantona's Collars · 07-08-2013 01:35PM

Here in Enniscorthy,the Gardai operate a traffic plan which means minimal disruption for traffic,funerals can travel the wrong way along the one way system as traffic is diverted,no hold ups for anybody.

Anyone who doesn't show a bit of respect for a passing funeral is an asshole imo.

Shenshen · 07-08-2013 01:36PM

April O Neill wrote: »

If you have a flight to catch, give yourself plenty of time, it's nobody's fault but your own if you miss it.

As for the dying relative thing, a tad emotive, don't you think, considering that scenario probably happens very rarely? Ditto the commuting thing. Also emotive. You mightn't get to say goodnight to your kids one night? Hardly the end of the world.

Sorry, but the bolded bit annoyed me.
I have missed a flight due to a funeral once, the funeral went through Cork city centre at 4.30pm, causing so much traffic backlog that I essentially was held up by 2 hours flat.
I had give myself plenty of time when I left my house, I had planned to be at the airport about 1.5 hours early. Should I have gone to the airport the day before and slept there, just in case?

April O Neill · 07-08-2013 01:42PM

Shenshen wrote: »

Sorry, but the bolded bit annoyed me.
I have missed a flight due to a funeral once, the funeral went through Cork city centre at 4.30pm, causing so much traffic backlog that I essentially was held up by 2 hours flat.
I had give myself plenty of time when I left my house, I had planned to be at the airport about 1.5 hours early. Should I have gone to the airport the day before and slept there, just in case?

In fairness, that sounds like an exceptional case, can't imagine it being in any way the norm.

iguana · 07-08-2013 01:43PM

April O Neill wrote: »

You mightn't get to say goodnight to your kids one night? Hardly the end of the world.

How do you know? Maybe you get delayed 3 times a week on average and every time it happens it's like a kick in the guts. Maybe the kid is being bullied and tonight was the night they'd screwed up the courage to tell you about it but when you don't show up, they lose heart. Maybe it was their football match or school play and they are heartbroken that you weren't there. We don't get to decide what is or isn't important to people and if we don't respect their right to feel something is important, where the hell do we get off imposing that which is important to us upon them? Respect works both ways.

April O Neill · 07-08-2013 01:46PM

iguana wrote: »

How do you know? Maybe you get delayed 3 times a week on average and every time it happens it's like a kick in the guts. Maybe the kid is being bullied and tonight was the night they'd screwed up the courage to tell you about it but when you don't show up, they lose heart. Maybe it was their football match or school play and they are heartbroken that you weren't there. We don't get to decide what is or isn't important to people and if we don't respect their right to feel something is important, where the hell do we get off imposing that which is important to us upon them? Respect works both ways.

Getting held up 3 times a week because of funeral processions? Highly unlikely.

And if you are occasionally held up because of one and can't say goodnight to your kids and it turns out to be a night the kid needs you (a lot of ifs there), it's kind of a good lesson for a kid. Mammy or Daddy might not always be there to comfort you. I really hope if I ever become a parent that I'm not this fretful.

Respect works both ways? I doubt a mourner in a funeral procession is trying to be disrespectful.

snubbleste · 07-08-2013 01:50PM

And then when they get to the final resting place of choice, they choose to abandon their vehicles all over the roadway* causing restrictions and obstructions for vulnerable** traffic***

* a footpath is a roadway in law, ** legally blind persons do not drive, *** pedestrians are traffic

Shenshen · 07-08-2013 01:52PM

April O Neill wrote: »

As for the dying relative thing, a tad emotive, don't you think, considering that scenario probably happens very rarely? Ditto the commuting thing. Also emotive. You mightn't get to say goodnight to your kids one night? Hardly the end of the world.

Only just read the rest of this...

Wouldn't you call a funeral procession emotive as well?
So why is it ok to demand respect for some emotions (grief at a funeral), but not for others (dying relative, sick child, woman in labour, etc.)?

April O Neill · 07-08-2013 01:55PM

Shenshen wrote: »

Only just read the rest of this...

Wouldn't you call a funeral procession emotive as well?
So why is it ok to demand respect for some emotions (grief at a funeral), but not for others (dying relative, sick child, woman in labour, etc.)?

A funeral procession is a thing happening right in front of your eyes, not a hypothetical scenario of things that might be happening in the line of traffic behind you.

Shenshen · 07-08-2013 01:55PM

April O Neill wrote: »

In fairness, that sounds like an exceptional case, can't imagine it being in any way the norm.

Well, it put me €150 out of pocket, so I'm rather glad it's an exception.
I do however feel that it's an exception that uninvolved bystanders shouldn't be forced to participate in.

I was rather lucky I suppose that it was in fact only a flight I had missed. If I had been in any kind of emergency situation, I hate to imagine what might have happened.

One poster said that where they are from, the gardai will arrange for traffic diversions making sure the disruption is kept at a minimum. Why can't this be introduced nationwide?

Shenshen · 07-08-2013 01:57PM

April O Neill wrote: »

A funeral procession is a thing happening right in front of your eyes, not a hypothetical scenario of things that might be happening in the line of traffic behind you.

So you think it's reasonable to ignore the hypothetical scenarios and assume that everybody in the traffic behind was just going on a little drive with no specific destination in mind and no urgency in getting there either?

Funeral processions and traffic

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