Grave Digging

Roger Mellie Man on the Telly · 04-12-2018 10:34pm #1

Have you ever dug a grave?

I had to bury our dog a while back and for one man and a shovel I can attest that it's hard work.

I can see why they use mini excavators nowadays.

Fordcspri23 · 04-12-2018 10:36pm

Yea track machine only job, remember to put the blade behind you and track motors also while digging.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1 · 04-12-2018 10:40pm

I have helped dig 5 or 6 graves for family members and friends. It seems to be all done by machine nowadays but at one time the family and community came together and three or four men would dig the grave. It was exceptionally hard work in some locations. Always followed by a good few drinks in the nearest bar with reminiscing about the deceased

mad muffin · 04-12-2018 10:42pm

Dug one for a dog. Indeed it is harder than it looks.

pleas advice · 04-12-2018 10:42pm

Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him,

MarkR · 04-12-2018 10:45pm

Supposed to dig down four feet for animals. Sod that.

JeffKenna · 04-12-2018 10:46pm

I normally find it's easier to burn the body

feartuath · 04-12-2018 10:55pm

Around here it is all done by local neighbours
I have dug several of them, living beside a grave yard when we were kids we used to have to watch out for bits of bones, coffin handles and name plates.
all collected and buried at the bottom of the grave.

Two years age a grave was dug for dad, my brother and I were not allowed help as it is bad luck to dig a grave for one of your own.

Lucozade and water have replaced the bottle of whiskey due to drink driving.

Archeron · 04-12-2018 10:57pm

Dug a grave for a dog and accidentally killed two fish while doing it. That was not a nice morning.

04-12-2018 10:58pm

Tatum Long Switch wrote: »

I have helped dig 5 or 6 graves for family members and friends. It seems to be all done by machine nowadays but at one time the family and community came together and three or four men would dig the grave. It was exceptionally hard work in some locations. Always followed by a good few drinks in the nearest bar with reminiscing about the deceased

Still done by hand by neighbours/friends in my area.

SEPT 23 1989 · 04-12-2018 11:00pm

In Dublin if you start digging a grave it's only going to end one way

judeboy101 · 04-12-2018 11:03pm

feartuath wrote: »

Around here it is all done by local neighbours
I have dug several of them, living beside a grave yard when we were kids we used to have to watch out for bits of bones, coffin handles and name plates.
all collected and buried at the bottom of the grave.

Two years age a grave was dug for dad, my brother and I were not allowed help as it is bad luck to dig a grave for one of your own.

Lucozade and water have replaced the bottle of whiskey due to drink driving.

Bad luck? Where'd you hear that?

Raheem Euro · 04-12-2018 11:09pm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKnaRziQRms

tigerboon · 04-12-2018 11:16pm

Roger Mellie Man on the Telly wrote: »

Have you ever dug a grave?

I had to bury our dog a while back and for one man and a shovel I can attest that it's hard work.

I can see why they use mini excavators nowadays.

You from Granard by any chance?

Macdarack · 04-12-2018 11:29pm

In my area the friends and neighbours dig the grave and fill it in during a decade of the rosary at the end of the ceremony, nice touch.

JohnnyFlash · 04-12-2018 11:31pm

It’s a great honour to be asked to dig a grave. Still carried out by friends and neighbours where I’m from.

begbysback · 04-12-2018 11:33pm

I’d be honored if ya didn’t ask me

pleas advice · 05-12-2018 12:24am

MarkR wrote: »

Supposed to dig down four feet for animals..

and two feet for a human?

ahnowbrowncow · 05-12-2018 12:29am

Francis Juicy Physics wrote: »

Still done by hand by neighbours/friends in my area.

Would they not use a shovel?

obi604 · 05-12-2018 12:33am

ahnowbrowncow wrote: »

Would they not use a shovel?

I can’t stop laughing at this. An oldie but a goodie.

blinding · 05-12-2018 12:37am

Get the guy to dig the grave before ya kill him . They are very keen to dig it very deep ! ! !

Outlaw Pete · 05-12-2018 12:40am

Yeah, a Deliveroo rider brought me cold food.

Doctors room ghost · 05-12-2018 12:41am

Archeron wrote: »

Dug a grave for a dog and accidentally killed two fish while doing it. That was not a nice morning.

Must have been fierce wet ground you were digging when you struck 2 fish.ðŸ˜€

zapitastas · 05-12-2018 12:41am

Tatum Long Switch wrote: »

I have helped dig 5 or 6 graves for family members and friends. It seems to be all done by machine nowadays but at one time the family and community came together and three or four men would dig the grave. It was exceptionally hard work in some locations. Always followed by a good few drinks in the nearest bar with reminiscing about the deceased

We used to drink a bottle of whiskey while digging the grave. Would be in terrible shape by the end of it, especially trying to get out of the grave and the trauma of finding assorted bones

johnayo · 05-12-2018 12:48am

I had to dig a grave for my poor old auntie who was dying at a fierce rate. But when she didn't die, I had to fill the bloody thing in again.

TCM · 05-12-2018 1:08am

Recently I have attended two funerals of elderly country relatives. I think it's a lovely tradition of neighbours digging the grave. In the Ist instance a small digger was used. In the second a digger could not access the site (old grave yard) so it was dug manually by about 10 people. The only reimbursement was a cup of tea. It's extraordinary to see how country neighbours rally round to support & comfort the bereaved family.
Here in Dublin a person a few doors down could be dead and buried before one would know about it.

byronbay2 · 05-12-2018 2:10am

I was the official grave-digger for Edgartown, Martha's Vineyard, USA for about 2 months in the summer of 1989. There was absolutely no mechanical equipment allowed in the cemetery so the graves had to be dug by shovel. Luckily, MV is a small island so everywhere was mostly sand and it was an easy 2-hour dig for a six-foot deep grave. Got $50 cash for each hole plus (usually) a decent tip from the bereaved family.

Best job I ever had; only problem was people were not dying regularly enough on the island (only dug 6 graves in 2 months!) and I had to do less appealing jobs (painting, carpentry etc.) to make a living. Never had to do it in the winter, mind, which may have been a tougher proposition.

I was also the official vermin controller of the area, which mainly consisted of trapping and drowning raccoons and skunks. Another wonderful job which paid well but not regularly enough. Happy times!

decky1 · 05-12-2018 2:25am

Doctors room ghost wrote: »

Must have been fierce wet ground you were digging when you struck 2 fish.&#55357;&#56832;

tales from the riverbank,:eek:

JustJoe7240 · 05-12-2018 2:52am

Fordcspri23 wrote: »

Yea track machine only job, remember to put the blade behind you and track motors also while digging.

You can't put both the blade and the track motors behind you

Folkstonian · 05-12-2018 3:31am

byronbay2 wrote: »

I was also the official vermin controller of the area, which mainly consisted of trapping and drowning raccoons and skunks. Another wonderful job which paid well but not regularly enough. Happy times!

You must have had some seriously cruddy roles in your time if you class ‘drowning raccoons’ as a wonderful job. Sounds horrible!

Bob Harris · 05-12-2018 9:16am

Archeron wrote: »

Dug a grave for a dog and accidentally killed two fish while doing it. That was not a nice morning.

Is that you spongebob?

Joeseph Balls · 05-12-2018 9:20am

Still done in my area by friends and neighbours. Sometimes one of the family members will come down for a chat.
Maybe just a country thing nowadays?
When I go in a few years I'd like to think my friends will dig mine, tell a few stories and have a bit of a laugh

Candlemass · 05-12-2018 9:21am

Never dug a grave but i did dig a huge bamboo plant up for the folks last weekend which the roots went on for miles in the depths of the earths core (it felt) and my fairy soft hands are still blistered

_Brian · 05-12-2018 10:06am

Decent money for it.

I know a couple of lads digging graves, €350 a grave, €400 if it’s particularly hard.

Two work along with busy local undertaker and could 4-6 a week depending on how brisk business is. Plus neighbors of the deceased often come to help which lightens the workload. I’ve seen maybe 6 lads helping yet they still get paid.

Tighter older rural graveyards need to be dug by hand.

BrokenArrows · 05-12-2018 10:14am

Archeron wrote: »

Dug a grave for a dog and accidentally killed two fish while doing it. That was not a nice morning.

How could you accidentally kill two fish while digging a grave?

BrokenArrows · 05-12-2018 10:18am

byronbay2 wrote: »

I was the official grave-digger for Edgartown, Martha's Vineyard, USA for about 2 months in the summer of 1989. There was absolutely no mechanical equipment allowed in the cemetery so the graves had to be dug by shovel. Luckily, MV is a small island so everywhere was mostly sand and it was an easy 2-hour dig for a six-foot deep grave. Got $50 cash for each hole plus (usually) a decent tip from the bereaved family.

Best job I ever had; only problem was people were not dying regularly enough on the island (only dug 6 graves in 2 months!) and I had to do less appealing jobs (painting, carpentry etc.) to make a living. Never had to do it in the winter, mind, which may have been a tougher proposition.

I was also the official vermin controller of the area, which mainly consisted of trapping and drowning raccoons and skunks. Another wonderful job which paid well but not regularly enough. Happy times!

That's when you need to become the official town serial killer. Increase the body count a bit.

razorblunt · 05-12-2018 10:32am

Yes, it's not a job I'm good at but something I fell into.

BrokenArrows · 05-12-2018 11:23am

razorblunt wrote: »

Yes, it's not a job I'm good at but something I feel into.

I assume you mean "fell into".

razorblunt · 05-12-2018 11:58am

BrokenArrows wrote: »

I assume you mean "fell into".

Ah, yes!
I've let myself down...

DEFTLEFTHAND · 05-12-2018 12:06pm

judeboy101 wrote: »

Bad luck? Where'd you hear that?

Never heard that it was bad luck but if the plot has had previous burials there's a chance that they could be stumbled open when digging a new grave.

There's some fierce stories in my town of this type of thing happening. I think something like that would tramatise me beyond belief.

Hurrache · 05-12-2018 12:07pm

blinding wrote: »

Get the guy to dig the grave before ya kill him . They are very keen to dig it very deep ! ! !

After, like others in the thread, digging one for a dog, I've decided that if I'm ever in the situation like the movie cliche, I'll just say **** it, shoot me, I'm not digging a hole big enough for a human.

Esel · 05-12-2018 12:15pm

At my grandmother's funeral in a very old graveyard, there were at least 4 skulls and many bones visible on the soil heap dug from the grave. My mother and her sister were trying to identify their relations from the skulls, not a bother on them.

Agricola · 05-12-2018 1:36pm

Esel wrote: »

At my grandmother's funeral in a very old graveyard, there were at least 4 skulls and many bones visible on the soil heap dug from the grave. My mother and her sister were trying to identify their relations from the skulls, not a bother on them.

That never dawned on me until my uncle's funeral about 15 years ago. Went to inspect the grave digging with my Dad and asked him what the bag was on top of the pile of soil. Bag of bones.

A lot to be said for cremation imo.

Fordcspri23 · 05-12-2018 7:13pm

JustJoe7240 wrote: »

You can't put both the blade and the track motors behind you

The ones we had in FAS had.

The Tetrarch · 05-12-2018 7:20pm

Candlemass wrote: »

Never dug a grave but i did dig a huge bamboo plant up for the folks last weekend which the roots went on for miles in the depths of the earths core (it felt) and my fairy soft hands are still blistered

The sort of thankless task where you are asked "what kept ya?".

Trigger Happy · 05-12-2018 7:24pm

How long does it take a coffin to decompose?
Don’t like the thought of my family’s bones on view at the next burial.

Muahahaha · 05-12-2018 7:47pm

MarkR wrote: »

Supposed to dig down four feet for animals. Sod that.

Years back we buried a dog in the garden, not sure how deep it was but not more than 2 feet. Three months later our new dog sniffed the bones and went and dug the whole grave up. Was pretty disgusting to see the entire rib cage with flies buzzing around it.

Galwayguy35 · 05-12-2018 7:51pm

Trigger Happy wrote: »

How long does it take a coffin to decompose?
Don’t like the thought of my family’s bones on view at the next burial.

The gravediggers always make sure you won't see any of that.

Galwayguy35 · 05-12-2018 7:58pm

Still a tradition around here where the neighbours would dig the grave although some of the lads are getting on now and it's getting a bit harder to find help among the younger generation.

A relative of the deceased used to call to the graveyard with a bottle of whiskey and on the day of the burial the family would organise a bit of food for the lads closing the grave.

Stovepipe · 05-12-2018 8:36pm

Find yourself a few soldiers and/or council workers; they will have dug trenches in their basic training, unless modern soldiers don't dig them anymore. I certainly did in the 80s.

Melodeon · 05-12-2018 8:55pm

Galwayguy35 wrote: »

The gravediggers always make sure you won't see any of that.

Yep, skeletal remains, item of clothing, coffin timbers and fittings, and anything else remotely 'artificial' encountered are usually discreetly hidden from view and reburied as the grave is filled later, or buried before the ceremony under the floor of the new grave.

The Hollywood version of digging a grave with bare hands or a bit of a stick is beyond laughable.

Grave Digging

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