Irish traditions - those under threat or already extinct?

07-04-2018 9:56am

Jurgen Klopp wrote: »

In fact do Irish myths and legends get taught in schools anymore? I know it's not history but you'd expect cultural heritage would come under it

I recently bought a few books on Irish myths and legends from a second hand shop

I'd love to buy Lady Gregory's Irish myths and legends book with artist illustrations it looks feckin brilliant and she has practically ever bit and piece of Fionn MacChuamill, The Red Branch Knights etc

It's feckin €80 on eBay tho

You can get her book at kenny's.ie bookshop , i have it myself i don't know if its the same as the ebay one your looking at but its cheap enough.

laoch na mona · 11-04-2018 11:58am

piseogs and related superstitions are all but gone, a side effect of free education really.

The church is on the wain as an institution (yay)

Trad music is holding strong, bands like Lankum are making it cool again

The language is growing but the gaelteachts are declining

the GAA is still going strong

the wren boys have died off down my way

meithal in its traditional form is gone as a result of modernisation and capitalism but the spirit of helping neighbours out still exists

and of course the ould gombeen man is as strong as ever

whisky_galore · 11-04-2018 12:12pm

laoch na mona wrote: »

and of course the ould gombeen man is as strong as ever

Agree with this, we are very good at spotting opportunities for making money off the inconvenience and misery of others.

laoch na mona · 12-04-2018 8:46am

whisky_galore wrote: »

Agree with this, we are very good at spotting opportunities for making money off the inconvenience and misery of others.

see fodder crisis and lads upping the price of silage because they know farmers are desperate

12-04-2018 8:58am

laoch na mona wrote: »

see fodder crisis and lads upping the price of silage because they know farmers are desperate

The whole reason for the fodder crisis is as follows, milk quotas were lifted, Farmers put more cattle on the land then the land could support, bad winter, now can't feed them. Farmers have no one to blame but themselves, they were greedy.

laoch na mona · 12-04-2018 9:45am

6541 wrote: »

The whole reason for the fodder crisis is as follows, milk quotas were lifted, Farmers put more cattle on the land then the land could support, bad winter, now can't feed them. Farmers have no one to blame but themselves, they were greedy.

that's an over simplification, farmers who didn't expand are running out as well. The cause is a mix of a bad summer, bad winter, late spring

as well as pressures from an expanded dairy herd. The government are to blame for pushing expansion as the only option.

anyway this is off topic

Be well and win · 30-04-2018 4:29pm

The Pioneers
The stations (mass in the house) in rural Ireland- mostly now the station mass is in the church
the sacred heart light/picture in a house, try asking for a builder to wire one in on a new build.!!

tabbey · 30-04-2018 10:04pm

106869772 wrote:

The Pioneers

I assume you mean the PioneerTotal Abstinence Association.

This is little more than a century old.

The temperance movement existed some decades earlier. It had a denominational split, Many proponents of temperance were on the protestant side, whether Anglican or Methodist, joined by many Quakers. On the RC side, Father Matthew had some success. There can be no doubt that alcohol abuse was a major curse, not just in Ireland, but also in Britain.

The pioneers were more than just a temperance association, prayer played a major part in its ethos. Indeed a cynic could be forgiven for suspecting that temperance was merely an excuse to attract members for a prayer group.
I don't want to deny the PTAA the credit for doing their best to curb excessive drinking.
The Pioneers reached their peak in the 1950s,but like all other religious practices, fell victim to television, foreign travel etc,which all led the Irish people to see that there was more to life.

ouxbbkqtswdfaw · 30-04-2018 10:40pm

I grew up in Dublin in the fifties and sixties. There was a man referred to as the jam jar man, who called regularly to the houses on our street collecting jars. He pushed a three wheeled cart with iron wheels. Anyone remember him?

Esel · 30-04-2018 11:12pm

tabbey wrote: »

I assume you mean the PioneerTotal Abstinence Association.

This is little more than a century old.

The temperance movement existed some decades earlier. It had a denominational split, Many proponents of temperance were on the protestant side, whether Anglican or Methodist, joined by many Quakers. On the RC side, Father Mathew had some success. There can be no doubt that alcohol abuse was a major curse, not just in Ireland, but also in Britain.

The pioneers were more than just a temperance association, prayer played a major part in its ethos. Indeed a cynic could be forgiven for suspecting that temperance was merely an excuse to attract members for a prayer group.
I don't want to deny the PTAA the credit for doing their best to curb excessive drinking.
The Pioneers reached their peak in the 1950s,but like all other religious practices, fell victim to television, foreign travel etc,which all led the Irish people to see that there was more to life.

FYP. Only one 't' in his name.

whisky_galore · 01-05-2018 11:36am

The enormous pilgrimages to Knock.
iirc, Irish Rail ran their final special train for pilgrims last year from Wexford to Claremorris.

whisky_galore · 12-06-2018 8:54am

Handball alleys, see a lot of disused and derelict ones. Must have been popular at one point.

Ballrooms/dance halls, usually in villages or even middle of nowhere locations. No-one would support a place that had just a mineral bar now!

Marching bands; fife and drum, brass, silver and pipe bands. There was an explosion of those around the Gaelic revival and afterwards.
Even large towns struggle to have a band of any sort now.

The creamery as a meeting place.

Blacksmithing as a widespread occupation.

Pixel Eater · 12-06-2018 10:44am

whisky_galore wrote: »

Handball alleys, see a lot of disused and derelict ones. Must have been popular at one point.

Ballrooms/dance halls, usually in villages or even middle of nowhere locations. No-one would support a place that had just a mineral bar now!

Even the word 'mineral' for 'soft drinks' is rarely used now.

Handball is still popular(ish) in Meath/South Cavan. GAA don't seem to care much about it; handball should consider breaking away.

whisky_galore · 12-06-2018 10:49am

Pixel Eater wrote: »

Handball is still popular(ish) in Meath/South Cavan. GAA don't seem to care much about it; handball should consider breaking away.

Possibly because it doesn't lend itself to mass media and making money.

laoch na mona · 12-06-2018 11:00am

bands are still hanging in their, particularly republican bands

Pixel Eater · 12-06-2018 11:06am

whisky_galore wrote: »

Possibly because it doesn't lend itself to mass media and making money.

Ironically it's the most international of our Gaelic games; a good player could actually make some money out of it playing in America.

Jellybaby1 · 12-06-2018 11:47pm

Plenty of brass/silver bands still around. I sometimes see them over the summer months at different outdoor venues, parks, etc. I don't see them march much any more though. Marching whilst playing an instrument and not tripping over, is quite a skill! I remember years ago seeing marching bands in the St. Patrick's Day Parade and the teenagers running alongside trying to throw fag ends into the open end of instruments.

whisky_galore · 13-06-2018 9:56am

Having been involved in a band there are so many distractions, weekends away with parents and other activities now it's very hard to get children interested. A few parents tended to use it as a sort of child-minding service.

The events that used be a band's bread and butter have been killed off with insurance rates, changing public tastes and lack of funding. Now there's just St Patrick's day and little else.

Add to that the usual infighting and bust-ups typical of many a voluntary organisation.

Carlos Orange · 13-06-2018 10:05am

Jurgen Klopp wrote: »

Funny enough language wise the Welsh have had theirs recently. 19% of Welsh people can speak it fluently, up form whatever it was in the 90s

1991 - 18.5%
2001 - 20.8%
2004 - 21.7%
2011 - 19%

Seems more like statistical noise than anything else.

mikemac2 · 13-06-2018 8:52pm

There used to be a huge network of creameries all over the country . An area of a few villages may have their own.

You bring the milk there and the large creamery in the town will arrange to collect and centralise it all. The way is was, your horse & trap (later your jeep) can manage this but nobody has time to be travelling 20 mile round trip to deliver milk

These are long since gone and only big operations exist. The creamery in our parish closed over 30 years ago, the land was sold off and a local built a house. The site is still called the creamery

whisky_galore · 14-06-2018 10:01am

mikemac2 wrote: »

There used to be a huge network of creameries all over the country . An area of a few villages may have their own.

You bring the milk there and the large creamery in the town will arrange to collect and centralise it all. The way is was, your horse & trap (later your jeep) can manage this but nobody has time to be travelling 20 mile round trip to deliver milk

These are long since gone and only big operations exist. The creamery in our parish closed over 30 years ago, the land was sold off and a local built a house. The site is still called the creamery

I think with the numbers of cows on farms now, it made more sense for a milk lorry to collect it from the farmers rather than farmers bringing it in to be processed. Only so much you can carry in churns or even a tank towed with a jeep.
It was manageable with the milk produced from 10-40 cows, but with 100 or more not so much.

This and the amount of things that are mechanised now means farmers don't meet their neighbours as much as they used to.

Pixel Eater · 21-06-2018 2:22pm

So many of us have highlighted many of the tradition that are on the wane or downright extinct. The next question is: what can be done about it? Do we simply accept this is part of 'modernity' or do we try to preserve some of them?

21-06-2018 2:25pm

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

Water John · 21-06-2018 2:25pm

Some traditions are very old and may have medieval or even pagan roots.
But others are only two generations old. The creameries were only set up in the late 19C early 20C.

On the bonfire, one area I know have developed the ritual of young people throwing their old school books and uniforms in the fire. Don't know how it started but has revived Bonfire night.

whisky_galore · 21-06-2018 2:26pm

6541 wrote: »

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

I agree. It's only an excuse to burn domestic rubbish now, not so good in tinder dry conditions either.

whisky_galore · 21-06-2018 3:08pm

Pixel Eater wrote: »

So many of us have highlighted many of the tradition that are on the wane or downright extinct. The next question is: what can be done about it? Do we simply accept this is part of 'modernity' or do we try to preserve some of them?

It's up to people themselves whether they want to preserve traditions.

One of the more infuriating things about Ireland is the 'somebody should do something' attitude, expecting the government, the council or some other group to do the thing they're not bothered doing themselves.

Pixel Eater · 21-06-2018 5:00pm

whisky_galore wrote: »

It's up to people themselves whether they want to preserve traditions.

One of the more infuriating things about Ireland is the 'somebody should do something' attitude, expecting the government, the council or some other group to do the thing they're not bothered doing themselves.

While I agree with your second point, people expecting someone else to do it, it's not that simple. In most spheres (health, transport, housing etc.) there is a definite entity - the Government of the day/State agencies - that already exists that could potential do something.

In terms of culture and tradition it's a lot harder to promote something as there is usually no clear authority to help.

pedroeibar1 · 21-06-2018 11:08pm

Pixel Eater wrote: »

While I agree with your second point, people expecting someone else to do it, it's not that simple. In most spheres (health, transport, housing etc.) there is a definite entity - the Government of the day/State agencies - that already exists that could potential do something.

Well that is a total contradiction. It is perfectly simple, government/state agencies have got involved because there is a need. Sadly that has created for too many a state of dependency, an unwillingness to fend for oneself and a huge sense of entitlement.

Traditions that are becoming extinct are feelings of self–worth, of pride in doing a job well, of a degree of self-sufficiency, of family where there is a unit that is cohesive and self-supporting. All those are being replaced by whingers and spongers, those who want to make a fast buck for the least possible effort, those who expect unlimited hand-outs to support a lazy lifestyle and those who believe they have a right to produce as many children by different parents at the cost of those who pay taxes.

Pixel Eater wrote: »

In terms of culture and tradition it's a lot harder to promote something as there is usually no clear authority to help.

No it’s not a lot harder. It always was hard, but people ‘back then’ just did it by getting of their ar$e s and not making excuses.

Water John · 21-06-2018 11:31pm

Pedro are you bringing your regular hobby horse to this forum too? It's a bit of a stretch but you tried to link.

riffmongous · 22-06-2018 12:38am

Let's keep this within the remit of History & Heritage everyone

laoch na mona · 22-06-2018 2:41pm

pedroeibar1 wrote: »

whingers and spongers, those who want to make a fast buck for the least possible effort, those who expect unlimited hand-outs to support a lazy lifestyle and those who believe they have a right to produce as many children by different parents at the cost of those who pay taxes.

QUOTE]
'
Is that a Charles trevelyan quote? he did talk about the moral evil of the selfish, perverse and turbulent character of the people'

Or Gerald of Wales who said of the Irish

"This is a filthy people, wallowing in vice. Of all peoples it is the least instructed in the rudiments of the faith. They do not yet pay tithes or first fruits or contract marriages. They do not avoid incest."

Or Edmund Spenser

"Marry those be the most barbaric and loathy conditions of any people (I think) under heaven...They do use all the beastly behaviour that may be, they oppress all men, they spoil as well the subject, as the enemy; they steal, they are cruel and bloody, full of revenge, and delighting in deadly execution, licentious, swearers and blasphemers, common ravishers of women, and murderers of children"

Basically you have used a typical colonial English description of the Irish to attack those you see as beneath you.

pedroeibar1 · 24-06-2018 11:44am

laoch na mona wrote: »

Is that a Charles trevelyan quote? he did talk about the moral evil of the selfish, perverse and turbulent character of the people'

Or Gerald of Wales who said of the Irish

"This is a filthy people, wallowing in vice. Of all peoples it is the least instructed in the rudiments of the faith. They do not yet pay tithes or first fruits or contract marriages. They do not avoid incest."

Or Edmund Spenser

"Marry those be the most barbaric and loathy conditions of any people (I think) under heaven...They do use all the beastly behaviour that may be, they oppress all men, they spoil as well the subject, as the enemy; they steal, they are cruel and bloody, full of revenge, and delighting in deadly execution, licentious, swearers and blasphemers, common ravishers of women, and murderers of children"

Basically you have used a typical colonial English description of the Irish to attack those you see as beneath you.

Weird inference. Really, some chip on the shoulder there, laoch, but if you are going to take the Irish name of bog warrior you should be able to come out of the bog and factually debate on Irish tradition & heritage and not trot out a few trite and clichéd ad hominem remarks that are unrelated and totally unconnected to what I wrote.

What can you contribute on old Irish traditions and customs, or country life in the last century? Have you ever read Thackeray, or Carleton or the Halls on Irish traditions? What do you know of life before there was social welfare and the old age pension and the night of the big wind? Of the ancient Irish custom of ‘sick maintenance’ and how centuries before Galen and the Christian era, Ireland and India were the only two countries that cared for the sick? (The Germani for e.g. generally knocked them on the head.) Or how, later, that system was continued and melded into ’infirmaries’ in Irish monasteries? Or, in a later period, how the real Irish held onto their traditions and heritage and how they survived? Or how they were self-sufficient, occupied land and went to Mass and some to school and hoodwinked the ‘Saxon’? Are you aware of what they considered was both correct and ‘right’ socially? Or how Irish life was structured and restructured between for e.g. Cromwell and the Great Famine? Or how many Irish customs and traditions can be traced back to the Brehon laws, where the rights and duties of deoraid (i.e. non-urrad) differ and differ also with those of the muir-chuirthe (the foreigner from overseas)? Or how much of Irish tradition and custom descends from the trinity of rank, duty and privilege?

I think not, Laoch, no mention of any of that in your 'cut & paste' post, just as there is none of the word ‘duty’ in the vocabulary of today’s spongers. No system of dole back in traditional Ireland; those who were reluctant to work were not granted land by the leader of the tuath and instead put minding pigs on the mountain, and notions of ‘entitlement’ were quickly knocked on the head. That was the tradition, part of our heritage.

Pixel Eater · 09-07-2018 9:19pm

We (as in the nation) could start with our main festivals: St. Patrick's Day and Halloween. March 17th, despite being our national day, seems to be distinctly unIrish. The main parade in Dublin (with the exception of the effigy Ériu leading) seems to mostly consist of American marching bands and random floats. Shouldn't a more Irish theme be encouraged?

And Halloween has become totally Americanized; maybe try promote traditional aspects of the celebration. The Mexicans seemed to have changed their attitudes in this regards (well according to this article).

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/oct/31/mexicans-embrace-day-of-the-dead-spectacle-in-place-of-halloween

The Day of the Dead has the painted skull face as its symbol; Halloween has the carved pumpkin; maybe another symbol, like a stylised original turnip Jack'O'Latern could be used to represent the traditional festival? Or a banshee? Or other spirit from our folklore.

bobbyss · 09-07-2018 11:06pm

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.

Water John · 10-07-2018 12:29am

O'Donnell Abu in the morning, opening the Radio station. I think the first 24 hour radio by RTE was because of the Buttavent train crash. The Cork studio with Alf McCarthy stayed on air.

laoch na mona · 10-07-2018 1:32pm

bobbyss wrote: »

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

Going to confession?

Picture of JFK Sacred Heart in house?

to be fair they are catholic traditions that only became common in the late 1800s

The JFK was only a thing for a short while

whisky_galore · 11-07-2018 11:49am

bobbyss wrote: »

Picture of JFK/Sacred Heart in house?

Wonder would they have hung up a picture of JFK if Holy Catholic Ireland knew about all the bed-hopping?

whisky_galore · 11-07-2018 12:03pm

Pixel Eater wrote: »

We (as in the nation) could start with our main festivals: St. Patrick's Day and Halloween. March 17th, despite being our national day, seems to be distinctly unIrish. The main parade in Dublin (with the exception of the effigy Ériu leading) seems to mostly consist of American marching bands and random floats. Shouldn't a more Irish theme be encouraged?

And Halloween has become totally Americanized; maybe try promote traditional aspects of the celebration. The Mexicans seemed to have changed their attitudes in this regards (well according to this article).

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/oct/31/mexicans-embrace-day-of-the-dead-spectacle-in-place-of-halloween

The Day of the Dead has the painted skull face as its symbol; Halloween has the carved pumpkin; maybe another symbol, like a stylised original turnip Jack'O'Latern could be used to represent the traditional festival? Or a banshee? Or other spirit from our folklore.

Since the parade originated in the States and not here, it would be hard to divorce the American elements from it, esp. as people expect (and presumably want) to see US marching bands in it.
Re Halloween, it's up to people themselves what form they want it to take, if the majority want to 'trick or treat', so be it. You can't force them to do otherwise.

What would be a truly Irish St Patrick's parade? People carrying blazing sods of turf on pikes in formation? I would like to see more Macnas type things, but as everyone knows the arts are woefully underfunded here so groups like that operate on a wing and a prayer.

Pixel Eater · 11-07-2018 4:16pm

whisky_galore wrote: »

Since the parade originated in the States and not here, it would be hard to divorce the American elements from it, esp. as people expect (and presumably want) to see US marching bands in it.
Re Halloween, it's up to people themselves what form they want it to take, if the majority want to 'trick or treat', so be it. You can't force them to do otherwise.

What would be a truly Irish St Patrick's parade? People carrying blazing sods of turf on pikes in formation? I would like to see more Macnas type things, but as everyone knows the arts are woefully underfunded here so groups like that operate on a wing and a prayer.

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!

theyoungchap · 11-07-2018 4:19pm

Pixel Eater wrote: »

It is indeed sad to see the passing of so much of our folk traditions. A previous poster mentioned about coming around to someone's house to play cards, even here the Irish game of 25, quite popular even in the recent past seem all be extinct.

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.

whisky_galore · 11-07-2018 4:43pm

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 · 13-07-2018 1:10pm

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 · 13-07-2018 5:04pm

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 · 13-07-2018 6:33pm

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

laoch na mona · 18-07-2018 11:40am

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 · 19-07-2018 7:39am

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 · 21-07-2018 9:10pm

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 · 10-08-2018 5:46pm

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 · 22-08-2018 7:34am

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?

22-08-2018 11:44am

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.

Irish traditions - those under threat or already extinct?

Comments