A Taste of Ireland

Yesterday morning, as Maura and I drove to mass in Donaghmede, we approached the last turn we take, about three quarters of a mile from Balgriffen cemetery, and we were bemused by yellow police 'no parking' beacons placed in every direction at the intersection. Parking at the cemetery does become congested, but not this far away, and at an intersection?

Last evening I went down to meet Maura on her return from Carmel's, as I always do, and she had the answer. When she drove out in the afternoon, she found that the road between the intersection and the cemetery was closed, and she had to go down to the Donaghmede traffic-circle and reach the Malahide road from there. All the way from the intersection down to Donaghmede people were walking towrds her on their way to the cemetery, and then when she reached the Malahide road, she found more crowds of people walking to the cemetery. Then it struck her: yesterday was the blessing of the graves.

There are two events whichare guaranteed to bring crowds in Ireland: the blessing of the graves and a funeral. It is not uncommon to find you have to stand outside the church if you are late, and this will be the case both when the corpse is brought to the church, and the following morning for the funeral mass. What's more, everyone will make sure to file past the bereaved and offer their condolences.

Nobody will convince me that Catholicism is as badly off in Ireland as some would have us think.