My walk home from work each day takes me past Bride St
church. I pass it 4 times each day. I’ve never seen as sad a sight as I did this
afternoon. Standing outside the church
were hundreds of ordinary Wexford men and women watching as the funeral cortege
of the 5 members of the Connors Family passed on its way to Crosstown cemetery.
The Connors family were killed almost 2
weeks ago in a fire in Dublin halting site.
Quietly we all stood as a lone piper played Paddy’s Green
Shamrock Shore as he led the cortege on its journey towards the graveyard and away from the Church of the Assumption, Bride St. Rarely has there been such a funeral in town
during all my years here. Watching 2 horse drawn hearses one white another
black with horses decked out with white feathers and the 3 other hearses carry
the caskets to the graveyard is a sobering sight. It’s one thing to see this on TV, it’s
another thing entirely to look at it close up.
A large number of travellers attended the ceremony from
around the country. Traveller families
are few of the last strong holds of a religious faith in the country. Women in particular play a strong role in
setting mores and values on religion.
Sometimes traveller funerals can be sources of tension
within the travelling community as families gather from afar. Settled people sometimes respond by closing
their business premises fearful of the outcome. A significant number of public houses and
restaurants in Wexford have closed for 36 hour period while the funerals are
held. Hotels employed bouncers to suss
out those entering the premises. In the
case of one pub I passed last night a sign said that it was closed due to a
private function.
Publicans will point to their legal responsibility to ensure
that their premises is run in an orderly fashion. Nobody disputes that. There is a requirement to make a judgement
call. Instead many made an assumption. From what I saw today, those
that shut their premises made the wrong call.
There was no trouble last night in the pubs that stayed open. The burials took place in a dignified and fitting
way as they should.
Honouring the lives of the dead is at the heart of mourning. Let people bury their dead. Let’s not just
sympathise with the deceased but also apologise for how some local businesses
have behaved.
