Waking the Dead in Ireland

In the ballad “Fineegan’s Wake,” the hod-carrier Tim Finnegan, born “with a love for the liquor“, falls from a ladder, breaks his skull, and is thought to be dead. The mourners at his wake become rowdy, and spill whiskey over Finnegan’s corpse, causing him to come back to life and join in the celebrations. Whiskey causes both Finnegan’s fall and his resurrection—whiskey is derived from the Irish phrase uisce beatha (pronounced [ˈiʃkʲə ˈbʲahə]), meaning “water of life.” –courtesy Wikipedia.

St. Patrick’s day in Cork, Ireland is a family celebration. At Oliver Plunkett pub the whole city gathers to dance and sing. Even the Lord Mayor of 2015, Mary Shields, joins the bands.

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