Beer, heavy metal music and canvassing opportunities: Some of the quirky funeral displays in Cork

A CORK priest shed light on some of the quirkier funeral rituals being celebrated by families that have included everything from beer cans to political lobbying.

Gurranabraher parish priest Fr Tomás Walsh offered a detailed account of his experiences.

Fr Walsh spoke of being taken aback by some of the family traditions he felt were more rooted in superstition than religion.

The Cork man opened up about the quirky antics of one man who decided to cover the coffin of the deceased in beer as a toast to his loved one.

“One man at the graveside emptied beer on the coffin before drinking what was left in the can himself,” Fr Walsh said. “I don’t think he wanted it to go to waste. 

"It looked like he was toasting the person who had died. A lot of what people do is based on superstition and not religion. 

"On that occasion there were a lot of people in the crowd so I don’t think anyone really noticed.” 

Beer isn’t the only thing Fr Walsh has witnessed ending up in a grave.

“I’ve seen men throw their shirts into the grave. This is almost always for a woman who has died and could happen any time of year. I’ve also seen it done with black ties.” 

Another incident saw a family member exploit a eulogy for a canvassing opportunity.

“It was right before an election so they said the best way to honour the deceased would be to go out and vote for that particular party.” 

He stressed that, more often than not, people are very reasonable.

“There can a be a madness around events like funerals, communions and weddings. However, where there is any bit of faith at all people are reasonable.” 

Fr Walsh said that most families are understanding when it comes to funeral music.

“We tell them they can play the song that they like going in or coming out of the church. In 99% of cases, they agree and see that this makes sense.” 

However, Fr Walsh explained that there are always exceptions.

“There was one family who told the singer to go home because they wanted to play songs from their phone. They suddenly realised that they would be restricted to hymns if the singer was there. I knew the music from the phone would be something like heavy metal so I couldn’t let the request happen.” 

He described how one party set up a party in the cemetery to mark the blessing of a loved one’s headstone.

“The family had set up a marquee filled with alcohol. A red carpet had been rolled out too.” 

Weddings, Fr Walsh explained, don’t always go according to plan either.

“There have been cases where weddings have been cancelled the night before. Wedding guests had hotels booked all over the city but for whatever reason they just couldn’t go through with it.” 

Fr Walsh’s remarks come almost four years after the priest spoke to The Echo about unconventional offertory gifts. The priest revealed at the time that he felt items such as beer and remote controls made for unsuitable offertory gifts.