Welcome to our  Hallowe’en and Samhain edition. We hope it finds you on the pig's back and fit as a fiddle. If this is your first issue, many thanks for joining us and if you enjoy our musings and meanderings, please feel free to forward them on to your family and friends.

 

Meanwhile, are you ready for Spirit Night?  Here in our Ohio Valley, Mother nature is not being kind to the Trick or Treaters with a wet and windy evening predicted.   Not that nasty weather ever bothers the wee witches and goblins  (even if their chaperones don’t look too thrilled).  

 

Eight o’clock is the official end to Trick or Treating in our neighborhood. That’s when we’ll extinguish the pumpkin lights, draw the curtains and relax for a while with a drink. Also on the agenda is putting into practice an old superstition to find out if we’ll be  in good health until next Hallowe’en. Each of us will take a perfect ivy leaf and place it in a cup of water where it will be  left undisturbed until tomorrow morning. If our leaves are still perfect and don’t have  any spots on them, we should be in fine shape for the next 12 months.  Fingers crossed it may be so, because Herself has been fighting off a nasty bug.

   

ONWARDS:  We hope all of our readers in the Republic enjoyed a safe and happy bank holiday weekend and we wish everyone in the UK the same for Guy Fawkes Night on November 5th. Bridget well remembers as a little girl going with friends to Wimbledon Station in the days before November 5th  with an effigy of what looked more like a scarecrow  than the Gun Powder Plot conspirator. We’d prop him up against a wall so people could see him as they passed by. We’d then cry out “Penny for the Guy, Penny for the Guy!” Do they still do that?  What little money we made was used to buy fireworks and our poor misfortunate effigy was burned on a bonfire. We can’t imagine kids being allowed to do that anymore.  Enough of the blather- on with the update ...

 

 

 

Links

Quips, Quotes, Proverbs & Toasts

A Bit of the Wit

Joke of The Week

Did You Know

Riddle

The week That Is

Leave 'em Laughing

 

 

Cold weather is just around the corner. To help make the winter months a little more manageable, the Lollysmith family  has selected comfort gifts like Irish Soda Bread Dishes and Pub Ware to keep the warmth inside, Blackthorn walking sticks for navigating outdoors , and Tree of Life Tokens to remind us of the warm gift of Family. Whatever the time of year and whatever the occasion, you are sure to find what you are looking for at Lollysmith.And tell them Bridget & Russ sent you!

http://www.lollysmith.com/

 

 

http://www.irelandseye.com/IRELAND/irish/ghosts/leprechauns/

 

Describing ireland as "an emerald jewel in the paranormal crown", this site offers a comprehensive database featuring haunted locations all over the country.

http://www.paranormaldatabase.com/ireland/ireland.htm

 

Intended to be the most comprehensive listing of British and Irish ghosts on the internet, the content on this site has been exhaustively researched and provides those who seek the mysterious with an unrivalled resource of true ghost stories.

http://www.haunted-britain.com/

 

Jack & Vivian Hennessy of The irish Page offer a lovely tribute accompanied by the hymn Be Thou My Vision - one of Bridget’s favourites. Please click

http://www.irishpage.com/prayers/allsaint.htm

 

The old classic with a wicked twist. It's worth getting the letters wrong and losing just to hear the comments and see the end result! This one came to us by way of our good friend Hartson Dowd. Go raibh maith agat!

http://www.dedge.com/flash/hangman/

  

Hollow Hill is one of the Internet's oldest and most respected sites for ghost hunters. They specialize in haunted sites that you can visit. http://www.hollowhill.com/

 

 

After four  years without one, they once again have a brick and mortar location in the Claywerks studio artisan loft. The address if you would like to visit - and they’d love to see you -  is  408 Pacific Ave, Bremerton WA 98337. Please check out their Facebook page for more information about what is happening at the store: 

https://www.facebook.com/celtic.attic. 

In addition to opening the store, they’re also busy redoing the website - we’ll keep you posted on progress. Meanwhile, now’s the time to get a headstart on holiday shopping while they are fully stocked with a vast array of gifts from all corners of the Celtic World. 

ED. NOTE: Exclusive offer just for I C & C readers: Get FREE shipping on orders over $50!   The discount will be removed after you place your order. Just put the code IC01 in the ‘add a gift card’ section!You can contact the Celtic Attic on line or by phone - and please tell them Bridget & Russ said hello! 

Tel: 360-813-113

9am - 5pm PST Weekdays

On line: http://celticcallings.com/shopping/merchant.mvc?Screen=SFNT&Store_Code=CSC&Affiliate=Bridget

 

 

 

 

"Midnight has come and the great Christ Church bell

And many a lesser bell sound through the room;

And it is All Souls' Night.

And two long glasses brimmed with muscatel

Bubble upon the table. A ghost may come;

For it is a ghost's right..." 

 

William Butler Yeats - All Souls' Night. 

Here's one that's as old and musty as we are - but it's funny all the same: 

Paddy, Sean and Seamus were coming home from the pub late one night and found themselves on the road which led past the old graveyard. "Come have a look over here," says Paddy, "It's Michael O'Grady's grave, God bless his soul. He lived to the ripe old age of 87." "That's nothing," says Sean, "here's one named Patrick O'Toole, it says here that he was 95 when he died."! Just then, Seamus yells out, "Good God, here's a fella who was 145!" "What was his name?" asks Paddy. Seamus lights a match to see what else is written on the marker, and exclaims, "Miles fromDublin."

 

Paddy was walking through a graveyard when he came across a headstone with the inscription "Here lies a politician and an honest man."  "Faith now," exclaimed Paddy, "I wonder how they got the two of them in the one grave."

 

 

 

 

1. Edgar Allan Poe's father was Irish? A failed actor, David Poe is said to have abandoned his family after the death of Poe's mother, Elizabeth Arnold Hopkins. Edgar was two years old.

 

2. The crypt of St. Michan's Church in Dublin contains the almost perfectly preserved remains of corpses dating from the Middle Ages? The reason for their preservation appears to be the limestone walls of their tombs.

 

3. The Fomori are the evil gods of Irish myth?

 

 

First off, the answer to our September 2013  Brain Bruiser:

 

The man who invented it doesn't want it. The man who bought it doesn't need it. The man who needs it doesn't know it. 

Q. What is it?

A. Coffin or casket

As always, our Riddle People didn’t let us down, but first in was Kyra Tinker. Well done, Kyra. 

 

And now for our next bit of skullduggery: 

 

 You can find me in darkness but never in light.

I am present in daytime but absent at night.

In the deepest of shadows, I hide in plain sight.

Q. What am I?

 

Please send your answers to Bridget and put Riddle in the subject line. Thanks!

bhaggerty@irishcultureandcustoms.com

 

 

1. County News: The bits and bobs that used to come by mail are now on line here:

http://www.irishcultureandcustoms.com/01News/HomeCounty.html

 

2. National News: We keep two week’s worth of headlines and links here:

http://www.irishcultureandcustoms.com/01News/Home.html

 

http://www.irishcultureandcustoms.com/ACalend/Halloween1.html

 

http://www.irishcultureandcustoms.com/ACalend/TripleHalloween.html

 

http://www.irishcultureandcustoms.com/ACalend/CreepyCastles.html

 

http://www.irishcultureandcustoms.com/ACalend/CreepyCreatures.html

 

http://www.irishcultureandcustoms.com/ACalend/Dullahan.html

 

http://www.irishcultureandcustoms.com/ACalend/Ghosts_Regions.html

 

9.   Article: Samhain - The Irish New Year.

http://www.irishcultureandcustoms.com/ACalend/Samhain.html

 

http://www.irishcultureandcustoms.com/ACalend/DayafterSamhain.html

 

11. Article: Traditional Irish Graveside customs - to fill or not fill in

http://www.irishcultureandcustoms.com/ACustom/Graveside.html

 

http://www.irishcultureandcustoms.com/2Kitch/rBreads.html

 

http://www.irishcultureandcustoms.com/3Focloir/Halloween.html

 

http://www.irishcultureandcustoms.com/1Kids/WolfStory.html 

 

15.  Music Review: Our resident reviewer William Ramoutar does an overview of Loreena McKennitt’s music

http://www.irishcultureandcustoms.com/AMusic/Ramoutar/LoreenaMcKennitt.html 

 

 

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http://www.irishlotto.net/

 

 

So there you have it until we write again - probably around the middle of November - or may be sooner. If you were married in October or tied the knot this month, here is your special verse:

We know this only too well as we were married in October and we’re still waiting on those riches if what is meant is financial wealth. The truth is we have been richly blessed in so many other  ways.

 

Married in November - or looking forward to saying I do? here is your special verse:

 

If you are celebrating a birthday, anniversary or other special event between now  and our next edition, we hope it's an occasion filled with joy and happiness.We’ll ’ll take our leave with a wish for a very happy Celtic New Year to you and yours and an  old blessing edited and adapted for Hallowee’n:

 

 

And, as they say in Ireland, mind yourself. 

 

All the best & God Bless,

 

 

Get down on your knees and thank God you’re still on your feet. 

Téigh ar do ghlúine is bí buíoch le Dia go bhfuil tú fós ar do chosa.

 

Subscribe for FREE!

Send an email to: bhaggerty@irishcultureandcustoms.com

OR click on this link: 

http://www.irishcultureandcustoms.com/Newsletter.html

 

 

 

A few amusing epitaphs from all over:  

 

On the grave of Ezekiel Aikle in East Dalhousie Cemetery, Nova Scotia: 

Here lies Ezekiel Aikle, Age 102. 

The Good Die Young. 

****************************** 

In a London, England cemetery: 

Here lies Ann Mann, Who lived an old maid 

But died an old Mann. Dec. 8, 1767 

***************************** 

In a Ribbesford, England, cemetery: 

Anna Wallace: 

The children of Israel wanted bread, 

And the Lord sent them manna. 

Old clerk Wallace wanted a wife, 

And the Devil sent him Anna. 

****************************** 

In a Ruidoso, New Mexico, cemetery: 

Here lies Johnny Yeast. 

Pardon me For not rising.

****************************** 

In a Uniontown, Pennsylvania, cemetery:

Here lies the body of Jonathan Blake. 

Stepped on the gas Instead of the brake.

****************************** 

A lawyer's epitaph in England: 

Sir John Strange. Here lies an honest lawyer,

And that is Strange. 

****************************** 

John Penny's epitaph in the Wimborne Cemetery, England: 

Reader, if cash thou art In want of any,

Dig 6 feet deep; And thou wilt find a Penny.

****************************** 

In a cemetery in Hartscombe, England: 

On the 22nd of June, Jonathan Fiddle 

Went out of tune.

****************************** 

Anna Hopewell's grave in nosburg Falls, Vermont : 

Here lies the body of our Anna - 

Done to death by a banana. 

It wasn't the fruit that laid her low, 

But the skin of the thing that made her go. 

****************************** 

On a grave from the 1880s in Nantucket, Massachusetts: 

Under the sod and under the trees, 

Lies the body of Jonathan Pease. 

He is not here, there's only the pod.

Pease shelled out and went to God. 

****************************** 

In a cemetery in England: 

Remember man, as you walk by, 

As you are now, so once was I. 

As I am now, so shall you be. 

Remember this and follow me. 

 

To which someone replied by writing on the tombstone: 

 

To follow you I'll not consent 

Until I know which way you went 

 

We saved what we think is the best for last:

Dúirt mé leat go raibh mé breoite.

Supposedly Spike Milligan's epitaph which translates "I told them I was ill."