Tommy Keeney

Cathal’s brother’s funeral was today. I have officially survived my first Irish wake and funeral. For unknown reasons, Tommy drove his jeep off of the pier in Killybegs on Sunday at high speeds. There were witnesses at the scene but the water is deep, dark, and extremely cold. Divers recovered his body about a half hour later and then they had to use a crane to remove the jeep which was then sent to be scrapped. He was pronounced dead at the scene. There was no indication that this was going to happen and nobody had any idea that anything was wrong. I think that is the hardest part for everyone right now, no one knows why. Irish wakes and funerals are pretty different from anything I’ve been to. Tommy was removed from the hospital where the post mortem was performed and taken home. He stayed there Monday and Tuesday where the wake was happening. I went up on Tuesday and went down to the house in the early evening. Cathal urged me to go say hello to his mom, Kathleen. Unbeknownst to me, Tommy’s body was in the same room. I got a little bit of a shock. They had cleared out the back bedroom and Tommy’s coffin was there against the wall. The rest of the room was lined with chairs where various family members were sitting. It was weird to me to think that he just stays in the house for two days and nights. Like if you woke up to get a glass of water, there he would be. Now, it’s not quite like that. There were a load of people that were there all night. Someone is always with the body. Another thing about Irish people is that they think everything can be made better with tea. I must’ve been asked over a hundred times if I would like a “cuppa”. They also had little silver trays of candy and cigarettes (yes, cigarettes) in various places around the house. Everyone just hangs out there for hours, I was there for five hours myself. They then have a rosary at 10 p.m. I snuck out before that. The body was then removed from the house to the church on Wednesday morning. The service was packed and there was a crowd of people outside as well. In a bit of comic relief, Tommy’s nearly 3 year old son Oisin called the priest a f!@*ing bastard when he tried to take a toy tractor out of his hands to put in the casket. Luckily everyone just kind of ignored it. Oh, did I forget to mention the amount of alcohol that was consumed on each night after the wake and funeral. Irish people must think someone’s chances of getting into heaven are directly proportional to how much alcohol you drink during their wake/funeral. So, it was pretty much totally stereotypical I guess. It’s going to be a hard winter for the Keeney’s. Christmas time is also the anniversary of Cathal’s cousin’s death. He went missing a couple of Christmases ago and was found drowned in a river. Then Oisin’s birthday is in early January and the three sisters all have babies due in January/February. Please keep the Keeney’s in your thoughts.