I was at a wake last weekend. The corpse was in the front room and the food was in the kitchen. So far so conventional. However, this wake was catered. There were respectful gentlemen in waistcoats going around serving tea and sandwiches. It was odd but, you know, not a bad idea. I can really see it catching on.
I was at a wake a few years ago where the food had been supplied by caterers but they weren’t going around serving. It seemed to me to be part of a mini-trend where well off Dublin people who probably would in previous generations have used a funeral home as more genteel, were now going for the at-home which was more luxurious.
It was definitely part of that bigger trend where there is no evening removal so they have a wake then instead and the deceased is brought straight to the church in the morning. (As opposed to the traditional set up where the wake is on the night of the day the person dies, next night is the removal and day after is the funeral. ) I can see why people like to do this but of course it’s more awkward for people who would like to attend, don’t quite feel close enough to come to the house but have to work on the day of the funeral.
Eimear, I see what you mean about the house and I was kind of in the same dilemma myself on this one. I rang a friend who was a bit closer to the woman whose father died and asked if we could travel together whereas I think I would have been able to go to the funeral home on my own, if you see what I mean.