Undertaker/Publican Vincent Jasper Murphy from Fethard, Co. Tipperary talks about Irish Wakes. @michaelfortunefolklore
Undertaker/Publican Vincent Jasper Murphy from Fethard, Co. Tipperary talks about Irish Wakes.  @michaelfortunefolklore
Uploaded May 2025 | Updated September 2026, 3 days ago
Here is an excerpt from the body of recordings I conducted for The Museum of Hidden History in Clonmel as part of a research exhibition organised by curator Jayne Sutcliffe around death and funeral customs from Co. Tipperary.

In this clip Jasper talks to me about drinking at wakes. He describes how he has ledgers going back to the 19th century where one day there are records of whiskey, stout, port and biscuits and cakes being bought while the next day, they came in and ordered the habit and the coffin.

He also talks about ‘The Phone Call to Dublin’ where the death notice would be put into the Irish Press or Irish Independent - depending on the politics. He remembers it could take two or three hours to get through while now it's self-published.

The clip ends with him talking about smoking at the wakes and the craic that went on and in many cases a good wake could lead to a wedding.
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Undertaker/Publican Vincent 'Jasper' Murphy from Fethard, Co. Tipperary talks about Irish Wakes.

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