MovieChat Forums > Angela's Ashes (2000) Discussion > Buckets of Water

Buckets of Water

posted 21 years ago by Ambiance35
4 replies | jump to latest

I can well understand the neighbours gathered outside their homes to pay their last respects & all that but why were some of the women emptying buckets of water onto the road as the funeral cortége passed by? Is this an old Irish custom? Is it still done at funerals?

[–] 21 years ago

[deleted]

[–] DrAwesome 20 years ago

No, these were not buckets of urine. Urine was kept in chamber pots (plumbing in Ireland wasn't that popular at the time) and dumped in out houses. The water is to wash the street clean for the hearse out of respect for the dead.

[–] 20 years ago

[deleted]

[–] onepotato2 18 years ago

You are thoroughly making that up.