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7 ways Guess Who's Dead struck a chord with many Irish people last night

‘The deaths’ are an integral part of Irish society, clearly.

Nov 14th 2014, 10:43 AM 5,379 Views 4 Comments

ARDAL O’HANLON’S DOCUMENTARY on the place of death notices in Irish society aired last night, and it hit a little too close to home for many who can say ‘de dets’ played a big part in their memories of growing up in Ireland.

Ardal-w-newspaper Source: Rte

Why?

1. Everyone’s mam had their own saying

“Sure there’s people dying now that have never died before”. My mother’s mantra. #guesswhosdead
— Helen O'Rahilly (@HelenORahilly) November 13, 2014

Source: Helen O'Rahilly/Twitter

2. And every county

Re: Serial funeral goers - In Limerick it is said you really know you're dead when Willie O'Dea turns up #guesswhosdead
— Kim Bielenberg (@KimBielenberg) November 13, 2014

Source: Kim Bielenberg/Twitter

3. The funeral home was a community space, really

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4. There were strict household and public rules regarding the announcements

#GuessWhosDead is Did you hear who's dead? in our house. And woe betide anyone who utters a word while "de dets" are on after the news!
— @carolineaoc.bsky.social❤️🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈 (@Gruaig_Rua) November 13, 2014

Source: Caroline O'Connell/Twitter

Back home in Galway, the local cafe would turn up the radio at lunchtime for the death notices. That's ambience for ya. #guesswhosdead
— Gabrielle Monaghan (@GabbyMonaghan) November 13, 2014

Source: Gabrielle Monaghan/Twitter

5. We all knew the obituary jargon

"He was fond of the drop"
transl. "He drank two farms out from under them" #guesswhosdead
— Denis Spillane (@spillaneda) November 13, 2014

Source: Denis Spillane/Twitter

I know someone who refers to the death notices in the papers as the "3-D column" - "Definitely Done Dancing". #GuessWhosDead
— John Finn 🇪🇺 🇮🇪 (@carrigman) November 13, 2014

Source: John Finn/Twitter

6. The community outreach

When my gran died,aged 5,a nun in school filled a big bag of sweets for me and delivered me to my mother for the sad news #GuessWhosDead
— I.Bridget (@IBBR2) November 13, 2014

Source: I.Bridget/Twitter

7. And the illogical but very real etiquette

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All we know for sure is, we now need these t-shirts in our lives

@ardalsfolly should a got you one of these for tonight! #GuessWhosDead #RTEone pic.twitter.com/VzSTA0kmvx
— Hairy Baby Irish T-Shirts (@HairyBabyTees) November 13, 2014

Source: Hairy Baby/Twitter

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Nicola Byrne

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7 ways Guess Who's Dead struck a chord with many Irish people last night