In my childhood, the rituals surrounding death in the homes of rural Ireland had a certain texture and feel to them and with that came a heightened religious sensitivity. There were some things that just had to be done, not because a book instructed that it be so, but because these rituals were passed down through the generations, the old instructing the young. They were 'owned' by the people and thus their performance was simply second nature. This ownership of ritual, largely by the lay faithful, in a domestic setting, and the elements which constitute what I like to term 'tangible religion' 1 is perhaps a key to their endurance in many parts of the country to this day. Perhaps there is something to be learned or, indeed, re-learned here.