Sorry for Your Trouble: The Irish Way of Death

Sorry for Your Trouble is a book by Ann Marie Hourihane that explores the Irish way of death, including the funny, sad, and hard-to-explain bits that tell us so much about who we are. It follows the last weeks of a woman's life in hospice, witnesses an embalming, attends inquests, talks to people working to prevent suicide, and explores the strange and sometimes surprising histories of Irish death practices. It also explores the strange and sometimes surprising histories of Irish death practices, from the traditional wake and ritual lamentations to the busy commerce between anatomists and bodysnatchers.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 288 pages
Publication date: 05 May 2022
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd

The Irish approach to death is a unique blend of solemn duty and warm sociability, requiring sophisticated crowd control, creative parking solutions, and a high-end sound system. Despite having the same basic end-of-life infrastructure as other Western countries, Irish culture handles death with a dignified ritual and warm sociability. In Sorry for Your Trouble, Ann Marie Hourihane explores the funny, sad, and hard-to-explain bits of the Irish way of death, from the traditional wake and ritual lamentations to the busy commerce between anatomists and bodysnatchers. She also explores the strange and sometimes surprising histories of Irish death practices, from the traditional wake and ritual lamentations to the busy commerce between anatomists and bodysnatchers. Hourihane also attends funerals of ordinary and extraordinary people all over the country, including her own father's. She joins the club of people who have lost someone close to them and plans a funeral in the middle of a pandemic. Sorry for Your Trouble sheds fresh, wise, and witty light on a key pillar of Irish culture: a vast but strangely underexplored subject. Rich, sparkling, and eye-opening, it is one of the best books ever written about Irish life.

Weight: 200g
Dimension: 127 x 197 x 22 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781844885244