3-028-493 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Sketches from Ireland: a funeral in Connemara, 1870. 'Our Special Artist in the west of Ireland sends a sketch of a rustic funeral procession he met in the Mam Turk Mountains of Connemara. It consisted mostly of women and girls. The chief mourner sat in the cart, beside the coffin, which was simply a rough deal box, wrapped about with a white sheet, to signify that the corpse was that of a youth, the plain wood being left uncovered at both ends. They had a journey of eight Irish miles before them to the place of interment. The dress of the men of this mountain district is like that of the Western Highlanders of Scotland, in their rough grey tweed and Kilmarnock bonnets. The women cover their heads and shoulders with a square piece of white flannel, which is used, like the Scottish plaid, for other purposes - as a coverlet when sleeping, or to carry a burden or a child in'. From "Illustrated London News", 1870.