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Mischief Managed

19/8/2026

Killiney Graveyard, Castlegregory, Co. Kerry

“I Do Solemnly Swear That I Am Up To No Good”

Learning From Headstones

A chill out afternoon. Me-time in the graveyard. Annual visit to Killiney churchyard.

First time noticing ‘Mischief Managed’.

Atlantic Headstones were working elsewhere in the cemetery and kindly scratched my curiosity itch. The message seemingly came for Harry Potter – subsequently confirmed by our younger generation who provided the link.

The quote on the headstone is from The Hobbit - “May the wind under your wings bear you where the sun sails and the moon walks.”

Another headstone that prompted a stop, a pause and a smile.

O.E.F.B.

18/8/2026

Dunshaughlin, Co. Meath

One Headstone ….. Many Questions

The most challenging question comprises 4 letters – O.E.F.B. The internet was of no assistance. My best guess is that is a family joke like – L.W.B.

As they used to say on T.V. and the transistor years ago – answers on a postcard please.

Was ‘Tony’ a late addition? The lettering does look a bit different – so maybe. If not an addendum, why is the line not centred?

I do remember seeing the addition of a name as ‘Erected By’ before but as to where, I cannot remember.

Why the apostrophe? That has me beaten.

Why are Charles and John James not in chronological order? A possible answer is that John was cremated and only subsequently were the ashes buried.

If the purpose of a headstone is to prompt the passer-by to stop and pause a while, this is a success.

The Spike Milligan Effect

17/8/2026

“I told you I was terrible”

Milltown Cemetery, outside Dingle

I have seen similar message in another cemetery.

Not original, but still brought a smile.

Smile was greater thinking that the message in An Gaeltacht and in Cork are both in English whereas the message in East Sussex is ‘as Gaeilge’ - Dúirt mé leat go mé breoite

August Fools’ Day

16/8/2026

A statue of a dog was spotted when heading for lunch at Murphy’s on the pier in Brandon a few weeks back. This dog had not been spotted on visits on previous years.

Supposing this to be a memorial to a recently deceased canine – not unreasonably I suggest – a stop was made on the return journey.

Not for the first time, I fell for it. I expect I was not the first fool and will not be the last.

The Phoenix Has Risen

21/5/2026

Seemingly taken down 10 months ago for repairs – still at large

All The Time In The World

18/3/2026

It has taken over five years for me to download off my phot and place the photograph in a folder.

One cardiac arrest later, my appreciation of the sticker has probably increased in that period.

Naming The Unnamed

17/3/2026

This morning on Bluesky, I saw a post by the Friends of Lister Lane cemetery. It was a photograph of a memorial at Edgerton Cemetery in Huddersfield to those children buried in unmarked graves. It prompted me to try to assemble those throughts and ideas that have been rambling around my head into something – this blog post.

Last week in Clopook, Co. Laois, I spotted that some more headstones that moved the thought of infant dead towards the top of my brain list.

There are very many headstones with unnamed infants. Regularly there might be a reference to the likes of ‘Their two young sons, died young’ or ‘And his infant brother.’ My nephew was stillborn twenty-four years ago. He was named and his name went on the grave marker. From my graveyard strolls, especially in earlier years, naming was not always done.

Young Mr Kelly may have waited 50 years from his existence to be recognised in stone

The Laffan headstone appears modern and machine-cut. I wonder if Bridget’s name was carved only when Matty died.

Michael Brennan is named after his mother who died a year later. A subsequent headstone places his father, traditional head of the family, first on the headstone despite he dying 67 years after Michael.

Headstones not in chronological order are very frequently encountered. Subject to a detailed study, my impression is that in such situations a male is generally the first named.

These two memorials are at Grey Abbey in Kildare town – just behind Kildare Village and to the likes of me, much more deserving of a visit. Eileen (Aileen) died in 1948, three years after James yet the markers look new and of modern construction.

There are more and more memorials in cemeteries, at cillíní and at churches to those buried in unmarked graves. My study some years ago found that the erecting of memorial plaques to the dead children is a reasonably modern tradition.

This is a prompt to self to restart the research into where my own uncle may be buried while I can still talk with some of that generation…..

Táimid ag Beano

16/3/2026

This sticker has me beaten on multiple counts.

1. Táimid ag Beano – I am Beano-ing

Very many years ago, on a Thursday I think, I used to be down to the newsagent to get my copy of Roy of the Rovers on the day it landed. Beano – to me – was on the shelf with Dany, Tiger, Hotspur and so many more.

I am Beano-ing is a completely new expression to me.

Collins Dictionary has a listing for Beano, a noun used in British slang - a celebration, party, or other enjoyable time. So that is an option.

This morning I learnt that Beano is also a digestive enzyme tablet to prevent gas, bloating and stomach pain. Another guess is that with the pint of stout and the sausage, there is a strong chance of wind requiring a Beano tablet.

Two guesses but no certainty.

2. What is the crest?

I have photographed with the phone and the camera. None are clear. With the eye, it is also not clear so suspect that the printing did not have a great resolution. I cannot make it out.

There three crowns were checked against three-time winners off the European Cup in soccer and rugby but no luck…….

3. What is the pub?

My first thought was possible The Phoenix / El Fenix but not correct

So I gift those three unsolved issues to the www for the bank holiday…..

No Roof Ladders Allowed

15/3/2026

There must be a back story regarding this sign – it is not all ladders that are prohibited, just roof ladders.

I have never seen such a message before but someone thought it important enough to invest in the sign.

Pallaskenry, Co. Limerick

Ted Sheehy - Killed In Action

14/3/2026

Memorials to those who died in World war II are not at all common in Catholic Churches.

I was surprised to find this memorial in the church at Pallaskenry, Co. Limerick.

It is not listed on the Irish War Memorials website so will have to complete the form and submit.

'No More Golfing in Town' Campaign

13/3/2026

I cannot remember seeing, reading of or hearing of and golf being played in Cork city – ever.

But that is no reason obviously for a campaign against it.

How to Brighten Brighton…..

12/3/2026

I managed to tick Ballyadams Cemetery off my TO VISIT list on Monday. It was on the list primarily to see the Bowen’s monument and the high-status monuments.

“1631 memorial to Robert Bowen & his wife Alice Harpole in a small graveyard in Ballyadams in south-east Laois, apparently the graveyard's high-status monuments were stoned at a Whitefeet funeral in 1832, more on the Whitefeet here - https://buff.ly/3afmqHI “
Terry Dunne on Twitter, now removed

I didn’t spot any sign of damage by stoning in 1832 but I did find one headstone that needs to be added to the list of Engraving Errors and Issues

There It Was - Gone

12/3/2026

Timogue Church

I expect that Timogue Church will have to go on my spreadsheet of damaged and removed memorials. The Lusitania now joining Queen Victoria, Michael Collins, Lord Nelson and even Eamon deValera.

I read some years ago of one of the panes of glass having been etched to record that the building was painted on the day the Lusitania was sunk. It read:

“This Church Painted by W. Dobbin May 1915 Sinking of the Lusitania by the Germans Will the allies be at them or will it be a draw He who reads this in years to come will know”
From Laois Archaeology Facebook

On Monday, I stole some me-time and took a wee diversion to Timogue to see the etched glass and there is was – gone.

I even visited again that evening as I had been looking at the top panes when the etching was on a pane next to the top pane – but it was still gone. It looks like the windows have been replaced.

I do hope that the glass was salvaged and preserved – one for the TO FIND OUT MORE list.

GONE

‘The commemorative function of monuments was paramount. However, the expression of loss and regret for the dead was inextricably entwined with and, to an extent, secondary to attempts to continue the memory of their owners’ personal and social identities……..

….the endlessly manipulable nature of funeral monuments could become invaluable. By choosing an identity from the most socially acceptable elements of one’s past, present and future, and rendering this in stone, a medium which by its very nature could convey added veracity, solidity and permanency, reality could be created and controlled by the patron. Moreover, once reality is constructed in this manner, monuments allow for no doubt or argument. Their owners may be denounced or discredited, but monuments will continue to proclaim their own brand of truth. This is why contemporaries occasionally found it necessary to destroy monuments. The propaganda element inherent in them could not be countered in any other way.’

Clodagh Tait, Death, Burial and Commemoration in Ireland, 1550-1650, p.105.

An Opportunity to Sit and Think

11/3/2026

Many thanks to the Hunt Museum Garden for the chill out time.

This too, shall pass.

The bicycles go by in twos and threes.

She believed she could, so she did.

We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.

The past can hurt but the way I see it, you can either run from it or learn from it.

It always seems impossible until it’s done.

You’re Pure Sound

10/3/2026

Stickers are the new form of graffiti – there are so many on every pole, bridge and utility box that it is a serious challenge to keep up with reading them. I was glad when I stopped a while back to read this message off Wellington Road a while back.

I am a strong believer in telling it as it is – get one’s opinions and beliefs out there rather than bottling them up regardless of what others may think.

To the owner of the Mazda ……... Fair Bowles To You …… You too are Legend.