Sir, – Further to Paul Clements's An Irishman's Diary (September 24th), upon hearing bad news or when going through a bad patch, my late father was wont to say, "Sure it won't be always dark at six." I have used this saying as my basic philosophy throughout my own life. – Yours, etc,
BARRY HAMILTON,
Swords,
Co Dublin.
Sir, – As they say around Cavan, they were engaged in a battle of wits but were careful with the ammunition. – Yours, etc,
JOHN K ROGERS,
Rathowen,
Co Westmeath.
Sir, – My nonagenarian mother, who grew up in rural Co Fermanagh, bemoaning the ever-increasing complexity of form-filling for one purpose or another, often warns: “You’ll need a wet cloth round your head starting into that!” – Yours, etc,
FINBARR DOMONEY,
Rathgar,
Dublin 6.
Sir, – My late father, when referring to a person easily led, would say, “You could lead him with a snow rope.” – Yours, etc,
JOE JONES,
Ashbourne,
Co Meath.
Sir, – Comment by an old Dublin woman in the Liberties on the weather: “The weather’s so changeable ye wouldn’t know what to pawn.” – Yours, etc,
TOM BRACE,
Dublin 8.
Sir, – My late father-in-law Paddy would often say, in relation to accepting the consequences of one’s actions, “If you burn your arse you sit on the blister.” – Yours, etc,
MATT WALSHE,
Abbeyleix,
Co Laois.
Sir, – When his wife would interrupt my uncle’s newspaper reading to hand him a list of chores, he would say with a loving smile, “The softest part of her is her teeth”! – Yours, etc,
ALICE
DELEHANTY,
Monkstown,
Co Dublin.