Sir, – Further to Paul Clements's An Irishman's Diary (September 24th), in Fermanagh my late mother would exalt an old neighbour who wore an Aran sweater full of holes with: "Sure he is wild clever to know which holes to put his arms through".
If there was nothing she could find to say about anyone, she would simply acknowledge that she “had divil a hate” to say. – Yours, etc,
IAN ELLIOTT,
Belfast.
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Sir, –My late father would say, “God never closes a gate but he opens a wicket”. Such wisdom has served me well all my life. – Yours, etc,
A JONES,
Mullagh,
Co Cavan.
Sir, – My father-in-law, a Cork city man, would say, in self-deprecation, “You might think I’m no fool but by God I am”.
He used to add the qualifier “as the Ballyvourney woman said”, until my mother let him know that she was from that part of the world and did not appreciate the joke. – Yours, etc,
MICHAEL STUART,
Malahide,
Co Dublin.