Sir, – With reference to Lucille Redmond’s Irish tea-wetting ceremony (An Irishwoman’s Diary, April 22nd), my grand aunt from near Tuam, Co Galway, used to hang a kettle of fresh spring water over an open fire, put one end of a poker next to the kettle and the other next to her ear, and then hear from the bubbliness of the water (just under boiling point) when precisely to wet tea. – Yours, etc,
CAITRÍONA MacKERNAN,
Kenilworth Square,
Rathgar, Dublin 6.