Angela's Ashes Scene

[Streetgang]

What is the custom portrayed in Angela's Ashes when you see the women throwing buckets of some kind of liquid in front of the funeral carriage as it carries Angela's children to their graves?

[julia walsh]

Women used to throw buckets of water before the cortege as a mark of cleanliness and respect before burial. It's a rite that's never seen these days but was prevalent in impoverished Catholic Ireland.