Spike Milligan

[Bik]

I was reading the Daily Mail online (Don't Judge Me! ) and came across this story about famous epitaphs. I suppose most people have heard Spike Milligans one read "I told you I was ill" but I for one wasn't aware that it's inscribed on his headstone as Gaeilge.
I knew Spike carried an Irish passport but my recollection was that he originally got it due to having difficulty getting his British one renewed and then kept it for the remainder of his life but his grá for Ireland seems to have gone to the grave with him.

There is a photo of the headstone in the story.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... itaph.html

[Idle-Emma]

I didn't know that either, now I do, so for knowing more, yay! XD
It is an excellent thing to have on your grave stone. I do like Stephen Fry's choice that the article mentions.

[Séasán Ó Riabhaigh]

I read somewhere that the reason the epitaph was written as Gaeilge was because family members couldn't agree on it-they knew that he wanted "I told ye I was sick" written on his grave,but family members,and the church i think also,believed that this was in bad taste.So they agreed to have it written in Irish-knowing that the majority of people in England wouldn't know what it means.I was watching a programme dedicated to Milligan on one of the British channels last year-they were showing archive clips of interviews he did with the likes of Parkinson(or maybe not).In one of those interviews,Milligan described his father as "mick",as opposed to calling him Irish.And as we all know,the word "mick" is an offensive term to describe someone who is Irish.