As a writer, you never know where a story idea will come from. While I was doing research for Irish wedding traditions, I stumbled across the fact that booze is often smuggled into a wedding reception to avoid paying the costs of drinks at a fancy hotel.
I haven’t personally done this—have you? A flask would fit into a jacket or pants pocket. They have a variety of shaped flasks that fit into those adorable fancy clutches. You can even get them covered in crystals. Have you seen a wine purse? An actual handbag with an inner lining and an outer spout. Whoever invented that was clever, indeed. And the tiny airplane bottles are easy to hide. If you have the will, there is a way.
It turns out that Ireland has been known for smuggling since practically forever, and in the 1500s pirate queen, Grace (Grainne) O’Malley, was a fierce seafarer who defied stereotypes. In 1700 and 1800, the tradition was still going strong, with tea, alcohol, tobacco, and counterfeit money popular items to stash in coves along the coast.
In more recent history, 1923, the separation of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland created a physical border to separate previously united land. Depending on where you lived, the nearest market might be in another country, though still within walking distance. Tariffs were instituted, which made it very difficult for both sides to manage small family budgets. Most common things smuggled were butter, sugar, tobacco, and alcohol. Alcohol seems to be a theme. Also, livestock. Huts for border crossing patrols popped up and depending on the guard, they might be lenient or strict with the fines. People became creative and hid items in their underwear, or bike handlebars, or a false bottom on the stroller.
By the 1960s when the Troubles started, the Irish were pros at smuggling across the border. One brave woman, Nell McCafferty, traveled to Belfast from Dublin with her friends and brought home contraceptives—this became known as the Contraceptive Train. Ireland, being primarily Catholic, was against birth control. Guns, diesel, and drugs were smuggled.
Recently tobacco was smuggled out of Ireland for counterfeit cigarettes. One haul caught by authorities included tobacco, cannabis, and cocaine. Five bullets, and six bottles of wine. On the scale of naughty things I have a hard time including the wine.
The absolute worst thing to be smuggled are humans. In 2021 two men, the ringleaders of an Irish-Romanian smuggling gang, were convicted of manslaughter for the 39 people who had suffocated in a lorry by the time they arrived in England.
I live in South Florida, so when I read about human trafficking, I think of people who are taken against their will and forced into servitude, not just sexual. There are signs all over the airport that warn against talking to strangers and a phone number to call if you are in danger.
I don’t know why this didn’t occur to me until I started this article, probably because I’ve been in Florida so long, but I used to live in California and Mexicans crossed the border at great risk to their lives. Human trafficking doesn’t necessarily mean that people are taken against their will. People pay to be smuggled out of their country to another for a variety of reasons. It’s very dangerous. Poverty creates desperation and desperation leads to risk.
On a lighter note, let’s move away from Ireland to the whole world. We’ve got problems with smuggling everywhere 😉.
One of the most common items to be smuggled are cigarettes. I don’t know who still smokes, but tobacco remains popular. Drugs, watches, and cell phones too.
Now, for the five strangest things that made my jaw drop.
1. Exotic fish, smuggled in a special apron hidden beneath a skirt
2. Ancient artifacts stolen from museums and sold to private buyers
3. Bear paws—from Russia to China, where they are a delicacy
4. Live pigeons, smuggled in socks
DRUM ROLL PLEASE!
5. A full dinosaur skeleton
Yep. Not just one time either. People!
In Death at an Irish Wedding, Rayne McGrath doesn’t smuggle anything, nor do her very rich wedding clients. The Montgomerys can afford to buy what they want, which is to get their daughter married. However, I’ve used some of what I’ve learned in the book I’m currently writing, Death in an Irish Village. Do you know that the stolen Irish Crown jewels were never found? Probably smuggled out of the safe they were locked in.
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Here’s a little about Death at an Irish Wedding:
Bridal wear designer-turned-entrepreneur Rayne McGrath remains in the Irish countryside ready for some wedding mayhem in this charming and colorful cozy, perfect for fans of Carlene O’Connor and Sheila Connolly.
