Sylvia,

In the week or so before Dad died, my husband Hamouda had been out fishing most nights and catching plenty of mackerel. Although Dad's appetite was very small towards the end, we had one memorable night with Pádraig Ó Héalaí and his wife Máire Áine where we all dined on mackerel fresh from the sea and fried in butter. A few nights before he died, we were telling Dad that Hamouda had that day caught 72 mackerel in an hour and a half, while my brother Tara and his wife Samran had caught 83. Dad's reply?

'Great.... more fish' :-)

Which ties in with a joke he was fond of - Q.'How many surrealists does it take to change a light bulb?' A. 'Fish'

Éadaoin.