Whoever has been to Ireland in a common private house -not a renewed B&B or a brand new house- must have noticed how unpleasant it is to wash.

The washbasins have two taps. One for the cold water (with a C or a blue spot) and one for the hot water (with an H or a red spot). So you can't have mixed mild water. It would be a great deal if the cold water had been freezing cold and the hot water burning hot. You would have either burnt yourselves or freezed yourselves. But fortunately, the cold water is freezing cold whereas the hot water is just cold. Because hot water is for tea, you see.

Knowing that, a -cold- shower could scare you. But fortunately most Irish bathrooms have little water-heaters for showers. Little water-heaters. The important word is of course little. It does not mean that the water after the water-heater is still cold. I does mean that it can only warm a little flow. A very little flow[1]. There is so few water that you are cold even with boiling hot water. Actually you would certainly prefer to use cold water to avoid temperature shock.

And that's the same story every morning.

Notes

[1] If you want a comparison, take a shower and then point the flow upward. The height of the water above the pommel gives an idea of the flow. In Mrs Cantwell's shower, the height of the highest drop is below the first inch. That is 2.5 centimeters.