Speaking to the dead? [View all]

I'm working my way through the series "Rescue Me". I find it a devastatingly accurate portrayal of the damage alcohol abuse can do in an Irish family. I mean, I know these people.

But, on a possibly lighter note, I have this question. One of the ongoing themes in the series is that Tommy Gavin is visited by various dead people he was involved with. This is accepted as true by Gavin's family.

I myself had an encounter with a dead cousin. Other family members have seen the dead. I'm not talking about seances, I'm talking about people being contacted out of the blue so to speak. Is this an Irish thing, a human thing, or is my family nuts? (please note, all of these questions could be answered in the affirmative.)