‘The wake teaches next generation, it’s a communal event and comforts the bereaved at their worst moment’

‘The Keening’ festival today in Mayo will explore the rituals that surround death

It has long been a feature of popular books, songs and films, but now the Irish wake has a festival dedicated to its unique ancient arts and rites.

The Keening, described as the world’s first wake festival, will take place today in the old convent at Mulranny, Co Mayo, with a programme of events delving into the origins of the ritual.

It is the brainchild of Achill Islander Kevin Toolis, a writer and film director, whose book, My Father’s Wake: How the Irish Teach Us to Live, Love and Die, investigates the ritual and is based on his experience following the death of his father, Sonny.

“The wake remains a defining feature of Irish society, a unique, powerful tool that eases the grief and sense of loss many feel with the death of their loved ones. It’s only right that, at last, we recognise and celebrate these ancient rituals,” Toolis says.

While the wake is embedded in Irish culture, there are many rites associated with it that have been forgotten.

Toolis explains that in Mayo, particularly on Achill Island, when the coffin is removed from the wake house to go to the church, it is often placed outside the house in the front garden on two chairs and holy water is sprinkled over it.

Afterwards, the chairs are kicked over, which he says is like a barring rite, where the living are in effect saying the dead person will never sit in this house again.

“The larger truth is that the wake is a communal gathering around the bereaved. It’s not therapeutic for everyone, but it is for many,” Toolis says.

“If you’re going to come up with a social mechanism to help people in their hour of need and recognise the significance of the dead person, that’s what our ancestors passed down.”

While he acknowledges that the wake is very much part and parcel of Irish daily life, he says you only have to look at what happened in places like Glasgow in the 1960s, when the wake began its demise to a point where it is now virtually impossible to have one.

He also points out that in England, where death has been “privatised”, these powerful commercial forces dictate death.

When he was 20, the passing of his brother, Bernard, sent him on a journey of trying to understand living in the aftermath of death.

His work as a journalist covering war and seeing the human cost of violent death abroad and in Northern Ireland led him to talk to people about this most painful subject.

But it was when he was burying his father in their village on Achill that the seeds for what would become a book started to germinate.

Toolis recalls being in the room as his father lay dying when a group of women began singing what he calls a death lullaby.

“They were calling out to this man and it was an act of incredible compassion,” he says. “They were cradling him into death and it was so compassionate and selfless. It was an extraordinary moment – it was the best of us.”

He explains that when his father was dying, and because he had grown up in the wake culture of the island and seen many people dying, he was stoic about his own death.

“We’re right next to a bay and he stood on the beach, not running forward or retreating, but waiting for the tide, like death, to rise and engulf him,” he says.

As well as being an educative tool in its own way as we witness wake culture, Toolis believes the wake allows the bereaved to “go through the dark wood of grief”, and in those first few steps the local community are holding their hand.

“Contained within the wake experiences will be stories. These are hidden art forms within the wake. People tell stories about very important things that they wouldn’t usually say, concerned with death. The history comes out in a way,” he says.

As part of today’s festival, after an outdoor gathering at Mulranny Pier at noon, there will be keening workshops where participants can learn the ancient art of keening and Sean Nós singing.

There will also be a talk on the origins of the Irish wake and an experiencesharing gathering where participants can give their personal accounts of wakes, wake games and other nowlost rituals.

Toolis makes the point that the wake reminds us it is acceptable to feel sad, to cry and to be hurt – that it is acceptable to show that emotion in public.

“How do we cope with the deaths of others? The wake works on so many levels,” he says. “It teaches the next generation, it’s a communal event and it comforts the bereaved at their worst moment.”

When it comes to death, he makes the point that it is far too important a subject to be left to academics.

“You don’t need a PhD to have an opinion on mortality – all you need is to be breathing,” he says.

‘Toolis believes the wake allows people to go through the dark wood of grief ’