The Irish Keen

The return of the traditional Irish lament

• Provides context and history for the traditional Irish lament known as the keen, examining the origins of the ritual and its history from paganism through Christianity

• Explores keening’s shamanic dimensions and mythological connections to the Otherworld, including the world of Faerie while drawing on archaeology and traditional Irish folklore

• Looks at the practicalities of keening, considering the wake as a rite of passage, the role and burden of keeners, the structure and music of the keen, and the contemporary rebirth of the practice

Aiding the revival of a powerful rite nearly lost to history, Mary Mc Laughlin reveals the ancient keening lament as a ritualized practice which bears aspects of ancient shamanism while being rooted in the pre-Christian spiritual worldview of Ireland.

Mc Laughlin, a singer and teacher, draws on personal experience, interviews, and historical and academic texts to provide a comprehensive and inspiring study of this ancient Irish tradition. She examines the origins of the keen in pre-Celtic Ireland and its mythological connections to the Fairies. She compares its similarities to archetypal lamentation rituals in North America and Asia. The author also explores the keen’s transformations over time, including the influence and integration of Christianity, its subsequent suppression, and its rebirth in recent years.

The true magic of the keen goes beyond its role in expressing grief. Keening was a practice with a shamanic element where in addition to comforting the bereaved and honoring the deceased, the keeners aided the soul of the departed in making its journey to the Otherworld. Contemporary death doulas and hospice workers bear some similarities to keeners as they work in the same field of ritualizing and processing grief amid trauma and loss.

Combining scholarship, storytelling, and embodied wisdom, this book offers an authoritative yet accessible guide to the Irish keen as both an ancient funeral rite and a modern tool that can help you navigate bereavement.