The Irish Keen: Grief Rituals and the Otherworld

• 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 th...