User:Claframboise

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Irish Wake

The Irish Wake (in Gaelic: Tóramh) is a traditional mourning custom practised in Ireland. An integral part of the grieving process for family, friends, and neighbours of the deceased, Irish wakes are occasions that mix gaiety and sadness. The custom is a celebration of the life that had passed, but the tone of the wake depends largely on the circumstances of the death.

Irish Wakes usually begin at the time of death and last until the family leaves with the body for the funeral service. If a death occurs in the evening, the wake is not held until the following night to allow mourners to travel and prepare for the services.

Preparations for the wake begin soon after death. A window may be opened so that the spirit of the deceased may leave the room. It is considered bad luck to walk or stand between the deceased and the window, as this is thought to interrupt the progress of the soul out the window. After two hours, the window is then closed to prevent the soul from returning to the body. All clocks in the house are stopped at the time the deceased passed as a sign of respect, and women gather to bathe and dress the body. The deceased often is dressed in white and if male, the face is shaved before the body is dressed. The body is then laid out for viewing on a table or bed and is attended until the burial. All mirrors in the household are covered, removed, or turned around.

Immediately after they prepare the body, the women begin keening.This vocal lamentation is a display of mourning and sounds a bit like wailing to those who are not accustomed to it. Superstition holds that keening must not begin until after the body is prepared or evil spirits will surround the wake and body.

Devout Irish Catholics integrated many religious traditions into the wake. A rosary is placed in the hands of the deceased, and each mourner kneels beside the body and says a prayer. The entire rosary is said at least once during the wake, commonly at midnight. The prayers are usually led by a leader in the community and the entire group of mourners supply the responses.

The life of the deceased is celebrated and mourners share food and drink throughout the wake. Music, dancing, telling funny stories of the deceased, and party games are commonly included as part of the celebration . The Catholic church has tried numerous times (unsuccessfully) throughout history to abolish the consumption of alcohol at wakes.

Friends stay with the corpse throughout the night. A rosary is said during the day and a Mass may also be said in the house. Typically, the wake lasts until the next afternoon, though occasionally it may last a second night, especially circumstances caused the wake to begin late in the evening.

The afternoon after the wake, the undertaker will place the corpse in a coffin or casket and take it to the funeral home. As this represents the deceased leaving home for the last time; it is often one of the saddest moments. A removal will take place when people who may not have been to the house will attend and commiserate before the casket is closed for the last time. The body rests overnight in a church before burial after a Mass the following day.

Though many of these customs have faded away in modern Ireland, some are still practised, particularly the laying out of the body in the house before burial. This is rare, however, in the main cities and towns and a declining practice in many rural areas. Generally, the wake is seen as the celebratory gathering after the funeral ceremony, where people might share stories of the deceased over food and drink, but most importantly, to give the people a day to remember the person and to show their love of them.

The Irish wake, in the sense of celebrating at a death, originated with the ancient Celts. In their belief system, once someone died in this world they moved on to the afterlife, which was a better world, and thus cause for celebration.