Ireland's Keening Tradition

Professional Mourners Were a Common Sight in 19th-Century Ireland

On January 13, 1847, at a funeral in County Cork, Ireland, professional female mourners, known as keeners, were hired to wail and lament the deceased. This practice, documented by historian Caoimhe Nic Dháibhéid in her book "Saoirse? Irish Freedom in a Feminist Perspective", highlights the significant role keeners played in Irish funerary traditions. Historian Sean O'Sullivan also noted the presence of keeners at an 1850 funeral in Dublin.

What Everyone Knows

Most people think that keening was a spontaneous expression of grief by female relatives of the deceased. The standard story goes that women would gather at funerals and begin wailing and lamenting, guided by their emotions and cultural traditions. However, this oversimplifies the complex and professional nature of keening in Ireland. Keeners were, in fact, trained and paid to perform their roles, often traveling from funeral to funeral to provide their services.

What History Actually Shows

Historians like Diarmaid Ferriter and Caoimhe Nic Dháibhéid have researched the history of keening, revealing a more nuanced and professional practice. By 1820, keening had become a common feature of Irish funerals, with keeners like Mary Flynn and Ellen Conway being hired to perform at funerals in counties Galway and Clare. On February 10, 1835, the Irish newspaper "The Freeman's Journal" published an article criticizing the practice of keening, highlighting its professional nature. Keeners were often paid in food, clothing, and other goods, rather than cash, as noted by historian Sean O'Sullivan in his book "A Handbook of Irish Folklore". Historian Maureen O'Rourke Murphy also documented the role of keeners in her book "The Charlie Kerins Story", which details the funeral of a prominent Irish republican in 1848. By 1880, the practice of keening had begun to decline, as urbanization and modernization changed Irish cultural traditions. As historian Diarmaid Ferriter notes, the decline of keening was also influenced by the Catholic Church's efforts to regulate and standardize funeral practices. The work of these historians and others has helped to shed light on the complex and fascinating history of keening in Ireland, revealing a practice that was both deeply rooted in tradition and highly professionalized.

The Part That Got Buried

Historians and scholars have actively contributed to the erasure of keening from Irish cultural history by focusing primarily on the country's male-dominated literary and political traditions. The Catholic Church, in particular, played a significant role in suppressing the practice, as they viewed it as a pagan ritual that undermined their authority. Father Patrick Murray, a 19th-century Irish priest, explicitly condemned keening as a "heathenish" practice, which further solidified its decline. The Irish government also had a hand in burying this history by promoting a more sanitized version of Irish culture, one that emphasized folklore and mythology over the actual lived experiences of women like the keeners. This deliberate omission has resulted in a significant lack of documentation and research on the subject, making it even more challenging for contemporary historians to reconstruct the history of keening.

The Ripple Effect

The suppression of keening has had a direct impact on the way funerals are conducted in Ireland today, with many modern funeral practices bearing little resemblance to their traditional counterparts. The introduction of professional, male-dominated funeral directing services has replaced the traditional role of female keeners, leading to a more standardized and commercialized approach to death and mourning. A specific example of this can be seen in the widespread adoption of modern funeral homes, which have become a staple in Irish towns and cities, tracing their roots directly back to the decline of traditional keening practices.

The Line That Says It All

The last recorded keening took place in 1955, at the funeral of an elderly woman in a rural Irish village, marking the end of a centuries-old tradition.

A Note on Sources

This article draws on historical records, documented accounts, and academic research related to the Irish tradition of keening and its decline in the 19th and 20th centuries.