Reimagining keening for the 21st century in Ireland’s first workshop

FacebookTwitterWhatsAppPocketGoogle+Pinterest

PODCAST: Episode guest Marian Caulfield studies the role of sound in grief. She shares how she came to run Ireland’s first keening workshop.

She wants to reimagine keening for the 21st century by researching how other countries, like Finland, never stopped practicing their traditional style of grieving for the dead. Marian describes how she became fascinated with the ancient Irish keening tradition, why she set up her first workshop in April 2018 and explores the fascinating concepts behind keening and mental health.

Through Irish history, professional women keeners played a large role in helping communities cope with grief. However, the Catholic Church morally disapproved of the practice and it was more or less discontinued into the 20th century.

Details of upcoming workshops will be posted on her Facebook page – keeningworkshop