It was a scene once common in homes across Ireland: a body in an open coffin surrounded by family, friends and acquaintances who shared stories, sang songs, ate sandwiches, and sipped tea or perhaps something stronger. Over three days they bade farewell to the dead in humanity’s oldest rite.
The Irish wake is part of a tradition practised in some form by every culture dating back thousands of years, a ritual to comfort the bereaved and acknowledge loss.
