What is keening?
Keening (Irish: caoineadh) is a traditional form of vocal lament associated with Gaelic funeral customs in Ireland and Scotland. It was historically performed in Gaelic languages and is often compared to other improvised lament traditions.
A structured improvisation
Keening was not typically a fixed "song." Instead, it often relied on repeating motifs and improvised lines that could include praise, genealogy, and direct address to the dead—woven together with non-lexical cries. This improvisatory structure is a major reason authentic examples were rarely documented in full.
The role of women—and hired keeners
Historical descriptions frequently connect keening with women, including the bean chaointe ("keening woman"). Sources describe keeners as sometimes being hired to perform grief on behalf of a family or community, especially when a strong public lament was expected.
Keening as community care (not just performance)
Keening functioned as a social and emotional technology: it created a shared moment where grief was voiced openly and collectively. Accounts describe the keen as occurring at wakes or near the body, with physical elements such as rocking or kneeling appearing in descriptions of practice.
Decline and controversy
By the 18th–20th centuries, keening declined sharply, and by the mid-20th century it was close to extinct in many places. Modern reporting and historical overviews describe how changing social attitudes and religious pressure contributed to this decline, with keening increasingly seen as "old-fashioned" or inappropriate in modernized settings.
The recordings that remain
Only a small number of authentic keening recordings survived into the modern archival era, and even these represent a fraction of what once existed. Sources note that privacy around the practice and its intimate relationship to death contributed to limited documentation.
What keening teaches modern funeral care
Keening highlights a timeless truth: many communities need grief to be expressed, not suppressed. Where social norms limited emotional display, a skilled lamenter could "carry" the first wave of mourning, giving others permission to cry. This is one of the clearest historical precedents for professional mourners functioning as emotional leaders within a funeral ritual.