Rate My Wake

Finger on the pulse reviews from Ireland’s busiest public rooms.

Wake Desk News

News from the wake circuit

True stories, filed with a straight face and sourced at the bottom of every dispatch.

Lislea, Co. Armagh · November 2019

Terry Murphy held his own wake — and got to enjoy it

When Terry Murphy was diagnosed with terminal cancer, he arranged a living wake at The Shebeen in Lislea rather than leave the stories for later. Reports said roughly 500–600 people turned up, turning a difficult diagnosis into an evening of company, music and the rare pleasure of hearing what everybody had been saying about you.

It is the purest expression of the living-wake idea: show up, see the people, take the compliments while they are still useful, and insist that the tea keeps moving.

It is not clear from the reporting whether or not there was another wake after his death. The editorial team would be disappointed if there was not.

Source: Armagh I — “Legendary Co Armagh man diagnosed with terminal cancer organises and hosts own wake”.

Kilkenny · October 2019

Shay Bradley’s final contribution to graveside sound design

At Shay Bradley’s funeral, a prerecorded message made it sound as if the lifelong prankster was calling from inside the coffin. The family knew the plan; the mourners got the reveal at the proper moment.

Source: BBC — “The graveside joke that had everyone laughing at a funeral”.

London archive · 1968

Mick Meaney and the 61-day rehearsal

Tipperary-born labourer Michael “Mick” Meaney spent 61 days buried underground in London in 1968. It was not a wake, strictly speaking, but it remains a useful reminder that the Irish relationship with ceremony has always included a strong practical-theatre wing.

Source: The Irish Post — “Why an Irishman living in London buried himself alive”.