Irish Wake Tent

The Dublin Irish Festival has long celebrated and preserved Irish customs and culture. Music, dance, food and drink are among those customs. But other customs are equally important to those seeking to understand Irish culture, including funeral practices. So, in the midst of all the celebration, music and dance, festival-goers will find a Wake Tent, complete with a facsimile of a corpse and mourners.

The Wake Tent at the Festival is an authentic representation of a wake as it might have been in a family home in 1898, a timeframe that was chosen because it represents the broadest range of customs. The body is laid out, usually on a door, in his best clothes. His coffin is standing by, his tombstone has been prepared and food, drink and tobacco are set out for the neighbors.

The traditional Irish wake lasted three days, during which time the body was never to be left alone or left in the dark. The deceased in the Festival’s Wake Tent is represented as an old man who lived a full life; therefore there is much for his family and friends to celebrate.