Concert celebrating the Irish wake at Mayo's Deserted Village

A spectacular outdoor concert of lament, sean nós, bardic poetry, song and storytelling in remembrance of our exiled generations is taking place at Achill Island's Deserted Village in Slievemore next weekend.

Haunting, evocative, Achill’s Deserted Village - over 130 houses that once housed more than 1,000 souls - is a tragic reminder of the countless Irish generations, born and gone, whose lives ended in exile, scattered across the globe.

On Saturday, May 17, at 3.30 p.m., join BAFTA-winning writer and Achill islander Kevin Toolis and the musicians of the Wonders of the Wake band for this epic show, The Keening, celebrating the ancient rites and traditions of the Irish wake within the walls of this very special place.

“Of all the traditions the exiled Irish carried with them the Irish wake remains the most powerful, the very touchstone of what it means to be Irish.

“This special concert, The Keening, is both an act of joy and elegiac remembrance for those souls and bodies who left their homeland forever. And there is no more fitting place in all of Ireland to hold this event than in Achill’s Deserted Village - a monument to those lives born and gone,” said Kevin Toolis, director, The Keening Festival.

Book tickets at ticketsource.com/thekeening.