person's home for the wake, which is now referred to as the 'wake house'. Historically, the body was usually washed, groomed and clothed in a white shroud at their own home by local wise women. Traditionally, windows of a wake house are left open to let the soul leave the room, mirrors are covered or turned around, clocks are stopped, and household pets are kept out for the duration of the wake. It is also customary for candles to be kept lit. Relatives and friends are expected to visit to pay respects to the dead and to their family, who in turn provide hospitality. At intervals, a collective prayer might be said; for Catholics usually the Rosary. Traditionally there is food and drink, as well as storytelling, music, singing and dancing. Historically, wakes were important social gatherings for the young, who sometimes partook in rowdier amusements and courtship. Patricia Lysaght says the traditional revelry at wakes can be seen as a way of reasserting the life of the community in the face of death. However, when a death is particularly tragic, or that of a child, the wake is more private and mournful. Historically, keening was performed at the wake by a group of women who sat around the body. It was a poetic lament for the dead, addressed directly to the dead person. A leading keening woman (bean chaointe) chanted verses and led a choral death wail, in which the other keeners joined while swaying rhythmically. Sometimes professional keeners were hired to fulfill this obligation to the dead. Lysaght writes, "This communal lamentation is often described as having a cathartic effect on family and community members present". Both keening and the rowdier 'wake games' gradually died out in the late 19th century, due to condemnation from church authorities. At the end of the wake, the coffin is carried out of the wake house by male family and friends. Wales Historically, there was a custom in Wales to store the coffin in the home until the funeral. Friends and neighbours would volunteer for the ritual of gwylio'r corff (watching the body). The wake (known as gwylnos) was held the night preceding the funeral and was a time of merriment. Other modern wakes Wake customs similar to those of Ireland are still found in North-western Scotland and in the North of England. With the change to the more recent practice of