Memento mori: A look at Waterford's Irish Wake Museum

""The whole experience, while sensitively handled, also very much taps into the Irish gift for black humour — the reception desk is in keeping with the building’s theme: it’s in the shape of a coffin"

The Irish Wake Museum, Waterford: a reminder of death, and life's importance. Photo: Patrick Browne

Death comes to us all — a fact that we can’t avoid, much as many of us would like to. However, along with a wholly understandable squeamishness when it comes to the details of our own demise, it’s fair to say the Irish psyche is also ingrained with a fascination of death and its associated rituals. We pride ourselves on the particular ways in which we mark the passing of a loved one, and there is a comfort in the way Irish people come together as a community on such occasions. The Irish wake is a long-held tradition which allows us to grieve our dearly departed, while also celebrating their lives. Religion may have receded somewhat in importance in daily life in Ireland, but the wake is still an integral part of how we mourn our dead, and its associated practices, such as keeping watch over the body from death to burial, are still faithfully observed in many places.

These traditions are explored and celebrated at the recently opened Irish Wake Museum in Waterford city. It may strike some as a morbid or depressing focus for an entire museum, but it’s an inspired choice in many ways. The wake has long been a source of fascination to those outside Ireland, and a museum with such a unique selling point should appeal greatly to tourists and the diaspora.