- Dates
- 2014-06-22 – 2014-06-24
- Kind
- Oral history inquiry
- Where
- Beaver Island
- Eras
- Modern era
- Concepts
- irish-arranmorefuneraloral-historyfamilies-and-kinship
- Within
- Beaver Island
In June 2014, a Beaver Island forum discussion sought memories and documentary references concerning Irish wake keening (“wailers” or “keeners”) on the Island. The discussion pointed to the Helen Collar papers and preserved family recollections about several alleged local wailers, including Hannah Johnson.
This record treats the thread as an oral-history lead. It does not establish that any named person performed the practice, or that keening continued on a verified timeline.
Sources
- McGinnity cited Helen Collar papers and asked for memories of keening on Beaver Island; the post named three reported historical wailers and quoted a family memory about Hannah Johnson. A reply affirmed the family memory. These are research leads and community recollections, not independent proof of dates, identities, or continuity of the practice.forum · www.beaverislandforum.com · 07 · t007571
Added 9 August 2026. Recent changes
Cite this article
Beaver Island Archive, “Forum participants seek oral histories of Irish wake keening on Beaver Island, 2014”, https://beaverislandarchive.org/events/beaver-island-irish-wake-keening-oral-history-inquiry-2014/, accessed [date], citing Patrick S. McGinnity and MikeF, "Anyone have stories about wailers or keeners at Irish wakes?," Beaver Island Forum, June 22–24, 2014..
Last revised 2026-08-09. Fill in [date] with the date you read it — this page is static and cannot know that.
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