The names of the dead are read out daily on the local radio and the Islanders go in great numbers to wake through the night with their dead, digging the grave by hand, attending funerals and carrying those dead to their final resting place on their own shoulders. An ancient rite of passage older than the Fall of Troy. Writer, Achill Islander and bardic poet Kevin Toolis shares the eternal wisdom of the Irish wake and what we all can learn from the Irish way of death.

Tickets available via the website as below, or on the door if still available. Tickets are also sold in Clifton Library on Wednesday morning 10.30- 12.30 (card payments can be taken on Wednesday mornings) and then during library opening hours on Thursday (1pm-5pm), Friday (10am-2pm) and Saturday (10-2pm) where we can only accept cash.
Our ticketing email is; tickets@cliftonlitfest.com for any problems re ticket sales.

KEVIN TOOLIS: MY FATHER’S WAKE; How the Irish Teach Us to Live, Love and Die  In conversation with Alice Roberts

16th November 10.30am until 11.30am - (60 mins)