Wailing

Agnes (see previous blogs regarding my Grandmother and Purgatory) was an Irish Wailing Woman.  She was invited to funerals and paid a fee to sit in the back of the room to scream in a high-pitched voice thus scaring the evil spirits away.  The soul of the faithful departed was then free to travel to it's destination.  It was believed that Agnes could keep souls out of Hell, which is probably why she was so popular. 

According to my mother, Mary Margaret Flaherty Madden, Agnes traveled all over Minnesota by train to perform at funerals for people she never met.  My Mom attended some of these ceremonies and she told me it was absolutely embarrassing.

When I researched this phenomenon, I learned that wailing dates back to Egypt during the time of Cleopatra, approximately 48 BC.  The custom was also practiced in Ireland and among some Native American tribes in Minnesota and Canada at about the same time.

My Mom told me that Agnes tried to teach the skill to her as this ability was historically passed from Mother to daughter in the Callery family for generations.  Mom refused.

Callery was Agnes Flaherty's maiden name.