Grief Ritual Day — Keening the Bones

KEENING THE BONES: A Day of Grief, Ritual & Keening

We are returning to a grief practice that has lived through women’s voice and bodies for generations.

Returning to what we remember.
To what we already know in our body & bones.

This is a female-centred gathering, to return to our grief and give it somewhere to go...
To be voiced, moved, emptied and felt through the body.
We gather as a community to give space to what has been carried, held or left unspoken.

To honour and work with our grief and become more intimate with it...

Grief for loss of people, and also grief for relationships. Identities. Dreams.
What has happened. And what may never happen...

Through somatic movement, sound, voice and the Irish practice of keening, we will spend a day meeting what is ready to be felt and expressed.

To let grief sound.
To let the body remember.
To keen the bones.

Why do this work?

Grief is processed very differently in the mind and in the body.
You may have done the talking, the therapy, the processing.
You may understand your grief and have spoken about it many times and still feel that something is being carried in the body.

This practice offers a different way.
A way for grief to move through the body through sound, voice, movement and expression, giving space to what has been held and carried.

Grief work does not always end when the ritual closes.
It may ripple through the days that follow.
However something shifts, the weight begins to lift, and life begins to return!

The Ancient Practice of Keening:

We will work with the Irish Tradition of Keening, where we once gathered to cry, wail and sing as an act of devotion.

The keening voice carried through generations 
It wove communities together in times of death, loss, and change.
It made space for what could not be spoken only felt.

Over time, this sound was silenced.
Women were told their emotion was too much.
Grief became private, hidden, domesticated.
Yet it still lives in the bones of the body, waiting for permission to move again.

This ritual is a remembering.
A returning to that ancient way of feeling and emptying
A reclaiming of grief as medicine.

Together, we will voice, move, and release..

What You’ll Receive:

Somatic Movement with Becky Hicks
We begin by returning to the body — grounding, unwinding, and softening what has been held tight.
Through guided movement and breath, we connect with the earth beneath and the bones within, allowing the body to prepare for what is ready to be felt.
No movement experience is needed — only presence.

Keening Grief Ritual with Claire Killilea
A guided ritual of sound, voice, and release.
You will be gently led into the practice of keening — allowing emotion, sound, and memory to move through the body as sacred expression.
Together, we will create a field of safety, sound, and reverence —
to let the grief that has been waiting, finally exhale.

Closing Circle & Shared Meal
We will close our ritual day with nourishment and integration —
a shared meal, reflection, and time to honour what has moved.
Light lunch and tea will be provided before the ritual; please bring a nourishing dish or snacks to contribute to our pot-luck style closing meal.

What to Bring:

Please bring a veil (any piece of material that feels sacred to you), a photo, or a small symbol of remembrance for our shared altar — an offering to the ones you carry in your heart.

Investment Details:

• Full Day Ritual Investment: €150
• Reduced Rate: €75
  Available for Portugal residents and those on a low income. Please reach out if this applies to you.
• Deposit: €50
  A €50 deposit may be paid to secure your place, with the remaining balance due one week before we gather.

If you need a payment plan, please reach out — we’ll do our best to make the payment structure accessible.

EXTEND YOUR TIME WITH US:

For those who would like a little more time to land and integrate after the ritual, there will be the option to stay with us into the evening.

Sauna + extended integration until 9pm — €20

If you’re travelling to join us, there is also the possibility of staying overnight at Casa Eira has gorgeous rooms. Let us know when registering and we can share the available rooms and rates.

Bodywork as Integration Support: can also be arranged as an additional support after the ritual, offering the body space to soften, settle and integrate after a day of deep emotional and somatic work. Sessions can be arranged that evening after the ritual, or the following morning if you are staying overnight at Casa Eira, depending on availability.

👉 REGISTER YOUR INTEREST - FILL IN FORM HERE

Your facilitators:

About Claire Killilea: Founder of CLAIRITY

Claire is a Clarity Coach, Shadow Work Facilitator, and Keeper of the ancient Celtic art of Keening. With over 20 years of experience spanning the corporate and wellness worlds, she now guides women through the sacred territories of grief, shame, and remembrance — supporting them to release what has been held quietly within and return to their innate wisdom.

Her work weaves modern coaching, somatic practice, and ancient ritual into spaces of deep emotional alchemy. She invites participants to soften into the body’s wisdom — where grief is not something to fix, but something to feel, honour, and be transformed by.

Claire’s path into this work is deeply personal. Having journeyed through her own layers of shame, addiction, and reclamation, she brings a lived understanding of what it means to meet the shadow and emerge whole. Her approach is both grounded and devotional — bridging the practical clarity of coaching with the sacredness of ritual.

Through CLAIRITY, she supports women and men individually and collectively to move beyond fear and suppression, and into remembrance, self-trust, and embodied expression. Whether through keening circles, grief rituals, or shadow work, her facilitation holds a rare combination of power, presence, and truth.

Connect with Claire: https://www.instagram.com/clairitycoaching

About Becky Hicks:

Becky is a versatile professional dancer, choreographer, and movement specialist with a BA (Hons) distinction from London Studio Centre. With over 12 years of experience, she has worked with global artists like Rihanna, Celine Dion, and Florence and the Machine, and contributed to major productions such as the London Olympic Games.

As a choreographer and movement director, her work includes projects for Rita Ora, Rock in Rio, and the BBC. She has toured with Ry X as a facilitator of somatic movement on his Europe and North America tour.

Becky integrates a somatic and therapeutic approach to dance and facilitation, having trained in methods such as Switch2Move for people with neurological conditions, Non-Linear Movement for trauma release, and Qoya, an embodied movement practice. She is also a qualified Yoga and Restorative Yoga instructor.

In 2016, she created Bodyflow — a therapeutic movement class taught worldwide in various formats. Becky is the co-founder of Kaynaktan, a movement platform celebrating cultural dance and ancient movement rituals. Her work also extends to teaching arts and dance to underprivileged children in Indonesia and Africa.

Becky is passionate about the healing power of dance and believes it is a gateway to deeper self-expression and transformation.

Connect with Becky: https://www.instagram.com/beckyhicks23/

If You Feel Called:

This is a female-centred gathering, open and welcoming to women and the queer community. Also this is an intentionally intimate gathering, held this way to honour the depth of the work.

You do not need any previous experience with keening or this specific practice. We simply ask that you have some experience with your own self-processing and feel resourced enough to meet this work.

If you’re interested in joining us, please fill out the short registration form below and we’ll arrange a brief call to connect. If we feel some additional support would be helpful before the ritual, we can also work with you through pre-sessions to help you prepare.

👉 REGISTER YOUR INTEREST  HERE

Terms & Care:

Deposits hold your place and are refundable up to two weeks before the event.
After this point, deposits are non-refundable.
Full payment is due one week before we gather.
If you need a payment plan or reduced-rate option, please reach out — we’ll do our best to make it work.

If you have any questions or wish to discuss your circumstances, please contact us directly: info@clairity.ie