The Second Circle : Keepers Of The Keen
A Contemporary Transmission of The Caoin Method
There was a time on this island when grief was not hidden.
When the cry of a woman could move across stone fields and along the Atlantic wind.
When lament rose from cottages warmed by peat fire and no one mistook it for weakness.
When sorrow was not silenced — but sounded.
The Keen belonged to that world.
It was voiced beside the body, carried by women who knew how to stand on earthen floors and let breath, rhythm, and lineage move through them. The Bean Chaointe did not perform. She held the threshold with steadiness and reverence.
Ireland once knew how to grieve aloud.
Famine changed that.
Exile changed that.
The silencing of language changed that.
The disciplining of women’s voices changed that.
Grief did not vanish.
It settled into the body.
Into tight jaws and guarded throats.
Into inherited restraint.
Into families who survived by enduring quietly.
The land remembers what we forget.
The stone holds story.
The sea carries echoes.
And many women of Irish lineage — whether living here or far across oceans — feel something ancient stir in their chest when they touch this ground again.
A tremor.
A catch in the breath.
A sound waiting.
The Second Circle exists for this reason.
It exists for those who feel the keen in their blood and in their bones .
It is for those who wish to journey in intimacy with grief and loss through their body and lineages whilst strengthening their own capacity to hold others in grief.
It is for those seeking for something deeper ………
For those ready to return to the ancient practices in sacred spaces……
“The Second Circle is not course nor certification but a lineage based stewardship,allowing grief to be voiced ,witnessed,and integrated -honouring the ancestral keen while evolving it for modern practice.”
Not to recreate the funeral Keen of old Ireland — that belonged to its time.
But to honour its lineage by allowing lament to live in a form that modern bodies can safely hold.
The Caoin Method is a contemporary grief-voicing practice rooted in Celtic memory and shaped by breath, containment, and integration.
It recognises something deeply human:
Grief is primal.
It shakes the diaphragm.
It cracks the voice.
It rises like tide against rock.
Without structure, it overwhelms.
Without permission, it turns inward and hardens.
This work restores a contained middle ground — where grief can be met with reverence rather than fear, and with steadiness rather than spectacle.
In old stone cottages by the sea, with peat smoke in the air and simple food shared, twelve women gather at a time.
Not to perform.
Not to claim status.
Not to reenact the past.
But to learn how to hold lament responsibly.
Women who have already sat in circle and felt something shift — who understand that this practice carries weight. Women who recognise that initiation into the Keen is not about power, but about reverence.
Keepers of the Keen are entrusted to:
Hold grief with humility.
Know when to open and when to close.
Understand the impact of breath and sound on the nervous system.
Respect the cultural roots of the Keen without romanticising them.
Remain in ongoing relationship with the lineage and with one another.
The vision is simple and steady:
That grief returns to voice without destabilising the body.
That inherited silence is met with sound.
That reverence — not drama — guides this work forward.
The Second Circle is intimate by design.
Twelve at a time.
Relational. Discerned.
Not built for scale.
Built for depth.
So that the cry that once moved across valleys and shorelines may live again — carried carefully, grounded in land and sea, and held with the reverence it deserves.
Journey Overview
Cohort Journey Overview
Phase 1 – Online Deepening (4 Months Pre-Retreat)
Teachings, Gatherings & Lineage Conversations
Topics include: ethics of lament, containment vs catharsis, Bean Chaointe archetype, power dynamics in women’s circles, trauma sensitivity, how grief might show up in everyday life ,when not to keen ,the body as vessel not performance ,projections and transference ,mother wound ,other grief ritual that support the keen, the important of our own shadow work and practices to support the process.
This is a Celtic Shamanic Descent with grief and loss .
This is first an inner journey with grief.
Reflection exercises, journaling, and small-group peer discussion
Phase 2 – Residential Retreat (3 Days, Ireland)
Deep transmission of the Caoin Method
Practicum in holding grief circles safely
Breathwork integration, ancestral reflection, supervised practice
Intimate cohort of 12 women, in stone cottages by the sea, with nourishing meals and peat fires
Phase 3 – Post-Retreat Stewardship & Integration (4 Months)
Monthly online transmission calls
3 supervised practice circles per participant
Written reflections and optional 1:1 supervision
Recognition as Keeper of the Keen – Second Circle, The Caoin Method
Total Commitment: ~45 hours over ~9– months
(Training is accredited by ICAHP )
Eligibility :
Must have attended at least one residential Caoin Method retreat or plan to attend in 2026/2027
Women of Irish lineage (living in Ireland or the diaspora)
Ability to follow retreat protocols and maintain relational and emotional integrity
Fees
Phase 1 — 4 months Online Container ,Class October, November, December & January for 4 hours = 16 hours plus 1 individual session with me =1400 eu (Can be taken by itself if you have attended a retreat already).Class will be on a Tuesday evening from 6 - 10 pm .
Phase 2 —Residential Retreat -Divine Darkness January 29th -February 1st 2027 (Must attend Friday to Monday ) 700 eu Shared 875 Single Occupancy.Also honours Brigid ,the very first keener in Ireland from where the Keen was to come from at the death of her beloved son.
Phase 3 —6 months monthly support /On going Mentorship 150 eu per month.
To enquire about a space please email me.