Why is the vigil before a burial called a wake?

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James Nesbitt, Paddy Ward, David Kelly, and Ian Bannen stand around Jimmy Keogh, who lies in a coffin, in a scene from the film Waking Ned.

Why is the vigil before a burial called a wake?: Media

Images

James Nesbitt, Paddy Ward, David Kelly, and Ian Bannen stand around Jimmy Keogh, who lies in a coffin, in a scene from the film Waking Ned.

Waking Ned

A scene from the 1998 film Waking Ned (also called Waking Ned Devine),...

© 1998 Fox Searchlight Pictures/Tomboy Films