The Ancient Art of Irish Storytelling

Just for you – a sneaky snippet of the Irish in Stories

Throughout Irish history there have been many great storytellers and even more epic tales. Irish History’s Oral Tradition grew out of a fear and apprehension of the written word therefore most of Irish history was passed down the generations by bards and storytellers.

The fear was that if they wrote anything down there was a chance that it would fall into the hands of their enemies, who could use that information against them – and in those times if the tales are to be believed, there were no shortage of enemies!

Cu Chulainn drawn by William Stewart

In fact it’s thought that it wasn’t until much later, when monastic dwellers in Ireland started to record and document these stories that they became more fixed.   Of course by then those stories could be very different from the original events that inspired them. Such was the way of the great warrior of the time, stories where like social media – to boost their valor in the hope of gaining trophies, maidens, more land, and more standing among their peers.

The Irish in Stories project by our friends at Awakin will be a great way to experience many of these epic tales, through talented Irish artisans.  In the coming weeks we will be profiling some of the artists and historians who have been helping us create the Irish In Stories iBook.

In the meantime,  enjoy this image of Cu Chulainn drawn by William Stewart and have a listen to Belfast based storyteller Fra Gunn and his introduction of Cu Chulainn!

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