Story, boy? Cork man who has gift of gab

The tradition of storytelling dates back to ancient times, and despite the myriad changes to our world of communications, there is still a huge appetite for it.

Here in Cork, this age-old tradition continues to blossom and grow, with regular storytelling events and festivals held throughout the county.

From January 16-23, the music and comedy venue Coughlan’s on Douglas Street will host storytelling events featuring performers Diarmuid

Ó Drisceoil and Deirdre O’Mahony.

There will also be music from Trip The Light - Caroline Sweeney and Wayne McSweeney - who perform their own original music as well as covers from the swinging ’60s.

Both events have sold out.

The traditional folk tale has been fertile ground for Deirdre to hone her skills and she loves to bring magical worlds to life through her stories.

The event will be presented by The Gab, a storytelling community that has been promoting and developing storytelling for adults since 2016.

Diarmuid has been telling stories for as long as he can remember, featuring everything from mad kings, to Johnny Cash, and inept blacksmiths.

“We have a wealth of stories from the Irish tradition,” said Diarmuid. “I suppose storytelling survived in Ireland longer than in Britain and mainland Europe because of our later industrialisation, and a slower and later move of population from rural areas to towns and cities.

"Having said that, the age of the ‘Seanchaí’ is over, to be honest. In fact, many people use the term ‘Seanchaí’ when they should properly say ‘Scéalaí’, the Irish word for storyteller.”

Diarmuid added: “It annoys me when I see tellers dressing themselves up to look like what they imagine a storyteller to look like, and how they should appear- the man wearing a waistcoat and collarless shirt and a pipe in the mouth, speaking in an imitation of what they think is a country accent.

“The female equivalent will have a shawl over her head.

“To me, that is pastiche or imitation, it’s not proper storytelling.”

What is it about the art of storytelling that appeals to Diarmuid, and which led him to into becoming a storyteller himself?

“I think it came naturally to me. I always loved listening to and reading good stories,” he said.

“I come from a big family, and with seven siblings and my parents around the table for meals, well, one just had to be able to speak up and give a good account of one’s day.

“I studied Irish at UCC and we did a module on Irish folktales. We studied them from an academic perspective, identifying the motifs, comparing the tales to similar ones from other countries, etc.

“I taught at second level for a number of years and I used stories as a reward or treat for a class at the end of the week. That’s how I began as a storyteller.

“A class of 30 or so teenagers is a tough audience - the stories have to be well told to keep their attention!

“The connection to the audience is what ignites my passion for storytelling,” added Diarmuid.

“Seeing people enjoy a story, seeing their reactions. And I guess that I should admit to being a bit of a show off - there is something very special about telling a story to an engaged audience."

It has often been said that we Irish are a nation of natural storytellers, does Diarmuid agree with this observation?

“That’s a cliché, but as with all clichés, there is some truth to it.

“Ireland is rightly known for its successful novelists, playwrights, poets, songwriters, and film-makers. It is often said that such people are great ‘storytellers.’

“They do tell stories of a sort through their work, but when I talk of storytelling I mean the actual telling of a story using one’s voice to an audience. That is a different thing to a filmmaker or a novelist being termed a storyteller. The distinction is important.”

There are many collections of Irish folktales, stories recorded from storytellers during the 20th century. These were probably the last tellers who belonged to the real tradition of Irish storytellers, such as Seán O Conaill, Peig Sayers from Kerry, and Amhlaoibh O Loinsigh from West Cork. Many of their stories are published and accessible.

“However, one needs to have Irish to read and understand them,” said Diarmuid.

He himself is a fluent Irish speaker so there are rich pickings to be had for his own lexicon.

“I find many stories in these collections. I don’t learn them off by heart. I read them, learn the principal elements, and then tell them in my own voice, in my own way.

“I won’t say I modernise them, but I tell them in a contemporary way, sometimes incorporating elements of stand-up.

“I also search for good stories in European collections, such as the tales collected by the Brothers Grimm from Germany and Italo Calvino’s collection from Italy among others.

“With storytelling the good teller needs to see the audience, needs to see the reactions, the engagement. The good teller will feed off this and up their performance.

“It’s important to have a strong voice, a sense of humour and discernment when it comes to choosing material.

“And as with many things in life, practise makes perfect!”

See www.thegab.ie for more about events coming up in Cork.