I spent a beautiful Dublin afternoon with storyteller Niall de Burca on Saturday, June 13th. I took the DART from the center of the city east along Dublin Bay to Sandycove, where Niall fetched me in his silver VW Golf. He filled my head with local lore for several hours as we wandered the landscape. It was sunny and warm, so one of the first places we went was down to a rocky section of the coast in Sandycove below the Martello tower that features in the beginning of Joyce’s Ulysses. There were quite a few people swimming there and Niall had a dip, too.
The water was dazzling: clear and every shade of aqua, azure, slate, and turquoise. Niall bought me an ice-cream, known as a “99”, at Teddy’s, a legendary local landmark in Dun Laoghire. No idea why they are called 99s. Maybe the cost at one point? We stopped at a fishing spot to visit its resident seal, and saw an alarming box of bait, and the seal, too.
We drove down the coast of the bay and passed a wedding along the way. We also drove into the driveway of Enya’s Dublin digs. Niall called out in a squawk, “Enya! Give us a cup of tay, you old hippy”! We got no response. We drove past Bono’s, Van Morrison’s, and a famous movie director’s house, too.
We climbed up into the Dublin Mountains south of the city through green tunnels of trees while Niall told me about the Hellfire Club. The Hellfire Club, on Mount Pelier, is an important part of Dublin lore because of its associations with Satanism, the supernatural, and the occult. Built in the 1700’s, legend has it that it was used by young, and not so young aristocrats for all-kinds of debauchery. Adding to the mystery and the potential for encounters with the otherworld is the fact that the house was built over a megalithic site. Niall described how integrating the site into a story, or even the frame of a story, would grab the attention of any Dublin child or adult.
It was a very, very, steep walk to the top of the hill. Fortunately, Niall was patient since I had to stop about every 100 feet to, uh, admire the view. And the view was spectacular. We could see for miles, and Niall pointed out historical landmarks, as well as ones that would have been known to Finn McCool.
As we started down, Niall said, “Just imagine, Liz. All those years ago, no roads, trying to get up here on horseback in the middle of the night.” Just then, up the path came thundering an incredibly large fit horse and his equally fit rider. They powered on past us up the hill and around the structure as I scrambled for my camera.
All through the afternoon we visited about storytelling in Ireland and America. Niall was just back from the Ojai festival in California where he’d heard Donald Davis. Niall is being featured at Jonesborough this year and Donald gave him advice. I’m paraphrasing, but the advice included: guard your energy and pace yourself. Use a golf cart when you can to get from place to place. Mind the train. Don’t use all your best stuff on Friday; remember you have three days to tell. Come a few days early to get over your jet-lag. Don’t go over time. “Storytellers who disappear mysteriously and are never heard from again probably went overtime at Jonesborough”.
The pictures from the top: Niall leaping, Teddy's, Dublin Bay, a box of bait, Enya's house, the horse and the Hellfire Club, Niall standing on the dock where we'd just seen the resident seal. Below, the water at Sandycove. 
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