family stories
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Clare Murphy delights Athlone and Moate
Clare had a busy day on Thursday. Her session at the Aidan Heavey Library started at 11:00. I got there just before 12:00 and she was still going strong. I was just in time to hear the Irish version of Clever Manka. I got to say hello to Mae McLynn, the librarian there that I…
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Clare Murphy Kicks of the 2nd Annual Three Rivers Storytelling Festival
Wednesday afternoon at the Ballinasloe Library, Clare Murphy officially launched the 2nd Annual Three Rivers Festival. I’d never heard her before, and I was completely captivated. She told the best version of The Storyteller at Fault that I’ve ever heard. Click here to see a version of the story. Her version of how CuChulainn got…
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The Official Study Abroad Ireland Hairstyle for Men
As you can see, Study Abroad Ireland has mandated a hairstyle for its male participants. This is our director, Barry Vaughan giving his commendable and riveting mini-lecture on Dunamase Castle while sitting on the ruins of same. On either side of him sit two of our three male students, Ryan on the left and Jeremy…
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Green Dream
Yesterday was a bank holiday in Ireland. Study Abroad Ireland always uses the holiday to take an excursion. We all piled on the mini-bus (there are only 20 of us including faculty) at 10:30 and headed for Emo Court. Emo Court is a Palladian style manor house, built in the 1800’s and designed by the…
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Greetings from the Other Side!
Last week before we left, we got an email from Barry telling us that it was rainy, rainy, rainy and cold. He reminded us to bring proper clothing and to be prepared for a very different kind of summer. When we got off the plane on Saturday morning the sky was a…
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Shack Attack!
We arrived yesterday morning after an undramatic, uneventful set of flights. After we got to Athlone and got more or less settled, we all walked down to The Shack Old World Inn, home of the Hog’s Rose Brewery, commonly known as The Shack. Study Abroad Ireland's director, Barry Vaughan (standing in the white shirt), bought a…
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Study Abroad Ireland is a Go!
I've been holding my breath the last few weeks as we waited to learn whether MCC's Study Abroad Ireland Program would make. I found out Thursday from SAI's director, Barry Vaughan, that we have fifteen paid participants. That's enough for us to offer the program. I'll be teaching The Irish Storytelling Tradition, Barry will be teaching…
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Favorite Tellers and Teachers of Participation Stories
Jim May introduced the Storytelling Institute at SMCC to participation stories. There we were, a bunch of college teachers, with little or no experience teaching or working with children. Jim was the featured teller at our first Spring Storytelling Festival in 1996. He told in our classes, outside under a little tent, and gave…
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Got Participation Stories? Yes, but I need more!
I could really use some new participation stories. If you have a good one, would you share it with me and the rest of the Tell Me Something Good gang? Are you coming to the East Valley Tellers of Tales meeting on April 11th? Would you bring your favorite participation story and teach…
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Participation: Listening and Beyond
What makes a good participation story? Storyteller Donald Davis says that if your audience is listening, they are participating. Engaging our listeners’ imaginations is surely the essential participation intended by most of us. Taking the activation of imagination as our foundation, storytellers often find it effective to engage the bodies and voices of listeners…
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Jack – A Hero for the Ages
You may be surprised to hear who one of my favorite hero-tale tellers is: Donald Davis. Donald, best known now for his original family and personal stories, grew up hearing Jack tales from his grandmother. Most of them were long quest stories that could be strung together. Donald says that depending on how much time…
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What Path Do You Follow to Find a Hero Tale?
Most of us have our favorite books and websites that we rely on to find our stories, including hero tales. I’ve got more books than I can keep up with, and sometimes all I need to do is sit down with some of the ones I’ve had for a while. I often discover gems…