storytelling sacred stories stories
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More First Stories
Wednesday morning we heard the rest of the first stories told by students in The Irish Storytelling Tradition 2011. As with the first eight tellers, I was very impressed with how well the new tellers chose stories that fit their personalities, or revealed something about them we wouldn’t have known had they not told the…
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Clare’s Last Story Night
On Tuesday night, June 7th, Danielle Allison, Laura Rutherford, and I drove to Galway to attend Clare Murphy’s last Story Night. The event, which was also Story Night’s fifth birthday party, was held at The Blue Teapot Theatre on Munster Avenue. We arrived early, and Clare directed us around the corner to Kava, a fabulous…
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First Student Stories of 2011
Our entire class was devoted to telling stories today. Since many of our participants had been away over the weekend and all of them had been in Dublin yesterday we started off with personal stories. No surprise that my perspective is that the most significant souvenirs they will return with are the stories of…
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The Love Embrace of the Universe on a Quick Trip to Dublin
We took the students to Dublin for the bank holiday today. In all the previous years that I’ve participated in the program, we’ve spent the weekend closest to Bloom’s Day in Dublin. But this year we are taking our weekend excursion in Galway so we can visit Inish Mor and the Cliffs of…
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Family Fun Day at the Kilbeggan Races
I wore my hat to the races. By the time we were to be picked up by our friends from the Atlantic Corridor (an economic development group in Tullamore) it was no longer actively raining. I convinced myself the day was clearing up and slapped on the chapeau. And even though it was pretty much…
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Heads Up
“Picture-perfect families wanted at Kilbeggan races on Sunday.” That’s the headline of an article that appeared in Saturday’s Westmeath Independent. Here’s the second paragraph: A stylish event with a twist, there will be a 500 euro prize for Kilbeggan’s Picture Perfect family. As style is not just about fashion, judges will be looking for a…
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Future Hags of Ireland Unite!
Yesterday we made our annual trip to Loughcrew, a complex of Neolithic passage tombs atop three hills in Co. Meath. It’s not far from Newgrange as the Morrigan flies, and was made by people of the same culture some 5,000 years ago. Click here, here, here. The previous day in class I told the basic…
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Herding Horses
I know I mention this every chance I get, but this really is the view from the dining room and the bedroom in my Athlone apartment. Just imagine that beyond those trees is the River Shannon. Ok, it's probably half a mile away, but I like to think of it as part of my personal…
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Two Stops in Co. Galway
Yesterday was the launch of the 4th annual Three Rivers Storytelling Festival. Our first teller was Seosamh O'Maolalai, who tells in Gaelic. He did three sessions for the local Gael Schools at the Library in Ballinasloe and I heard two of them. One of the great things about storytelling is that you don't actually have…
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9:00 p.m., Thursday, June 2nd
And the sun is still shining! This is the view from my bedroom at the Croi Oige Student Accommodation in Athlone. It's the first sunny day we've had since I arrived in Ireland on May 20th. It's also the first day I've been warm since I arrived. As recently as last night I had the…
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Off to a Grand Start!
Today was the first day of class for students in Study Abroad Ireland 2011. My class, The Irish Storytelling Tradition, is the first one of the day at 8:30 a.m. All 23 of my students were in their seats, enthusiastic and ready to go right on time. Fully present in every sense of the word. …
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Leaving the Glens
Mark and I are packing up this morning to drive down to Athlone in advance of the 32 Study Abroad Ireland participants and the rest of the faculty. I’m sad to be leaving Beachview Cottage, our friends, and the Nine Glens of Antrim. We’ve had five nights and four days right on the ocean. I…