Background to lesson: The oral tradition in Ireland
Storytelling
Offically, fires were for boiling pots and giving heat. But when there was traditional storytelling, people in rural Ireland gathered around the fire.
Image courtesy of the Hulton Archive.Storytelling
Image courtesy of the Hulton Archive.
Image courtesy of the Hulton Archive.
Storytelling
Offically, fires were for boiling pots and giving heat. But when there was traditional storytelling, people in rural Ireland gathered around the fire.
Image courtesy of the Hulton Archive.For many centuries in Ireland there has been a tradition of telling stories, reciting poems and singing songs as a form of entertainment and as a way of passing on what were the common beliefs of the time. These poems, stories and songs were performed by travelling men and women who were often paid with food and a place to stay for the night. The whole family of the house would listen to these performances by the fireside.
The name of the person who told myths and folktales was called the seanchaí. These were very skilled story tellers. The seanchaí was often a male but the tellers of legends were often women.
For more information on Irish folklore, see the Traditional Storytelling article.