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Introduction
In Ireland, in the days before books and printing, there was a class of people called seanachai or storytellers. These folks made their living by traveling from village to village and telling stories. Sometimes they would spin tales from the great tapestry of folklore that comprises the mythology of Ireland and other times they’d just repeat the gossip from the town next door. But they always entertained by their telling.
As romantic as that might sound, it’s not the wonderful part. The wonderful part is that centuries later, when Gaelic was being systematically suppressed, people calling themselves seanachai would travel from town to town seemingly for the sole purpose of carrying on the ancient tradition of telling stories. At night they would loiter in the pubs and spin their yarns (now that’s a living!) but during the day (I’m guessing more towards the afternoon) they would gather the children, lead them off into the countryside to teach them the Irish language and culture in secret.
The Seanachai
Most seanachai's were regular men who worked in the fields like their peers. Their stories would normally relate to farming matters, religion, American wakes, or stories of other people in the village and were handed down from father to son. Seanachai's were known for their tall tales and it was generally known that a story told by a seanachai was just a story. Though it may have contained some elements of the truth, the seanachai would have generally added to the story to make it more entertaining.
Stories were always told at night time after supper. People from the village would travel to the house where the best storyteller was and they sat on stools or even the floor listening to the storyteller.
As well as being a good storyteller, the seanachai was also a walking library. He would know all about local history and could tell people who their relations were.
Seanachai's Today
Although television and the internet has cut down the number of seanachai's in Ireland there is still a few around. Every year at the New Inn Mummers Festival in New Inn , Co. Galway, mummers groups from around the Country including Lackagh, Kilnadema and Ballymacward, to name but a few, come to compete. In every group there is a Seanachai who entertains the Audience with one of their stories and competes for the coveted Best Storyteller Award. A lot of these young seanachai's, take their stories from one of Ireland's greatest Seanachai's, Éamon Kelly. Also at the All-Ireland Fleadh Ceoil there is a storytellers Club who gather to share their Stories with other Seanachai's and with their audience.
Further information
If you would like to hear an Irish seanachai telling a story you could either attend one of the above events or purchase one of Éamon Kelly's video tapes.
The Seanachai Podcast
Since January 1, 2005, a podcast called The Seanachai is produced/written by Patrick E. McLean, and named after the concept of the Seanacai storytellers. With each update, a short story (or part of a story) is told. One of the longest running stories is How to Succeed in Evil, currently at 9 parts, about an Evil Consultant (as in, he gives Supervillians advice and is not evil) who has to deal with living in a world full of stupid superbeings.
See also
The Seanachai Homepage
"Seanachai"