There are numerous accounts in tradition of wayfarers who suffer fits of confusion and disorientation while traversing the natural landscape. Such bouts were at times attributed to the influence of the fairies (who would set wanders astray for their own amusement) or the power of the stray sod (an enchanted sod of earth which set those who trod upon it astray). While the accounts vary, these occurrences involve situations in which individuals are forced to navigate a landscape characterised by its sudden shift into unfamiliarity and strangeness. Tilled fields that are worked by day become unnavigable and impassable by night. Well-worn and intimately known paths, crossroads and laneways are rendered odd, unknown and eerie all at once. The landscape at times becomes unrecognisable, indefinite and nameless. Landmarks are erased, inverted or otherwise replaced with new and unidentified features. Grand residences and strange houses appear on the side of hitherto barren hills. Impenetrable fogs, mists and coloured hazes descend and disorientate. Rivers, ditches, woods and walls appear to block all progress through the land. Lights rise and float in the distance and familiar reference points fall away, leaving the experiencer to navigate strange and foreign scenery which is at once indeterminate and unknown, with disenchantment coming at the dawn, leaving the exhausted wayfarer to suddenly realise their location, often only short distance from their homes.

For episode 30 of Blúiríní Béaloidis Jonny traverses fields, hedges, ditches and heights examining narratives concerning stray sod and 'seachrán sí' (fairy straying) traditions; from the graves of unbaptised children to illusions and phantasms appearing in the natural landscape, and from spirits of the dead refused entry to either heaven or hell, to workings of the fairy host, join us as we explore the liminal personae who inhabit those isolated and unknown portions of the landscape.

Blúiríní Béaloidis 30 - The Stray Sod

For this episode of Blúiríní I am joined by sculptor Aidan Harte, whose recent work 'The Púca of Ennistymon' was commissioned by Clare county Council for the town of Ennistymon in the west of Ireland. The piece caused widespread controversy and made headlines nationally and internationally over the summer, being denounced as a pagan idol and sinister statue irreflective of the character and heritage of the town. In the course of our discussion Aidan and I examine the controversy and differing opinions regarding the statue, before taking a closer look at the figure of the Púca himself.

The Púca is a solitary spirit in Irish folk tradition. A wanderer of the night, tradition tells us that he is often found in lonely portions of the rural landscape beyond the confines of the town; gambolling and sporting to himself amidst the hayfields in autumn, spoiling the fruit of the roadside with the coming of winter or haunting lonely glens, caves, chasms, cliffs, pools, forts, woods and castles across Ireland that bear his name. His shape is amorphous - many mushrooms are named after him, and he may appear to wayfarers on the road at night as a horse, a goat, a dog, a man or as a streak of light. Those who meet with him in lonely places at night relate how he hoists them up on his back before embarking on a breakneck cross-country ride; leaping over ditches and through hedges, or running along cliff edges frightening and tormenting his unhappy passenger. Other accounts relate the ways in which the Púca protects those whom he meets; safeguarding them against some worse fate at the hands of otherworld beings, or protecting castles and large estates as a sort of tutelary figure or house spirit. Join us as we explore this chaotic and shadowy figure of 'malignancy and mischief'.

Some sources drawn on for this episode:
The Eldritch World, Nigel Pennick (Arcana Europea 2019)
Irish Names of Places, Patrick Weston Joyce (M. H. Gill and Son 1887)
Deasún Breathnach, 'The Púca: A Multifunctional Irish Supernatural Entity' in Folklore Volume 104 (1993 i & ii)
Erin Sebo, 'Does OE Puca Have an Irish Origin?' in Studia Neophilologica, Volume 89 (2017 Issue 2)
Claude Lecouteaux, 'Encyclopedia of Norse and Germanic Folklore, Mythology and Magic' (Inner Traditions, ed. Michael Moynihan, 2016)
Claude Lecouteaux, The Tradition of Household Spirits (Inner Traditions, trans. Jon E. Graham, 2013)
Katharine Briggs, A Dictionary of Fairies (Penguin, 1976)
National Folklore Collection Main Manuscript Collection
National Folklore Collection Schools' Manuscript Collection
National Folklore Collection Audio Collection

For Frank Callery's singing see:
https://soundcloud.com/frankcallerysongs

For Enda Haran's Music see:
https://www.facebook.com/endaharan2017/
https://www.instagram.com/endaharanmusic/
https://endaharan.bandcamp.com/

Blúiríní Béaloidis 31 - The Púca (with Aidan Harte)

With the coming of the cool wet weather of autumn, life begins to turn inward again . The fields lie fallow and bare, flowers wither, leaves decay, and all life seems to return to the earth.  It's in this period of fading light, that strange and beautiful forms begin to arise from the undergrowth in the temperate regions all over Europe. In woodlands, fields, gardens and along roadsides, colourful fungi and mushrooms of all shapes and sizes quietly spring forth and flourish as if from nowhere, while all else appears in a state of decline.

A short entry in volume 1670 of the Main Manuscript Collection at the NFC contains information collected from around Ireland on the topic of mushrooms in folk tradition. The material contained in this volume, previously unpublished and explored in this podcast episode, explores traditional attitudes to mushrooms in Irish tradition and outlines their uses along with popular beliefs concerning them. Audio from the NFC sound archive also features, along with audio material from the collections of the Irish Traditional Music Archive and the singing group Landless.

My thanks to archivist Danielle Castronovo at the Economic Botany Herbarium of Oakes Ames, Harvard University for her help in filling the gaps of some correspondence between R. Gordon Wasson and the Irish Folklore Commission. My thanks to archivist Maeve Gebreurs at the Irish Traditional Music Archive for forwarding Diane Hamilton's 1957 recording of Robert Cinnamond's rendition of the song 'Gathering Mushrooms'. Thanks likewise to Emmett Gill, archivist at Na Píobairí Uileann for pointing me in the direction of the collection of which this song is a part. Thanks too to Dónal Lunny, copyright holder, for permission to include this piece in the podcast.

A variety of sources are consulted and discussed throughout, some links below:

Prehistoric fungal representations in Tassili Algeria
https://www.britannica.com/place/Tassili-n-Ajjer

A Prehistoric Mural in Spain Depicting Neurotropic Psilocybe Mushrooms?
https://www.jstor.org/stable/41242925

The Fungus Lore of the Greeks and Romans
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0007153614800077

Dioscorides: De Materia Medica
https://penelope.uchicago.edu/~grout/encyclopaedia_romana/aconite/materiamedica.html

Mushroom Artwork of Otto Marseus van Shrieck
https://bit.ly/3nEwy3n

Plutarch: Essays and Miscellanies
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/3052/3052-h/3052-h.htm#link2HCH0065

The Hypothesis on the Presence of Entheogens in the
Eleusinian Mysteries
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/327838578_The_hypothesis_on_the_presence_of_entheogens_in_the_Eleusinian_Mysteries

Mircea Eliade - Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy
https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691210667/shamanism

Nora Chadwick: Imbas Forosnai
http://searchingforimbas.blogspot.com/p/imbas-forosnai-by-nora-k-chadwick.html

An Irish Materia Medica: Tadhg Ó Cuinn
https://celt.ucc.ie//published/G600005/index.html

William Camden: Brittania
https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/travellers/Camden/32

Seeking the Magic Mushroom: Life Magazine May 1957 (via MAPS.org)
https://bibliography.maps.org/bibliography/default/resource/15048

Tina and R. Gordon Wasson - Russia, Mushrooms and History (vols. 1, & 2) [PDF]
https://doorofperception.com/2015/04/r-gordon-wasson-seeking-the-magic-mushroom/

Audio featured from the Irish Traditional Music Archive:
https://itma.ie

Landless:
https://landless.bandcamp.com/

National Folklore Collection online portal:
https://dúchas.ie

Blúiríní Béaloidis 32 - Mushrooms In Tradition

In life, there is much which seems uncertain to us. Concerning death however, there can be no doubt. It was an honour to speak with funeral director, death-care practitioner and proud Sligo native David McGowan on the topic of death for episode 33 of Blúiríní Béaloidis. Sit with us as we explore attitudes and customs regarding death and dying, from the practicalities and preparations of the corpse, to the wake house and beliefs regarding the departure of the soul. The episode features a good deal of archival audio from NFC collections, details of which can be found below. I'd like to thank David for being so generous with his time and knowledge, and send special thanks likewise to Síle Denver and the group Líadan, for permission to include their beautiful rendition of Amhrán Mhuínse to close the episode - baochas ó chroí libh uiléir. "Lord have mercy on the souls of the dead!"

Stream 'The Funeral Director' for free here: https://www.rte.ie/player/movie/the-funeral-director/118399528355

Support Líadan here: https://liadan.ie/

Archival audio timecodes:

12:24 - 13:50: Tom Dolan, Kinnegad, county Westmeath describes the 'crippling'  that occurs to a body after death. Refers to a joke played at the wake house when hunched corpse was sat upright and had a pipe placed in its mouth. Rec. by Leo Corduff (1970) NFC T0504

13:51 - 14:39: James Grady, Lecarrow, county Roscommon describes how the corpse was laid out on a board to keep it straight, as it stiffens after death. Rec. by Jim Delaney (1961) NFC T0152

18:21 - 19:59: Michael Keenan, Lenamore, county Longford playing 'The Bucks of Oranmore' on the pipes. Rec. by Jim Delaney (1957) NFC T0023

22:42 - 26:33: Mrs. Meath, Ballyhaunis county Mayo describes beliefs regarding wakes, along with neighbourly assistance at the time of a death in the locality. Rec. by Leo Corduff and Ciarán Bairéad (1965) NFC T0298

26:34 - 27:21: Unidentified female singer on Aran islands, county Galway, giving example of keen for the dead (traditional lament). Rec. by Sidney Robertson Cowell(1957) NFC C0714

27:22 - 27:58: Eibhlín ní Mhurchú, Dundrum, county Dublin (formerly Baile Loiscithe, Kilmalkeader, county Kerry) describes keening lament as heard at wakes in her youth. Rec. by Ríonach Uí Ógáin (1995) NFC  T2213

27:59 - 28:40: Brídín Iarnáin, Inis Mór, county Galway, giving example of traditional keen for the dead (1949) NFC C0161

37:30 - 39:01: James Grady, Lecarrow, county Roscommon describes how men would be sent for wake provisions. Gives humorous account of the carpenter who, fond of drink, keeps returning to house to measure the body for coffining, receives a fresh drink each time he enters. Rec. by Jim Delaney and Leo Corduff (1961) NFC T0152

39:02 - 39:54: Anne Kiernan, Kinnegad, Cloncrave, county Westmeath, describes the provisions laid on at the wake. Rec. by Leo Corduff (1971)NFC T0545

43:11 - 44:41: Stephen Dunne, Bride Street, the Liberties, Dublin describes the washing of the corpse by a charitable neighbour woman. Rec. by Jim Delaney (1968) NFC T0425

44:42 - 46:46: James Grady, Lecarrow, county Roscommon describes the washing and laying out of the corpse by local women.  Rec. by Jim Delaney and Leo Corduff (1961) NFC T0152

58:52 - 1:01:07: Anne Kiernan, Kinnegad, Cloncrave, county Westmeath, describes return of a soul to pay a debt. Rec. by Leo Corduff (1971) NFC T0545

1:01:07 - 1:03:14: Jack Foley, county Down describes the earthly wandering of purgatorial souls (1958) NFC T0063

1:03:15 - 1:04:20: Mary Walsh, Kinnegad, county Westmeath, describes apparitions prior to a death, and visions of the recently deceased. Rec. by Leo Corduff(1970) NFC T0505

1:04:20 - 1:06:02: Michael Dolan, Glangevlin, county Cavan describes how a man used speak with the ghosts of his two sons, killed in the Great War of 1914-18. Rec. by Michael J. Murphy (1972) NFC T0587

Blúiríní Béaloidis 33 - Death (with David McGowan)

The Anglo-Irish Treaty was signed on the 6th of December 1921, bringing an end to the 1919-1921 Irish War of Independence. To mark 100 years since the signing of the treaty, I joined my colleague at the National Folklore Collection, Ailbe van der Heide, to discuss her work in researching, editing and transcribing Urban Folklore Project recordings dealing with this tumultuous period of Irish history. 

The 1979-1980 Urban Folklore Project originated as a Government employment scheme to provide work for university graduates at a time of severe economic recession in 1979-1980. The project was undertaken by the Department of Irish Folklore, University College Dublin, directed by Dr Séamas Ó Catháin, and consists of over 700 tape recorded interviews which today form part of the Natinoal Folklore Collection, University College Dublin. Among the recordings are featured vivid contemporary accounts of the War of Independence as well as material concerning the Easter Rising of 1916 and the Irish Civil War. 

Join us as we listen to the combatants and bystanders who bore witness to the burnings, raids and guerrilla warfare of the War of Independence, and who worked as part of a hidden network operating under the watchful eye of the crown forces and intelligence services.

On 6 December 2021, Ailbe van der Heide and Dr. Críostóir Mac Cárthaigh will be delivering a free online lecture titled 'War of Independence Memories' for the Folklore of Ireland Society. To register, please visit: https://ucd-ie.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_pHhotkMrSvuOK_JC4Eq5LQ

Blúiríní Béaloidis 34 - The War Of Independence (with Ailbe Van Der Heide)

The Civil War was a schismatic moment in Irish history, and the fault lines it left split families, tore apart communities and turned former comrades in arms against one another in a bitterly divisive period of violence and conflict. According to historian Anne Dolan, ‘The memory of the Irish Civil War has been assumed, distorted, [and] misunderstood. It has been manipulated, underestimated, but most of all, ignored’. 

Now, 100 years on, in marking the centenary of this period, The Civil War Memory project is currently underway (a collaboration between The National Folklore Collection, University College Dublin and award winning documentary filmmakers Scratch Films) to document and preserve oral testimonies, reminiscences and accounts concerning the Civil War. The collecting project will result in a body of archival material which will be deposited at the NFC for posterity, with two documentaries covering the collecting process being aired on RTÉ this autumn. If you would like to contribute to the project, please reach out to us at bealoideas@ucd.ie

To take me through the project, and to discuss this phase of our history in more detail I’m honoured to be joined by my friend and colleague Dr. Críostóir Mac Cárthaigh, Director of the National Folklore Collection. Join us as we discuss silence, memory and the trauma of war.

Audio timecodes:

10:58: Commandant Horgan in conversation with Séamas Mac Philib, 20 May 1980. Horgan explains how he and his brother were on opposite sides of the conflict, and how his mother would keep them separate when they would visit the family home.

14:36: Kathleen Farell in conversation with Séamas Mac Philib, 6 March 1980. Kathleen describes how IRA men were hidden in her house.

16:10: Patrick Galvin in conversation with Séamas Mac Philib, 10 January 1980. Patrick describes how he was unable to return to his job after the Civil War, and was fired when it was learnt that he had fought on the anti-Treaty side.

32:22: Patrick Galvin in conversation with Séamas Mac Philib, 10 January 1980. Patrick relates how it was difficult to shoot against former friends and comrades. Describes the 'great boys' he fought alongside in 1916 and in the 'Tan War' (the War of Independence) but states that everyone has a certain principle by which they must stand.

39:03: John O'Brien in conversation with Séamas Mac Philib, 04 November 1979. John relates local information concerning the assassination of Michael Collins. Is reluctant to share what he has heard out of respect for local families, and remarks that it could be dangerous.

Thanks to Tiernan Gaffney for editing these pieces from our sound archive!

Blúiríní Béaloidis 35 - The Civil War (with Dr. Críostóir Mac Cárthaigh)

Irish Travellers, known in their own language as Mincéirs or Pavees and in Irish called ‘An Lucht Siúil or, ‘The Walking People’, are a nomadic ethnic minority in Ireland with a distinct history, culture and identity. Historically, Travellers were called Tinkers, a reference to their trade as tinsmiths, and they also made a living through engaging with the settled community; by buying and selling animals, or through seasonal farm labour. They’ve also long been renowned as singers, musicians and storytellers who brought news, tales, songs and music from townland to townland, parish to parish and county to county as they travelled around Ireland. As a minority group however, Ireland’s Travellers they have long-faced discrimination on the basis of their ethnicity, and are often reported as the subject of explicit prejudice in Irish society. For this episode of the podcast, I hope to enter into an exploration of Traveller culture and identity, and I’m honoured to be joined by David Joyce; an advocate for the Traveller community who has worked as both a barrister and a solicitor, and Áine Furey, a singer, musician, tour guide and alumna of the Department of Irish Folklore here at UCD.  I hope you’ll keep us company for the next hour or so as we come to know and honour the culture, traditions, perspectives and experiences of Ireland’s Travelling people, to whom this episode is dedicated. For details concerning audio timecodes, see below:

08:20: Tom 'Bun' Connors in conversation with Seán Ó Súilleabháin, Cherry Orchard, Dublin (1967) listing some Travellers families and which parts of Ireland they're from.

14:20: Andy Cassidy, 'My Rifle, My Pony and Me' recorded by Alen McWeeney in Labre Park, Ballyfermot, Dublin (1967) My thanks to Alen, and to Pavee Point for permission to reproduce this wonderful recording! See more here: http://www.paveepoint.ie/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/WhishtBooklet.pdf

27:35: Bridget Connors in conversation with Seán Ó Súilleabháin, Cherry Orchard, Dublin (1967) recounting the kindness of Kerry people, and the hostility with which she was met in other places in Ireland.

39: 54: 'Bun' Connors recounting the tinsmithing trade as it was practiced in his family, and how it was undone by the arrival of cheap plastic goods.

42:07: John Reilly singing 'The Jolly Tinker'. Recorded by Tom Munnelly while John and his family were camped at Cloongrehan, Cootehall, County Roscommon (October 1971)

47:02: John Reilly singing 'False Lankum'. Recorded by Tom Munnelly while John and his family were camped at Cloongrehan, Cootehall, County Roscommon (October 1971) See here for more: https://digital.ucd.ie/view/ivrla:31077

50: 22: 'Bun' Connors relates his experience of travelling around Ireland, and demonstrating how well he knows the homeplace of Seán Ó Súilleabháin(from Kenmare, county Kerry) in particular.

53:55: Uileann Piper Johnny Doran playing 'Colonel Fraser, My Love Is in America, Rakish Paddy' recorded by the Irish Folklore Commission (1947)

56: 28: 'Bun' Connors relates his long standing friendship with Margaret Barry

1:00:55: 'Bun' and his mother Bridget Connors describe how Travellers used make a living from dealing animals, and gives account of the fairs they used visit.

1:04:10: 'Bun' Connors relates details of winter lodgings and the times of the year that Travellers used travel.

1:08:30: 'Bun' Connors recounts the ways in which the settled people would come and join them by the fire a few days after they had arrived into an area and set up camp. Describes the bonds and neighbourly feelings fostered over time.

1:23:39: Pádraig Mac Gréine recounts how he first met Traveller and storyteller Oney Power in county Longford in the 1930s.

1:29:40: 'Bun' and Bridget Connors give account of the context in which the Traveller language is used, providing examples of phrases and terminology.

1:39:38: Johnny Doran, playing Sliabh na mBan, a slow air, dedicated to the late Seán Garvey.

Blúiríní Béaloidis 36: The Travellers (with David Joyce & Áine Furey)

"Long as the day is, night comes, and alas, the night is coming for me too... Someone else will have pastime out of my work when I'm gone on the way of truth. A person here and a person there will say, maybe, 'Who was that Peig Sayers?' but poor Peig will be the length of their shout from them. This green bench where she used to do the studying will be a domicile for the birds of the wilderness, and the little house where she used to eat and drink, it's unlikely there'll be a trace of it there."

For this episode of Blúiríní, instead of focusing on one aspect of tradition, we for the first time dedicate our explorations to one individual; Mairéad ‘Peig’ Sayers who, by her artistry and mastery as a storyteller in the oral tradition, skilfully managed to express the wisdom of the many in the wit of the few, and yet whose printed autobiographies (as Irene Lucchitti notes in an article in Folklore and Modern Irish writing) ‘experienced a decline in reputation, suffering critical disdain and schoolyard ridicule in equal measure’. Now, nearly sixty-five years after her death, we hope to provide a platform through which her tales might find a new audience, one which, it is hoped, may find in her a source of inspiration and insight.

For episode 37 of Blúiríní, I was honoured to have been joined by Dr. Éilís Ní Dhuibhne and Dr. Pádraig Ó Héalaí, in the beautiful surrounds of the Museum of Literature Ireland and for the first time in front of a live studio audience - something which was a great pleasure for me personally! Thanks to my guests Éilís and Pádraig, to our friends at MoLI for taking such good care of us on the night and especially to all who came along in person and made the evening so pleasant!

This podcast also marks the launch of Thar Bealach Isteach / Into the Island, a nine month collaborative exhibition between MoLI and the NFC, which looks at Peig Sayers and the Blasket Island storytelling tradition. See moli.ie for details.

Blúiríní Béaloidis 37 is online now, I hope you'll join Pádraig, Éilís and I as we ask 'who was that Peig Sayers'?

Blúiríní Béaloidis 37: Peig Sayers (with Dr. Éilís Ní Dhuibhne & Dr. Pádraig Ó Héalaí)

Lying in fields and ditches, at the edge of old and overgrown graveyards and in lonesome places all over Ireland rest forgotten echoes of our past. Large and unwieldy stones; blocks of granite and sandstone flags which, used in former times as tests of strength, still reverberate with the memory of heroic feats.

The tradition of stone lifting, while well-attested in Scotland, Iceland and other parts of Europe, is a topic about which very little is known in Ireland. For the past year, David Keohan, multiple national European and world champion in kettlebell sport, world record holder, avid strength historian and self-described stone-lifting fanatic, has been (literally) unearthing this little-known aspect of traditional Irish physical culture. Guided by material relating to the practice of stone lifting as found in the archives of the National Folklore Collection, David has been travelling the country identifying lifting stones mentioned in manuscript sources gathered by folklore collectors, and has been talking to locals who remember the lifting of these stones in former times. It has been an honour to assist in shining further light on this topic, and I was delighted to be joined by David for this episode of Blúiríní as he discusses his adventures to date.

Join us as we attempt to set out the scope of the tradition as it existed in Ireland, drawing on NFC collection to examine the occasions on which these stones were lifted, their connection to funeral games and the dead, the role of lifting stones as rites of passage or method of settling dispute as well as their associations with hags, giants and mythical champions.

The richness of our archival collections now serve to assist in the regeneration and reanimation of this once widespread custom, and should serve as a source of inspiration and pride; linking us with the past, with our birthplaces and with those who have gone before us.

David's Instagram: 
https://www.instagram.com/irish_move_athlete/?hl=en

David's YouTube Channel:
https://www.youtube.com/@davidindianakeohans3566

Two highly recommended and very beautiful Rogue Fitness documentaries were mentioned at the outset of the episode. They are available here:

Stoneland (Scottish stone lifting tradition): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhQlNwxn5oo&ab_channel=RogueFitness

Fullsterkur (Icelandic stone lifting tradition): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79Tcsg2Yac8&ab_channel=RogueFitness

Website here dedicated to the memory of Scotsman Peter Martin (mentioned in this episode). Peter held a special affection for the Gaels, and his research into Gaelic strength culture and traditional stone lifting was without equal: https://www.oldmanofthestones.com/

Blúiríní Béaloidis 38: Stones Of Strength In Irish Tradition (with David Keohan)

Bees have been cultivated in Ireland since early times. Of value for their wax and honey, there were also believed to be blessed creatures, as Dáithí Ó hÓgáin writes: "probably because of the use of their wax to make church candles, and one medieval legend describes a swarm of bees building a little container around a lost communion wafer to protect it. They were also thought to be possessed of special wisdom, and to take an acute interest in the affairs of their owners. If a bee entered the house it was regarded as a good omen, and the bees in their hive would be told in advance of projects that the family intended to undertake in the belief that they might effect a beneficial influence. When a member of the family died, it was customary to place a black piece of cloth on the hiveso that the bees could join in the mourning". For this episode of Blúiríní I was honoured to have been joined by my friend and colleague from the National Museum of Country Life in county Mayo, and alumnus of the taught MA in Irish Folklore at UCD, Tiernan Gaffney. Tiernan is an Assistant Keeper of the Irish Folklife Collection at the National Museum of Ireland, his folklore research often explores the creation and connection of communities within shared spaces. Join us for episode 39 of Blúiriní Béaloidis as we honour those blessed, wise and industrious little ones, and talk about an upcoming National Museum of Ireland exhibition, “Murmur of Bees”which will launch in the summer of 2023.

To learn more about the National Museum of Ireland: Country Life, visit: https://www.museum.ie/en-IE/Museums/Country-Life

Blúiríní Béaloidis 39 - Bees In Tradition (with Tiernan Gaffney)

Welcome to Blúiríní Béaloidis, the new podcast from the National Folklore Collection, University College Dublin.

In this introductory episode, hosts Jonny Dillon and Claire Doohan delve into definitions of folklore to dispel some common misconceptions surrounding this area of interest, as well as tracing the cultural and political context of the interest in folk-tradition, which saw it arise as an expression of romantic nationalist thought across Ireland and Europe of the 19th century.

The podcast can be downloaded by clicking on the '...' icon shown above.

Blúiríní Béaloidis 01 - What is Folklore?

The first of May is marked in Ireland (and across Europe more broadly), as a day on which the summer is welcomed in; where garlands of flowers decorate the houses, in which young women of the locality bring cattle up to higher summer pastures to graze, in which the community re-asserts its boundaries, and the family unit aims to garner for itself prosperity and good luck for the coming summer. In this edition of Blúiríní Béaloidis / Folklore Fragments, hosts Claire Doohan and Jonny Dillon discuss some of the traditions and customs popularly observed at this time; from hiring fairs and Booleying, to shapeshifting witches and May altars. For now, rough winter has gone, and flowers cover the world - therefore we bid you welcome, noble summer!

This episode can be downloaded by clicking the '...' icon above.

Blúiríní Béaloidis 02 - May Day Folklore

Since the earliest times, Man has sought to come to terms with the unknown powers and forces that act upon life and wellbeing. It is natural therefore, that our forebears looked to the natural world, and to the heavens, for interpretable signs and symbols by which they could increase well being and banish misfortune.

The Moon has long been our old companion, and has gazed down silently upon all that has passed here on earth since time immemorial. Similarly, in our looking beyond ourselves to the heavens, we have long looked to the Moon for guidance and blessing. It will come as no surprise then, that there should exist so great a body of folk belief and custom in Irish (and broader European) tradition regarding this luminary, some of which is explored in this episode of Blúiríní Béaloidis / Folklore Fragments by Claire Doohan and Jonny Dillon.

From the idea that the moon is a place of habitation for banished spirits, to its influence on human affairs, in this edition of Blúiríní Béaloidis we look to the heavens and bid 'greeting to you new moon, kindly jewel of guidance!'

For further information on this topic, visit duchas.ie, the project to digitise the National Folklore Collection.

The Moon (English) - http://www.duchas.ie/en/src?q=MOON
An Ghealach (Gaeilge) - http://www.duchas.ie/en/src?q=ghealach&t=CbesStory

Blúiríní Béaloidis 03 - The Moon In Folk Tradition

In the traditional dwelling is found a well of spiritual, cultural and material information. Through it many things are revealed, from the ways in which our forebears used materials from the natural environment to meet their own specific needs, to the symbolic and spiritual concerns at play as they choose sites upon which to build.

In this month's podcast Claire and Jonny explore some of the customs and rituals attached to the luck of the house, those practices employed to bring about plenty, prosperity and safety from all harm. Step over the threshold then, and sit awhile with us then while we take you about this old house - there are a great many things to behold herein!

* * * * *

'An té níos treise ná Dia a chuirfeadh faid siar as a teach' / 'Only he who is stronger than God will extend his house westward')

This proverb references a traditional taboo regarding the extension of a dwelling in a westerly direction (a direction commonly associated with death in folk-tradition). The following photograph shows an instance in Co. Mayo where church renovations were ceased after locals insisted that the building could not be extended westward, leaving only an unfinished architrave on the wall - a curious example showing how closely intertwined are the material and spiritual!

http://www.paradisepossible.ie/DesktopModules/Inventise.DM/DMHandlers/PictureHandler.ashx?DestinationPicture=400

Blúiríní Béaloidis 04 - The Luck Of The House

The arrival of the harvest was for our forebears a time of great celebration, for it marked the point at which the lean months of June and 'Hungry July' (when the year's stores were traditionally at their lowest), gave way to a period of profusion and plenty. In this month's edition of Blúiríní Béaloidis / Folklore Fragments, your hosts Jonny Dillon and Claire Doohan take to the fields to consider the harvest in tradition, discussing hilltop celebrations, naked horse-swimming races and the spirit of the crops itself, which appears all over Europe, in the form of a female nature spirit known broadly as the 'Corn Mother', as well as being symbolically represented by several animals.

Join us then, as we ring in the harvest season, that we might enjoy and partake of its fruits and give thanks to the earth from which they have sprung; the earth to which we return harvest after harvest, generation after generation, unceasingly, and without end.

* * * * *

Visit duchas.ie (the project to digitise the holdings of the National Folklore Collection) to explore material relating to the harvest in traditon.

Harvest: http://www.duchas.ie/en/src?q=harvest&t=CbesStory
Sheaf Customs: http://www.duchas.ie/en/src?q=sheaf&t=CbesStory

An introductory address by Jonny Dillon of the Folklore of Ireland Society, to open 'Coinleach Glas an Fhómhair'; a night of music, song, storytelling and dance pertaining to the harvest in Irish tradition, which was held in Dublin's Christ Church Cathedral, on the night of Friday the 29th of September 2016:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JlOHTiVoww

The closing set to 'Coinleach Glas an Fhómhair' - a night of traditional music, song, dance and storytelling from Irish tradition, all of which pertained to the theme of the harvest, and which was held in Dublin's Christ Church Cathedral on the night of Friday the 29th of September 2016:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99pRom_8IcU

Harvest Knot Images: https://www.google.ie/search?q=Harvest+Knot&client=safari&rls=en&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwit16LVn6zVAhUEBsAKHU9FBz8Q_AUICigB&biw=1504&bih=899

Last Sheaf Images: https://www.google.ie/search?client=safari&rls=en&biw=1504&bih=899&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=Last+Sheaf&oq=Last+Sheaf&gs_l=psy-ab.3..0i24k1.24868.26426.0.26555.10.10.0.0.0.0.149.657.9j1.10.0....0...1.1.64.psy-ab..0.10.656...0j0i10k1j0i10i24k1.IDmKFxUZSmI

The image used for this podcast shows the process of reaping and binding (as carried out by two particularly diligent young ladies!) in Co. Louth, 1946.

Blúiríní Béaloidis 05: The Threshold Of Plenty - Harvest Customs In Irish Tradition

In fields, valleys and quiet places the country over can be found countless earthwork mounds, cairns, tumuli and other signs of early human habitation in Ireland. These sites often garnered supernatural associations in folk tradition, being commonly understood as the abodes of 'Na Daoine Maithe' (The Good People) or fairies. Quite unlike the genteel 'Tinker Bell' of contemporary culture, the fairies in folk tradition were understood as an archaic otherworld community living alongside us in the natural landscape, and were held in a mixture of trepidation and respect by our forebears, on account of the power of their influence over human affairs (for good or bad).

Join your hosts Claire Doohan and Jonny Dillon in this month's edition of Blúiríní Béaloidis, as they aim to dispel some of the common misconceptions about the fairies in popular culture while also examining their origins, abodes, and customs attached to them. From fallen angels to pre-Christian deities, and from nature spirits to the mortals who learnt songs and music from them; sit with us for an hour as we set out into the natural landscape in the hope of coming to a deeper understanding of our unruly otherworld neighbours and the wisdom and knowledge they offer us today!

Blúiríní Béaloidis 06 - Fairy Forts In Folk Tradition

The Ulster Cycle consists of a corpus of tales forming one of the main branches of early Irish Literature, which have come down to us across countless generations; existing first as part of an oral tradition in Ireland until it was later chronicled by early Christian monks in the manuscripts that survive to this day. The most well known series of narratives within the Ulster Cycle - Táin Bó Cuailgne or 'The Cattle Raid of Cooley' - relates the adventures and exploits of the mythic champion and heroic demigod Cú Chulainn, as he single-handedly defends his people against the advancing armies of Queen Meadhbh and King Aillil.

From the unlikely origins of its principle characters, to similarities with ancient Greek and Indo-European tradition; and from warp-spasms and beheadings to more tender moments, join your hosts Claire Doohan and Jonny Dillon as they take up arms to explore this bloody epic, themselves engaging in bitter dispute on the nature of heroic spirit along the way!

Further reading: 

(Online)
Táin Bó Cuailgne Recension 1: https://celt.ucc.ie/published/T301012/index.html

Táin Bó Cuailgne; Adaptation from Dunn & Windisch: http://adminstaff.vassar.edu/sttaylor/Cooley/

(Print)
Kinsella, Thomas (1969)The Táin: Translated from the Irish epic Táin Bó Cuailnge, London, Oxford University Press.

Carey, John (1999). 'Cú Chulainn as Ailing Hero' in Ronald Black, William Gillies; Roibeard Ó Maolalaigh. Celtic Connections: Proceedings of the Tenth International Congress of Celtic Studies, Vol. 1. East Linton: Tuckwell. pp. 190–8.

Nagy, Joseph Falaky (1984) 'Heroic Destinies in the Macgnímrada of Finn and Cú Chulainn'. Zeitschrift für Celtische Philologie. 40: 23–39.

Ó hÓgáin, Dáithí (2006). The lore of Ireland : an Encyclopaedia of Myth, Legend and Romance. Doughcloyne, Ireland : Rochester, N.Y. ; Boydell & Brewer,Collins Press.

Blúiríní Béaloidis 07 - Cú Chulainn & The Táin

Betrothal and marriage are among the most central and important rites of passage in any community, and in Irish tradition one was not seen as an adult (regardless of one's age) until they were married. In this month's edition of Blúiríní Béaloidis, hosts Claire Doohan and Jonny Dillon turn their attention to ideas around love, magic and marriage as represented in Irish tradition: from Shrovetide harassment of singletons to Lenten prohibitions on matrimony, and from divinatory pancake tossing to hard-bargained dowries, join us as we consider those matters of the heart that are never far from the mind.

Blúiríní Béaloidis 11 - Love & Magic In Folk Tradition

Native European and Irish Tradition posits the existence of an Otherworld realm lying beyond the furthest reaches of the horizon; an  island of plenty and abundance, where happiness lasts forever, and where one hundred years pass as one day. The Greek Elysium, King Arthur's Avalon, the Odainsakr of the Norse and the Irish Land of the Living all point to a long-held corpus of beliefs regarding a paradise across the ocean.

For the 16th instalment of Blúiríní Béaloidis, hosts Jonny Dillon and Claire Doohan set forth upon the waves to Teach Duinn (The House of Donn), to which the souls of Ireland's heathen dead were said to travel with the setting of the sun. Continuing their voyage, Claire and Jonny venture onwards over the seas 'flowery plains' visiting 'thrice fifty islands' with the great Connle, Mael Dúin, Bran and St. Brendan as their companions.

Our ships are coursing over the sea; strange panoramas and otherworld islands await:

'There is a distant isle,
Around which sea-horses glisten:
A fair course against the white-swelling surge,
-Four feet uphold it.

A beauty of a wondrous land,
Whose aspects are lovely,
Whose view is a fair country,
Incomparable is its haze.

Wealth, treasures of every hue,
Are in Ciuin, a beauty of freshness,
Listening to sweet music,
Drinking the best of wine.’

Blúiríní Béaloidis 16 - Otherworld Islands In Folk Tradition

St. Brigid’s Day falls on the first of February, and is traditionally understood as marking the beginning of spring in Irish custom.

Dedicated to the saint nicknamed Muire na nGael or the ‘Mary of the Irish’ (a designation given to her on account of the adoration and high regard in which she has long been held by the people of this island), St. Brigid's Day is a period full with emblems of regeneration, renewal and propagation.

For the first in the 2019 series of Blúiríní Béaloidis, hosts Claire Doohan and Jonny Dillon explore the feast of St. Brigid by examining her pre-Christian roots; tracing her spread across Europe and exploring links with early Vedic literature and the Indo-European tradition before considering the role and function of Ireland's patroness, along with contemporary attitudes held towards her in folk custom.

So, sit a while with us as we welcome in the dawn of a new season. Brigid, spring, you are welcome. Come in!

Blúiríní Béaloidis 18 - Brigid In Folk Tradition

While rooted in the earth, trees ascend towards the firmament of the Heavens. They likewise renew themselves through the eternal rhythms that govern all living things (those cycles of growth, maturation, decay and rebirth) as they blossom, flower, give fruit and eventually shed their leaves before being reborn anew each spring. Certain of these proud intermediaries between heaven and earth were treated with great veneration by our forebears, and echoes of the worship of sacred trees survives in folk tradition to this day.

For this 19th edition of Blúiríní Béaloidis, hosts Jonny Dillon and Claire Doohan consider their culture born of nature. From sacred trees under which kings of Ireland were inaugurated in times long ago, to the holy woods inhabited by both madmen and saints, and from votive offerings left hanging on the branches of trees growing beside holy wells, to those trees treated with fear and trepidation, understood as they were, as dwellings of the otherworld spirits which live alongside us in the natural landscape. Stay with us for an hour then, as we shelter beneath the branches of tradition, which gift to us the fruits of memory and meaning.

Jonny and Claire would like to send their thanks to Landless for permission to include the song 'The Trees Grow Tall' from their 2018 LP Bleaching Bones (played at 38 minutes, 12 seconds into the podcast). For more information about the group, and to support their work go to:

https://landless.bandcamp.com
https://www.facebook.com/landlessmusic/
https://www.instagram.com/landless_music_dublin/

We likewise send thanks to Richard Moult, for allowing us permission to include a beautiful piece of his piano music titled 'Star Filled Tree, Blacksburg' to close the podcast (the piece is played at 58 minutes, 48 seconds). If you would like to learn more about Richard's art, and to support his work, please go to:

https://starred-desert.com

Blúiríní Béaloidis 19 - Sacred Trees In Folk Tradition

The festival of Samhain has since ancient times been considered as a major turning point in the ritual year. In marking the threshold of darkness and the end of the season of light, the eve of Samhain (observed all over Ireland at sundown on the 31st of October) is characterised by heightened supernatural activity, a return of the ancestral dead, divination magic, mischief, ritual disguise and the suspension of normal modes and rules of behaviour.

For this edition of Blúiríní, Jonny is joined by a special guest, Dr. Billy Mag Fhloinn. Billy is a folklorist, archaeologist, author and lecturer, whose book ‘Blood Rite: The Feast of St. Martin in Ireland’ was published in 2016, and who has contributed to international television productions by the BBC, PBS and the National Geographic Channel. For more information about Billy and his work, and to contact him directly please visit his site https://tradition.ie/

This edition of Blúiríní also features contributions from Aghast and Halo Manash

Aghast were an all-female group from Norway, whose haunting and atmospheric album 'Hexerei Im Zwielicht Der Finsternis' was released in 1995. For more information, see http://www.metaladies.com/bands/aghast/

Halo Manash hail from Finland, and aim to 'seek, explore, experience, study and decipher reflections of the ever-shifting shapes and spaces of different worlds', in order to 'revitalise one of the oldest subconscious forms of communication, to open the gates and widen the horizon of perception concerning states of otherness lying in-between the cardinal directions.' Our special thanks for their generosity in permitting us to include their music in this edition of the podcast. For more information, and to support them directly, please visit http://www.helixes.org/halomanash/about/

Blúiríní Béaloidis 21 - Samhain / Halloween (With Dr. Billy Mag Fhloinn)

Our lives are built on the stories we tell. At both an individual and a communal level, they orient and mould us, shaping our perspectives and outlining our reality. In an age where life can seem increasingly fettered by rules and regulations, where communication is drowned by endless jargon and noise demanding our attention, where the past is heaved overboard in order that we might more quickly race blindly towards the future, where places become zones, where endless change is automatically equated with progress, and where the sacred is replaced by the material, the stories we tell ourselves modernity seem increasingly to offer little by way of consolation, enchantment, wonder or joy.

With this in mind, and in search of alternate perspectives for episode 22 of Blúiríní Béaloidis, I'm setting off from the National Folklore Collection, driving across Ireland to the village of Crusheen near Ireland's western coast, where I have arranged to meet a man who has been described as a ‘national treasure’, a ‘master storyteller’ and ‘inspired performer’ alike.

Eddie Lenihan is an author and storyteller who has been collecting traditional stories and customs from an older generation for over 40 years. His 2003 book, Meeting the Other Crowd has been translated into many languages, and is dedicated by Eddie to ‘all those tellers now gone whose voices are not forgotten and to those still with us whose knowledge is more indispensable than ever’. As usual, throughout this episode you’ll hear a mixture of conversation along with original archival field recordings from the National Folklore Collection concerning the topics under discussion. For more information regarding these excerpts, see below.

To learn more about Eddie, and to support his valuable work, please visithttp://eddielenihan.weebly.com/

Blúiríní Béaloidis - 22 Invisible Worlds (With Eddie Lenihan)

Lying in overgrown fields, by churches and next to roadsides all over Ireland, are hidden holy wells and sacred springs which have for countless generations been visited as sites of pilgrimage and devotion. These wells are generally small bodies of water dedicated to a local patron saint, and were often renowned for the healing properties. 

For this edition of Blúiríní, we shall trudge across the fields on pilgrimage to these sacred wells, commencing with an exploration of the early Irish literature, which describes the creation of Ireland's rivers when an otherworld woman breaks a taboo in visiting a secret well of knowledge, the rivers of which burst forth and engulf her. Moving on to consider Ireland's placenames in connection with holy wells, we will examine the changing attitudes of Christian tradition to these wells and to the Pattern day - those communal celebrations in honour of the patron saint to whom the well is dedicated, which degenerated into 'discreditable orgies' and scenes of drunken violence, being eventually put down by the Church. The curative (and malevolent) properties of these wells will also be explored, as will be the broader European context for veneration of sacred springs.

For this episode I was very lucky to have been joined by Eddie O'Neill and Rosaleen Durkin, who very kindly showed my some of Wicklow's Holy Wells and spoke of their significance. Eddie's family have tended Lady Well in county Wicklow for three generations, and each year on the 15th of August (the Feast of the Assumption) the the entire community would visit the well to offer devotions, and to engage in merriment together, dancing and playing sports. Rosaleen Durkin, a native of Mayo, now living in Wicklow, set up (along with some friends) the group 'Wicklow Wells' which aims to 'preserve and document all the local traditions and folklore and where possible make them more accessible to locals and visitors alike'. 

For more, see the Wicklow Wells Facebook Page: https://bit.ly/2SRKeZt
For Rosaleen's site, see: https://irishsacredwells.com/

This episode features a beautiful piano piece titled 'the Five Daughters' by Richard Moult. For more of Richard's music and art please visit his site: http://starred-desert.com/

Blúiríní Béaloidis 23 - Holy Wells In Folk Tradition

It was said in tradition that 'there isn't an ailment or infirmity the cure of which doesn't grow in the fields or along the hedges', and indeed, our forebears employed a wide range of historical practices to drive out infirmity and illness.  While a great deal of folk cures were entirely practical in their application, many others turned to the use of magic, sacrifice and the use of charms, rituals or prayer – modes of thought quite at odds with altogether more modern, secular perspectives.

Far from being casually forged in the half-light of ignorance, our folk cures reveal those measures which, being deeply concerned with human life and welfare, were called on in times of crisis, in order to provide reassurance and comfort in the face of insecurity, illness and anxiety.

For this episode of Blúiríní, Jonny examines definitions of folk medicine before taking a look at the healing deities of Classical European Paganism, and Irish mythology alike. Our explorations will then turn to consider the host of plagues, pestilences and infirmities outlined in our medieval chronicles, before we take a look at folk cures recorded in the archives of the National Folklore Collection University College Dublin. 

As we presently accustom ourselves to life in varying degrees of 'lockdown', it is worth turning to the past, in order to draw on the endurance, strength and patience with which our forebears held themselves through hardship. As the saying goes, 'Ní neart go chur le chéile!' ('There is no strength without unity!')

Selected Readings of Interest:

Chapter Title: Talitha Qum! An Exploration of the Image of Jesus as Healer-PhysicianSavior in the Synoptic Gospels in Relation to the Asclepius Cult Chapter Author(s): Frances Flannery
 
Book Title: Coming Back to Life Book Subtitle: The Permeability of Past and Present, Mortality and Immortality, Death and Life in the Ancient Mediterranean Book Author(s): Bradley N. Rice Book Editor(s): Frederick S. Tappenden, Carly Daniel-Hughes Published by: McGill University Library. (2017) Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctvmx3k11.22

Some Notes on Homeric Folk-Lore Author(s): W. Crooke Source: Folklore, Vol. 19, No. 1 (Mar. 30, 1908), pp. 52-77 Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. on behalf of Folklore Enterprises, Ltd. Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/1254711 Accessed: 20-03-2020 12:03 UTC

Indo-European Dragon Slayers and Healers and the Irish Account of Dian Céacht and Méiche: https://www.academia.edu/10246879/Indo-European_Dragon-Slayers_and_Healers_and_the_Irish_Account_of_Dian_Céacht_and_<Méiche

Cath Maige Tuired: The Second Battle of Mag Tuired https://celt.ucc.ie/published/T300010/index.html

The Identification of Some Pestilences Recorded in the Irish Annals Author(s): William P. MacArthur Source: Irish Historical Studies, Vol. 6, No. 23 (Mar., 1949), pp. 169-188 Published by: Cambridge University Press Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/30006592 Accessed: 20-03-2020 12:41 UTC

The Ancient Irish Hot: Air Bath Author(s): Seaton F. Milligan Source: The Journal of the Royal Historical and Archaeological Association of Ireland, Fourth Series, Vol. 9, No. 81 (Oct., 1889 - Jan., 1890), pp. 268-270 Published by: Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/25506556 Accessed: 20-03-2020 12:22 UTC

Dr. Pat Logan: Making the Cures: Ancient Cures for Modern Ills, The Talbot Press, Dublin (1972)

Seán Ó Súilleabháin: Nósanna agus Piseoga na nGael / Irish Folk Custom and Belief

National Folklore Collection - www.Dúchas.ie

Blúiríní Béaloidis 24 - Folk Medicine

Midsummer has long been observed as a period of jubilant celebration, with communal gatherings at bonfires and prayers, recitations, music, songs, dance and merriment being the order of the night. 

Join Jonny for episode 25 of Blúiríní Béaloidis as he explores the origins of midsummer festivities in Europe; recounting the raucous antics of the Brotherhood of the Green Wolf in France, considering the eve of the feast of St. John the Baptist as a symbolic counterbalance to Christmas and focusing on the protective and magical properties of the night. The fires burn on every hill and height, join us as we celebrate midsummer!

Our thanks for Michael Anderson and Schola Antiqua for permission to include their beautiful rendition of 'Ut queant laxis' in this episode. To learn more, and support them directly visit: https://www.schola-antiqua.org/

Blúiríní Béaloidis 25 - Midsummer

Seals have been an integral part of coastal life in Ireland for generations, and as such there exists a large body of tradition, belief and narrative regarding them. They were described in tradition as being enchanted people, wise women, fallen angels and drowned (or indeed reincarnated) fishermen, and encounters with them often relate how they would speak to, plead with or warn those fishermen who were about to attack or kill them out at sea or on the shore. Certain families in Ireland (Coneelys, O'Kanes, Dowds, O'Sheas and Gallaghers among them)were considered to have been the result of a union between a mortal and an enchanted seal, and many narrative accounts collected in Ireland describe how such unions came about when a mortal man who came upon a seal-woman in human form on the shore stole her cloak (which allowed her to change form) took her home, married her and had children with her, until one day she discovered her hidden cloak and left her children and husband to return to the sea.

For this month's edition of Blúiríní Jonny is joined by Ailbe van der Heide to discuss the topic of seals in folk tradition, join them as they traverse the coasts and islands around Ireland and further afield to consider the interplay between nature, culture, appearance and reality which is brought across by these liminal beings.

Some material mentioned in this episode:

'Monolingual Irish Speaker': https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UP4nXlKJx_4&ab_channel=AnGhaeilge
Seán Ó hEinirí (John Henry) in conversation with Professor Séamas Ó Catháin of the Department of Irish Folklore. This video is from a documentary called 'In Search of the Trojan War' from 1985.

'People of the Sea' by David Thomson: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/309401.The_People_of_the_Sea

Bairbre Ní Fhloinn: 'Tadhg and Donncha...' in Islanders and Water Dwellers (1996) https://www.fourcourtspress.ie/books/folklore-commission/islanders-and-water-dwellers/

Linda May-Ballard: Seal Stories and Belief on Rathlin Island in Ulster Folklife

Martin Puhvel, 'The Seal in the Folklore of Northern Europe' Folklore, volume 74 issue 1: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0015587X.1963.9716898

Bo Almqvist 'Of Mermaids and Marriages. Seamus Heaney's 'Maighdean Mara' and Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill's 'an
Mhaighdean Mhara' in the Light of Folk Tradition', Béaloideas, Iml. 58 (1990), pp. 1-74 (Available online through JSTOR)

Alexander H. Krappe, 'Scandinavian Seal Lore', Scandinavian Studies ,  Vol. 18, No. 4 (1944)
pp. 156-162

Blúiríní Bealoidis 26 - Seals In Folk Tradition (with Ailbe van der Heide)

The Banshee is a well known supernatural figure in Irish folk tradition. In origin a patron goddess caring for the fortunes of her people, the banshee of folk belief is usually considered to be a harbinger of death, being said to follow certain families from generation to generation. Traditions about her are spread widely throughout the country, and for this episode of the podcast Jonny has the privilege of speaking with Professor Patricia Lysaght, who is the world authority on the topic of the Banshee. 

Their discussion takes in the rich array of customs and beliefs concerning her, starting with an exploration of the names by which she is popularly known, before moving on to the ways in which she manifests to the people. Her function as a prognosticator of death in the community, the attitudes to life and death that are expressed through her, and the ways in which ancient ideas and motifs concerning her have survived to the modern day are further explored, with archival audio excerpts supplementing the conversation.

Patricia's book 'The Banshee: The Irish Supernatural Death Messenger' is the authoritative work on the topic, and is available to purchase online: https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?sts=t&cm_sp=SearchF-_-home-_-Results&an=lysaght&tn=banshee&kn=&isbn=

This episode features some music by Landless from their 2018 Bleaching Bones, which can be purchased here: https://landless.bandcamp.com/album/bleaching-bones-2

Music from 'Opening the Astral Doors' released in 2010 by Further Records is also featured: https://furtherrecords.org/album/opening-the-astral-doors

Blúiríní Béaloidis 27 - The Banshee (with Professor Patricia Lysaght)

My guest for this edition of Bluiríní Béaloidis is writer and documentary maker Manchán Magan, whose recent book 'Thirty-Two Words For Field' is a meditation on old Irish words and the nuances of a way of life that is vanishing with them. The book considers the 'richness of a language closely tied to the natural landscape' which 'offered our ancestors a more magical way of seeing the world'. It considers the 'sublime beauty and profound oddness of the ancient tongue that has been spoken on this island for over 2,000 years'. In this discussion, we consider how language and tradition binds us to the landscape, expolore the role of tradition in modernity and speculate on the ancient connections between Ireland and India.
Manchán's book 'Thirty-Two Words For Field' has been nominated for numerous awards, and (as of December 2020) is already in its fourth printing. 

Copies can be purchased from directly from the author here: http://manchan.com/32-words-for-field 

Or at all good independent book shops: 
https://www.easons.com/thirty-two-words-for-field-manchan-magan-9780717187973
https://www.dubraybooks.ie/thirty-two-words-for-field_9780717187973

Blúiriní Bealoidis 28 - Land & Language (with Manchán Magan)

The Irish Folklore Commission (established in 1935) tasked itself with the documentation of the unwritten customs, beliefs and narratives of the Irish people; those ‘disiecta membra’ (as James Hamilton Delargy described them) of a rich heritage which it was feared was in danger of dying out and disappearing forever unless swift action was taken to gather up the fragments that remain, lest they perish. Delargy, and those with whom he worked, endeavoured to secure for future generations the sources of inspiration and pride which he saw as having languished in the ‘lumber room’ of history; those tales, traditions and songs of Ireland, cultural expressions he understood as representing ‘the State Papers of a forgotten and neglected people’. 

The work of the Irish Folklore Commission then, in recording the voices and ideals of the ordinary people of Ireland , aimed to represent those communities whose voice was not heard among the formal archival records of the state. But, there are silences in every archive, and the Irish Folklore Commission was no different, having its own particular biases and tendencies. Among these biases was an initial focus on the customs of rural people over those in towns and urban areas. Another, and one which is the subject of today’s discussion, was the absence of material collected from Ireland’s Protestant community. Thankfully, this has recently been addressed by Dr. Deirdre Nuttall, who, working with the National Folklore Collection between 2013 and 2017 conducted a folk history of Ireland's Protestants consisting of ninety eight interviews and seventy six questionnaire responses, the results of which she has recently published in her book ‘Different and the Same: A Folk History of the Protestants of Independent Ireland’.

Join Jonny and Deirdre as they discuss 19th century conceptions of 'the Folk', examine Protestant origin stories and consider counter-narratives to Ireland's major historical events embedded in the communal memories of Ireland's Protestant community.

'Different and the Same' is published by Eastwood Books, and is available from the publisher directly at:
https://eastwoodbooks.com/different-and-the-same/

The book is available in all good bookshops in Ireland, and online.

Blúiríní Béaloidis 29 - A Folk History Of Ireland's Protestants (with Dr. Deirdre Nuttall)

Bluiríní Béaloidis is the podcast from The National Folklore Collection, University College Dublin, and is a platform to explore Irish and wider European folk tradition across an array of subject areas and topics. Host Jonny Dillon hopes this tour through the folklore furrow will appeal to those who wish to learn about the richness and depth of their traditional cultural inheritance; that a knowledge and understanding of our past might inform our present and guide our future.

Podcasts are available for download directly from SoundCloud or via iTunes.

Popular tracks by Blúiríní Béaloidis / Folklore Fragments