Imeacht na n-Iarsmaí: Remembering Relics 2021

Cuid a hAon: Part One

Oisín Ó Dubhshláine

Right, fáilte go dtí Project Béaloideas. So seo é Imeacht na n-Iarsmaí: Remembering Relics 2021, is mise Oisín Ó Dubhshláine. So just chun píosa beag a rá faoi Project Béaloideas, just to say a little bit about Project Béaloideas itself. So, we have three goals or values that are our aims for the Project to baint amach, amach anseo. So, the first one, an chéad ceann tá sé go léir faoi cultúr na hÉireann, it’s all about Irish culture. So we’re here not just to preserve Irish culture but to push the boundaries to make Ireland more accepting and inclusive to take stories from anyone who calls Ireland home. The second thing is and Ghaeilge, so obviously Irish, is a very big thing for us so we are here to preserve it and chun daoine a spreagadh chun í a úsáid a thuilleadh, so to get people to use it more often. And of course, the last thing is community so, obviously with the Coronavirus and things we’ve all had to scaradah sóisialta, we’ve all had to do our social distancing, and we haven’t been able to see people as much so that means that community has kind of diminished a bit in some places so we’re really trying to push back on that and to bring a bit of life back. So do na himeachtaí seo, for these events, people come share their stories and get to know each other a little better.

So, le haghaidh na daoine nua, for the new people who are just joining us for the first time today, tá fáilte róimh, so welcome. And do na daoine a raibh anseo do na dhá imeachtaí eile, for the people that have come to the last two events, thanks very much for coming back. Is rudaí mar sin, it’s things like that, that allow us to, well to keep going, for one thing, and for another thing to get support from people like the South Dublin County Council and the Arts Council and things like that. So tá sé ar fheabhas, it’s fantastic to have, so go raibh míle.

So, the theme of this event, we’ve been talking about it a lot on our Instagram and on our website where we’ve been putting up our stories but the theme of this event is Objects, and Relics, of course. So for our series, we’ve been looking at different ranges of objects, but it’s more than just the material itself. We’re looking at, why are these important? Why have these stories continued? Why do we still talk about them? Why are they still seen today? We had one such episode on the harp, and even on your own passport now, you see a picture of a harp so why was the harp so important, cé fáth a raibh an cláirseach chomh tábhachtach sin?

So, without much more from me talking, I’m going to introduce my partner in crime, Rachel Nic Aoidh, who was with me from the start and has really helped with Project Béaloideas and done so much work for us. So Rachel is finished her second year in TUD, studying Creative Digital Media. She does all the editing for our videos that go up on our IGTV and that go on our website and things. Researches all her own stories, and tells those stories, really fantastic writer, so can’t thank her enough. So today Rachel is going to give us an account on the different weapons used by the different heroes in Irish culture.

Audience

*clapping and cheering*

Rachel Nic Aoidh

Déithe Daoibh, gach duine. Mar is eol daoibh, is mise Rachel Nic Aoidh, as you know, I’m Rachel Nic Aoidh. Go raibh maith agat to Oisín for that introduction just now. Inniu, I’ll be talking to you guys about the different kinds of swords used by our legendary heroes. Each hero in Irish mythology has some of their favourite swords and some of these have achieved legendary status.

One of the most legendary objects in Irish mythology was the Gae Bolga, which was granted to Cú Chulainn by Scáthach. Scáthach was a warrior-queen, whose name meant ‘the shadowy one’. Scáthach was named this as shadow in Irish is Scáthach. She ran a training academy for young warriors in Scotland. The great warrior, Cú Chulainn was her most famous student. Cú Chulainn was the son of the Celtic god Lugh. He was destined for a short but glorious life. Cú Chulainn sought her out because the father of the woman he wished to marry said they couldn’t wed until he had been trained as a champion under Scáthach.

Cú Chulainn was nothing, if not brave and so he found his way to her and charmed her at swordpoint to persuade her to teach him everything she knew. She granted Cú Chulainn his wish, she told him this art carefully, at the same time she taught the young warrior, Fer Diadh, who became Cú Chulainn’s brother-in-arms. They were taught equally but Scáthach granted one gift to Cú Chulainn in secret. It was the Gae Bolga.

This was a spear which separated into barbs on entering human flesh. Its first strike was always fatal. It was with this weapon that caused the death of Fer Diadh, when the two men were forced to fight against each other in the story of the Táin. Though, through her instruction, Cú Chulainn left her island with the spear and the title of the greatest warrior Ireland has ever known.

Another famous sword, which has passed through many different Irish warriors was the Freagarach, or known in English as the Answerer. Forged by the Gods, Manannán Mac Lir, son of the Sea God, Lir, wielded it as his weapon, along with his cloak and boat. This sword was said to have been fired from its scabbard without the warrior touching it and slicing those who opposed the user before them, before they could unsheath their weapons.

From Manannán, he passed this sword down to Lugh Lámhfhada, his foster son and the Celtic god of skill of the Tuatha Dé Danann. He was also known as one of the High Kings of Ireland. It was then given to Cú Chulainn from Lugh, and later on to Conn of the Hundred Battles. It is one of the few relics that remain to this day without an owner.

Diarmuid was the young lieutenant of Fionn, the leader of the Fianna. Diarmuid had two swords he fought with, depending on the type of fighting necessary. He had Móraltach, ‘the great fury’ and Beagaltach, ‘the small fury’. Both these swords were given to him by his father, Oengus. Móraltach left now blow unfinished at the first strike. It was with this sword, that he could slay the giant that guarded the Berries of Yew and it was because he had left this sword at home on the day of his final hunt, that he could not defend himself against the magical boar that attacked him.

Mar is féidir libh a fheiceáil, as you can see, there are many different kinds of swords in Irish mythology. These are only some of the more legendary ones. It was very interesting researching these swords and the stories behind them. Without these swords, these heroes probably wouldn’t be the legends that they are today. Go raibh míle.

Audience

*claps and cheers*

Rachel Nic Aoidh

Now next up, we have a story from Kelvin Akpaloo. Kelvin couldn’t be with us today, but he sent in a great video in his place. Kelvin is the creative director for Eurobug International Youth Work and Collaboration. Today, Kelvin will be talking about an object he holds very close to his heart. He will be showing us a necklace today. He’ll be sharing his own journey with us in this story today and he will be talking about how it represents more to him than just a necklace, which he’ll tell us more about now. Here is Kelvin Akpaloo.

Kelvin Akpaloo

Hello, how are you all doing? My name is Kelvin. K to the E to the L to the V to the I to the N. I am excited to be with you all here today. Again, also said that I am not there with you, maybe sharing, talking face to face, today one Zoom but in real life, minus the video. But I have- I would like to share my story with you all. But before I do that, when I- when you- when I say “stories, stories…”, you say “stories”.

Let’s try, “stories, stories...”

Ah, I hope you all said it. “Stories, stories…”

Tell me.

Oisín, I hope you made them say it. I hope you all said it.

So, once upon a time, there was a boy, me, who lived with his parents, who just came out into this world. And his parents wanted something great for him in life. So at the age of five was when his parents left to find a better place, to find something beautiful, so find something that they could bring- they could raise their children from. So they flew to Europe.

So at the age of five, this boy was taken to the village. And in the village to stay with his grandmother. And when he was there with his grandmother, another woman came, who took him as her own, raised him as her own. And this woman was my second mother, called Ma Mama Amasawa. She raised him. Took care of him. Taught him about morals and how to treat women and how to- how to be a good person in life, through religion, through talking, through playing, any form.

So she was part of one of the main reason why Kelvin, finally, for eight years was able to make it into Europe to be with his mother, and father, and his brothers and sisters at the time.

See at the time, when this boy, Kelvin, me, he would be in Africa and his mother’s- his mother’s and his father’s voices on the phone and his brothers and sisters talking, then he seen pictures of them in the snow, as a young boy, he wanted to be part of- part with them. And eventually- he couldn’t- but eventually, through my second mother and my parents after many denial of me getting a Visa to Europe, then finally one day was able to present me with the opportunity to be part of my family, my brothers and sisters. It was sad leaving my second mother but she presented me a new opportunity with my mother and my father together.

Now when I made it into Europe, one day, my mum went to Africa and I was growing to be a big boy now and my second mother gave my mum a gift to give to me. And this gift was this necklace.

To be honest, I- to be honest with you, the necklace was the same, was the same as this. But that one was broken so when I went to Africa, I will tell you something, but it’s exactly the same, same design, everything.

But this necklace means a lot to me because in 2018, she passed away. And around that year, so many things happened- was happening to me at that very moment in time. When she passed away and I lost this- around that same time when this necklace ripped and when it ripped around that same time this year is when she passed away.

So I went to Africa, Ghana, for the burial. We buried her. And I went around looking for exactly the same necklace. And, to be honest with you, when I found this necklace, it was the only one in the shop. The same necklace that she gave me. So I put this right on my heart because in that moment- when I put this necklace on, it does not just represent me, it represent my second mother, it represent Africa, it represent the person that held me and because of that person I am here in Europe, telling you my story.

So this boy, Kelvin, made it into Europe because of the person that gave me this, my second mother. This necklace represent her. So it’s an object that I hold dearly in my heart. And it’s a necklace that a lot of people, when they notice it round my neck, they ask me “can I have it? Can you give it to me” and I would love to give it to them, but I can’t because when I do, then I am giving my second mother away.

So, this is my object, and this is the story behind it. From Africa, my second mother, and through her, and my parents, I was able to made it into Europe, after so many denied. Thank you.

Stories, stories… stories!

Thank you all so much, I hope you enjoyed my story and see you very soon.

Stories, stories… stories!

Oisín Ó Dubhshláine

So, an chéad cainteoir eile, the next speaker that we have is a speaker that’s been with us, from the start, has had something, some story for us, every single event, which is fantastic and we couldn’t be more grateful. And it’s of course, it’s the wonderful Ruth Nic an Rí. So Ruth is now a third year journalism student at TUD, so she’s focussing on sports journalism as our returning listeners will know. Of course, she’s part of Na Fianna CLG, which I’m told are getting ready for their final- semi-finals in the Dublin Championship so obviously that speaks to her as an athlete and a Camogie player. As you know, and I’m saying it every event, but she’s part of the Galpal Collective which is a wonderful Arts Collective for women, people of colour, and for queerfolk to have a space in the arts industry where they can do their thing basically. It’s wonderful, I’d recommend checking it out on Instagram, they do great work. Ruth has told stories, last time we spoke about heroes and she told the story of, the very- an actual living legend, which was Peig King, who was her grandmother, and before that, spoke about Cú Chulainn and how he got his name and her own connection to the story through hurling and stuff like that. So to tell us about Camógaíocht and her own personal connection to it, is Ruth Nic an Rí.

Audience

*cheers and claps*

Ruth Nic an Rí

Alright, Dia dhuit. Is mise Ruth. So the story that I’m- the object that I’m going to be talking about today is the camán, the hurl, which has obviously been a big, important thing to me because obviously I play camogie.

So, I wanna start off by telling you the first ever time I remember holding a hurl. I would’ve been about three or four years of age. My sister’s team was training. My sister’s a good bit older than me. Basically, I was told just to run along with her. I was wearing this, like, blue pinafore dress, but I had these, like, pink, bright tights, and like, this helmet that was basically too big for me, was thrown on me. And I just remember all these older girls who would’ve been about eight or nine just, like, pushing me around, you know? But, like, I still, like, kept up the sport, you know? And I loved it so much.

But the reason why I kept with it was basically because of this. Because there’s been times where I have fallen out of love with the sport. Very recently, like 2018, I gave up. I got injured, didn’t want to know about it. But this was always just like a constant thing. What I would do would be, I’d get the sliotar and I’d go out to my back garden and there’d be a wall, obviously a spare piece of wall. And I would literally just bat the ball against the wall, you know? Getting rid of all the frustration. It was a great therapy. Just whatever was going on that day, I was getting rid of it. Just through hitting it back and forth, you know? And that was the thing, no matter how bad things were getting on the pitch, this just kept me going, in a sense.

But the thing is, this hurl reminds me of, not just my own growth as a person and, like, in my mental health but also my grandparents, my grandad, Paddy King, would have played for Dublin, back in the fifties and sixties. I remember him talking to me. Actually, this isn’t even my hurl, but it’s actually very similar to what he would have played with. Like, the very skinny, like, the boss doesn’t even exist basically, on this hurl. But, like, I remember I did a project with my grandad last year and we got to sit down and talk about hurling. Basically, I got to hear all the different stories of him going to matches, of having to go to mass first and then the priest would give them a special blessing before they even went out to the match at half twelve. And the reason the matches were at half twelve was because they all had to go to mass first. And just how, like, important hurling was to him. And basically, he left- he’s still here, he’s still with us, but he has left a great foundation for us. He was a founder of the GAA club that I am involved in, Na Fianna CLG. He was president there. So to have the hurl, and to remind me of the sport, it just reminds me of him and what he would have done for me.

But yeah, so he has definitely given me a lot of memories not only that my dad would have played for the club that he founded and basically, like, he- that’s how my dad and my mam met. So obviously, I’m very into GAA because I had no other choice but to be into GAA, that’s how my parents- how they met.

So it just- that’s what gives me a great reminder. The memories of the past and the memories that I am now creating with my friends and my family members. Like, I’m playing on a team with my little cousins at the moment. So it’s like this big sense of family. And a big sense of community. So the memories that I’m making now that I know I’m going to pass on because my family- my parents and the memories that they made and the memories that my grandad made, have now been passed onto me and I’m looking forward to passing it onto the next generation.

So, go raibh maith agat. Is mise, le meas, Ruth Nic an Rí.

Cuid a Dó: Part Two

Rachel Nic Aoidh

Go raibh míle maith agat, as Ruth, i gcomhair an scéal sin. Thank you so much to Ruth for that story about Camogie. Now, next up, we have Daithí Mac Gabhann. Daithi is a scríbhneoir, a writer. He has written many books such as the Thirteen Tallaght Tall Tales, Versions One and Two agus is féidir iad a fháil sa leabharlann, you can find them in the library. Today, he’ll be veering away from the typical objects a little. He has written a poem for us today all about Tallaght, and how it’s gotten its name, and how it was found. Seo libh, Daithí Mac Gabhann.

Daithí Mac Gabhann

Dia dhaoibh. I’m not a grandfather who wandered in my mistake.

Audience

*laughs*

Daithí Mac Gabhann

Okay, this poem is about one and a half hours long, so I hope you have the time for it.

Audience

*laughs*

Daithí Mac Gabhann

However, I’m not gonna read the whole poem. I’m just gonna give you a small excerpt from it. The whole poem, as I say, is about one and a half hours long. So this, hopefully, will be ten minutes. Now, when I see people starting to fall asleep, then I know, it’ll be time to finish up. So, this is it. It’s called the Tallaght Chronicles.

Tallaght is mentioned in the Annals of the Four Masters, which were written in the ninth century and it mentions a race called the Partholonians, who once lived here in this area. Four thousand years ago, believe it or not. Because people think that Tallaght is only fifty or sixty years old but it’s actually at least four thousand years old. And these people were wiped out by a plague. And the full name of Tallaght is Tamhlacht Muintir Partholon, the Plague Memorial of the People of Partholon.

So this actual story, if you can imagine it, it just commences with a stranger coming into the dún or fort , the sentries are sort of saying “who the hell is this coming into the fort” you know? So they asked him who he is. And he comes in, now this is important, he comes in hungry and weak. And a sentry challenged him and says “are you a friend of a foe? Or a lost person?” So it’s as Gaeilge but I’ll have a few English words in there.

“Tháinig an stróinséir an doras isteach

Ócrasach, lag agus é bacac”

Now, listen to those three words. “ocrasach, lag agus é bacach”. In other words, starving, weak, and lame. Okay?

“Dúit and fear fáire le guth faor

‘T-ár anseo os mo chomhair

An namhaid tú, nó duine ar strae? ”

So, are you an enemy, or someone who’s lost?

“A tháinig anseo ag deire an lae’?

Is Bard (Fie) mise gan claidamh ar bith”

So he hasn’t even got a sword to protect himself

Ins na sléibhte thuaidh a fuair mé breith.”

And he identified himself as “Mac Tuatha”, a bard or a file, and asks for food.

“‘Mac Tuatha’ an t-ainm atá orm go síoraí

Ó a chara - tabhair dom… bia.

Mar bhronntanas ort léirfaigh mé ceol”

So as a reward he’ll play a bit of music for them

“Dá dtabharfaidh tú dom arán nó muicéoil’ ”

So give him either bread or mutton. So he welcomes him and that evening the bard comes in with the harp.

“ ‘T-ár isteach Bard agus fáilte romhat

beidh bia agus deoch ar a bpointe agat.’

An oíche sin agus an féasta ag rith

Tháinig Mac Tuatha agus eisean le cruit.”

With a harp. It’s called a cruit because you literally shake it. Then he begins to play the music. Sorry, the he begins to play the sweetest of music and told the story of Fionn and the Fianna and other stories from the four corners of Ireland.

“Shuí sé síos ar árdan beag

Agus thosaigh sé ceol a shéint go bog”

So he played soft, soft music.

“Shéinn sé ceol “cómh milis le mil” ”

Now that’s an old Irish expression. As sweet as honey. So he played music as sweet as honey.

“A déalaigh ón cruit agus tríd an halla a d’fil.”

It escape from the harp and filled around the hall, or returned around the hall. Page 46.

Audience

*laughs*

Daithí Mac Gabhann

“Cann sé na líonta agus na dánta

a mhair go buan ó aois macánta”

So he elated all the old stories.

“Na scéalta dá raibh ó tús an domhain

a bain le Fionn, na Fianna agus a gclann”

Eventually, one of the warriors stood up, Miotán, and asked him how Tallaght got its famous name. Then Mac Tuatha began to play the saddest of music.

“Shéinn sé dánta - ó na cúig cúigí

A d’fuascail na deora (ó gach éine istigh)”

That is to say, they were all floods of tears.

“Ansin labhair Miotán ‘Ar son na laochra baillithe anall”

On behalf of the warriors that was on a quest with him.

“Innis an scéal i dtaobh Tamhlacht cailiúl”

Tell the story of famous Tallaght.

“Shéinn Mac Tuatha ansin ceol cómh brónach is folamh

A chuir in aigne do cách an poll deireanach sa dtálamh”

So then he began to play music so sad and dreary that everyone was thinking about the grave in the ground.

“Nó, cosúil le gaoth trí Dún a seidú

ag caoine ‘s ag gol, i gcónaí a mhéadú”

So the breeze is going through the Dún (fort) and it’s increasing in volume the whole time. And so this is the story he told. Now, like all Irish stories it begins a long time ago.

“Fadó, Fadó”

So in a foreign land, Greece, the Partholonians lived and when Helen of Troy- we’re going back that far- was kidnapped at the start of the Trojan War, which lasted for ten years. Now, here you are, here’s the part.

“Fadó, Fadó i dtír thar lear

Bhí clann darbh ainm Parthalon sa tír a mháir

Theocratus an Taoiseach a bhí acu

Dílis, ómósach, le binneas sa guth.

Nuair a gabhadh ón nGreig, Helen (an dheas)”

That’s Helen of Troy.

“Troid sé ar taobh an ceannaire Aeneas

Ar feadh deich mbliana troid siad gan sos

Go dtí go raibh na Namhaid curtha fé cos.”

So, for ten years, he actually fought against the captors of Helen of Troy. After it ended, they found that the land had been usurped and they decided not to fight anymore. They were at it for ten years, they were fed up with the whole thing. And to leave in peace, never to return. Now this is where they came back to their own country after all the fighting.

“D’fil sé thar n-ais go teaghlach ‘s Tír

Críochnaithe le troda (an méid sin soiléir)

Ach bhí a tí Gafa ag stróinséar nua

A chuir smacht, ‘s eagla i rith an dtuaith.”

So

“D’fág siad an Gréig (Ní filleadh siad riamh)”

So they never would be coming back- they never would come back to Greece.

“Ar thóir tír nua le habhanna ‘s sliabh

Ar na dtonnta a sheol siad aniar ‘s aduaidh”

So on the wave, they were back and forth, back and forth, and up and down.

“A lóisceadh fén Grian ‘s gaoithe cruaidh”

And they were roasting under the sun and burned by the cruel winds. They visited many places on their voyage which is in the complete story, but gladly for you I’m not doing it tonight so you’ll just have to use your imagination. So, they visited on their voyage islands of fire and ice and then eventually reached Ireland where events happened- again, which are in the main story but I only have ten minutes after all- which led to their demise.

And a memorial was erected in remembering- now this is the sad part, “awh”. After the disaster, the Partholonians had been buried, the natives were looking for a way to remember them. Maybe they should erect a memorial cern, so that their names would not be forgotten and that’s the meaning of Tallaght. ‘Támh’ is a plague. A ‘leacht’ is a memorial. So it’s the plague memorial of the People of Partholon.

Now, this is the sad part, as I said.

“T-ar éis curtha an Parthaloní déire”

That’s after the burial of the last Parthalonian.

“Chun iad a cuimhniú bhí na dúchasaigh” - that’s the native Irish People- “ag faire”

They were looking for a way to remember them

“Leacht cuimnheacháin bá cheart a cur in airde

Ionad nach mbeidh ainmneacha Partaloní fe náire

Le leacht ansin chun cuimhniú ar an dTábh

Le lán clocha bhí na dúchasaigh sásúil sábh”

They built it up with loads and loads of stones.

“Ainm ‘Tamhlacht Muintir Parthalon’ a dtugaimid don áit

Seo dúirt an Taoiseach le lán neart”

Now, that’s not our present Taoiseach. That’s the leader of the Irish Dúchasaigh.

“Sin mar a labhair sé - dá réir na sean scéalta”

So this is the Bard telling the story.

“Nuair a chríochnaigh an cuimhnith tar éis na laethanta

Seo Tamhlacht Muintir Parthalon an t-ainm cáiliúl

A tugtar don cathar de réir finscéal”

So, according to legend, that’s how they got the name ‘Tallaght’.

“Stad Mac Tuatha -’s deora sa súil”

He stopped and tears were flowing out of his eyes

“Mar bhí déire anois tágtha lena scéal

Ar críochnú dó bhí na laochra ag gol”

So all the warriors were buckets of tears too.

“A cuimhnú ar an tréibh a scroistear gan moill”

“Thug na saighdiúirí curteis dó”

They all said “thanks very much, sir, you’re very good”.

“Fear iontach é le scéalta beo”

Full of lovely stories.

“D’imigh sé an dún amach”

And he was, as mentioned earlier

“Neartach, neamhocrasach

Agus gan bheith bacac”

So he was full of strength, not hungry, and not lame anymore. Sin a bhfuil, go raibh maith agat.

Audience

*cheers and claps”

Oisín Ó Dubhshláine

So, sin é Daithí Mac Gabhann ar aon nós. Agus dán iontach a bhí agat ansin, so go raibh míle, Daithí. So, an chéad cainteoir eile, the next speaker, again is coming to us virtually with a video that she sent in. She also gave us an account last time on the Women of the Tuatha Dé Danann. So this time, she’s back to tell us all about portal tombs, which I know sounds like something right out of sci-fi, but I swear they’re real. They can be found all over Ireland which she will explain more. So we have Sharon Devlin who works in TCA and she’s also an artist. Her work is absolutely incredible and you don’t just have to take my word for it, because she has her own Instagram. So, you can find her on Instagram @sharondevlin_art. She also has her own website, which she’ll mention in her video and her own Etsy shop so be sure to check out the stuff that she does. That’s enough from me, I’m gonna get the video on now.

Audience

*cheers and claps*

Sharon Devlin

Hello. My name is Sharon Devlin. I am a visual artist and I’m very honoured to be asked to make this short recording to discuss portal tombs with you today. I decided to bring on some visual aids too so you don’t have to look at me reading from some notes. I’m going to show you some of the work that I’ve done in relation to our topic today. I’ve always been really, really interested in Ireland, being Irish, and our history, our mythology. And portal tombs have been central to that interest for the longest time. When I started painting first it was really the portal tombs, the dolmens, the standing circles that really, really called to me and they, you know, they were an inspiration for a lot of my early work. So I’m going to show you one, I hope these visual aids work. So this is Poulnabrone Dolmen. I’m gonna hold it up, while I have a quick chat with you. Sorry for the shaking, I have a bit of a shaky hand. This was done in pastel.

So, portal tombs were more commonly known as Dolmens. They’re a type of singular chamber tomb. There have been approximately 180 found in Ireland. Most date from the early Neolithic Period. Dolmens are typically formed using two or more megaliths which support a large capstone on top. Some portal tombs were covered in layers of smaller stones or earth which formed a tumulus- I hope I’m pronouncing that properly. Small path stones were placed between the megalith and the cap to provide the desired height and appearance. Over thousands of years, since these monuments were built, weathering has removed the smaller pieces of stone and has only left the skeletons behind.

As you can see there, so Poulnabrone, this really, really interesting site in Clare, in the Burren. And it’s just beautiful. It’s actually in a farmer’s field so the enterprising farmer has set up a kind of a stall where people can contribute. And lots of visitors come around and they all make their own little, tiny, little dolmens around it. And there’s just something really, really special about that area. It’s just so beautiful. You can feel a definitely clear energy there.

So that was, as I said, one of the first pieces I ever painted. I was so drawn to the subject and so inspired by it. So this is the second- I hope you can kind of see it there.

Okay. So it is still unclear as to why dolmens were built. The oldest found date from seven thousand years ago in Western Europe. The consensus is that they were built for burial purposes despite the fact that there was considerable lack of evidence to support this theory. There have been human remains found, along with artefacts near or in some portal tombs and with the use of radio-carbon dating, we can get an idea of when they are from but unfortunately, there is no way to tell if these artefacts are from the time when these stones were set in place. The question still remains: if they are burial sites; ritual sites or used for something else altogether.

So Poulnabrone, the dolmen, the one that I showed you first, is found in the Burren in County Clare. It’s the best known dolmen in the country. It’s unusually large for a portal tomb and it is in one of the most desolate and highest points in the Burren. There are questions as to why it was built. Excavations of this site found the remains of thirty three adults and children. And there is also the remains of a much later bronze age baby, found underneath the tomb, which is really, really wonderful. When I came to this piece, I often work with my brother who is a musician and he’s a writer as well and he wrote this piece around it. So it’s:

“Having stood, and scrutinised all that’s before it,

We will pass in a blink of it’s stone-clad eye

Never showing a grasp of the time it has conquered

Our brief measure taken against its life, long passed by”

So, it kinda just captures the solidity, the permanence, of this beautiful piece of history, that we’re lucky enough to still have in our country, so if you haven’t been, I’d recommend a visit.

Okay, so this is a piece. It was actually inspired by Piper Stones, which is just up the road from me in County Wicklow, just outside Blessington. And I was just really, I suppose, compelled to try and capture, kind of emphasise the mystery of it, you know? And its connection with nature, its connection with our world. So I’ll let you have a little look at that there.

Okay, so portal tombs are often known as Diarmuid and Gráinne’s Beds in Irish mythological stories and folklore or connected with specific monuments. Many dolmens are also associated with the graves of famous giants or warriors, such as Nuada of the Silver Arm in Sligo’s Lavy Rock. The Tuatha Dé Danann are said to have used the portal tombs as entrances to our mortal worlds. Other sites were used by the Fianna and Fionn Mac Cumhaill as cooking places or griddle stones, especially in West Sligo. The griddle stone is one of several in the area associated with Fionn Mac Cumhaill and his cooking activities. These monuments are just across Ballisodare Bay from Curraghmore and Knocknarea in the Cúil Irra Peninsula- I do apologise for my pronunciation- where more monuments are associated with Fionn.

Now this is just another piece so here is Curraghmore. I’m hoping you can see it against the glass. So here we have Benbulbin and we have Curraghmore. So it’s a portal tomb and it’s surrounded by the standing stones. Again, another really, really beautiful spot. Really full of history. There’s Queen Medb’s tomb on the top of Benbulbin. That’s such a magnificent mountain. And full of mystery, full of mythology. Just really, really, beautiful.

Okay, so the dolmens were also said to be built by fairies. They were therefore regarded with superstitious dread and this helped to preserve the structures. These tiny supernatural beings who were said to have lived in the domens, would kidnap children and leave a changeling in their place. Irish country people would never refer to them by name. Instead, calling them the Good People. And strangely enough, there are often Fairy Trees, hawthorn trees, dotted around the areas where dolmens stand. You know, so, myself personally, I believe there’s more to this world than what we see, visually, straight on, you know? And to explore these monuments to our past and the mythologies around them and the stories around them, I think is just a wonderful thing, and it inspires me all the time.

So, I think that’s it for now. I hope you enjoyed our little conversation and if you want to see more of my work, it’s www.sharondevlin.ie and yeah, I’m on Facebook too and Instagram, so if you’ve any questions, I’d love to have a chat with you around it. And thanks very much. Bye bye.

Cuid a Trí: Part Three

Audience

*claps*

Rachel Nic Aoidh

Okay. Go raibh míle maith agat to Sharon for that beautiful story about portal tombs. So, last but not least we have Oisín Ó Dubhshláine. Oisín is the creator of Project Béaloideas, and once again I am so happy to have been asked to take part in this beautiful project. Today, Oisín will be talking about the Sons of Turenn. This is one of the three tragedies in Irish mythology, the others being the Fate of the Sons of Usna, and the Children of Lir. And once again I just want to say thank you to Aon Scéál for having us today. They’re a great place. We love you so much. They have the best food in Tallaght, bia is blasta.

Audience

*laughs*

Rachel Nic Aoidh

Bia is blasta. But once again, thank you for your help, for having us host today. And now without further ado, Oisín Ó Dubhshláine.

Audience

*applause*

Oisín Ó Dubhshláine

So now I’m actually supposed to come onstage and speak, eh, here I am.

Audience

*laughter*

Yeah so, as Rachel said, is mise Oisín Ó Dubhshláine, so I created Project Béaloideas, all stuff you already know. I’m gonna jump right into the story. So the sons of Turenn, as Rachel was saying, is one of the three tragedies, or sorrowful tales, in Irish mythology. It’s a bit of a saga, but it’s full of these intricate details- and things that I don’t really wanna brush over,- but we’ve only got so much time, so I’ll try my best to get it all in. Anyway.

So fadó, fadó, long ago, i ré na Tuatha Dé Danann, bhí coimhlint ann idir na Tuatha Dé Danann agus na Fomhór. So. Long ago -like, fadó fadó- as you know, in the time of the Tuatha Dé Danann there was a conflict in Ireland between the Tuatha Dé Danann and the Fomorians. Now the Fomorians, as we’ve said in our series, were this evil race of monsters, sea-pirates, generally just not good people, bad vibes all ‘round, anyway.

Audience

*laughter*

Oisín Ó Dubhshláine

The Tuatha Dé Danann, after claiming the land, had settled and thinking, “this is good. This is comfortable.” The Fomorians came and started taxing us, started oppressing the Tuatha Dé Danann. Basically, just making their lives very, very uncomfortable for them. Champions like the Dagda and Ogma were just put to work, weren’t given food, which the Dagda really wasn’t happy about because he has an enormous, ENORMOUS appetite. So definitely, definitely wasn’t happy with that.

But anyway, this went on for a while, until Lugh Lámfhada came along. Now Lugh was one of the greatest heroes in Irish mythology. And when he saw what was happening, it was him who roused the Tuatha Dé Danann to start fighting back. He saw what was happening to those people, and he knew, “no, this is it, has to end.” So, after a relatively small battle with the Fomorians, Lugh asked his dad, Cian to go and get some more allies for them.

So, Cian said, “yes, of course. We need all the help we can get with this. I’ll do what I can.”

So Cian rode off.

As he was making his way to find more allies, he came across the sons of Turenn. Now while the Tuatha Dé Danann were all being oppressed by the Fomorians, that didn’t mean there wasn’t some in-fighting. There were still families that didn’t get along with one another. Unfortunately for Cian, the sons of Turenn and Cian’s own family did not get on well at all. So when the sons of Turenn saw him, they chased him and he said, “right, I better get out of here.”

So, he took off. Took out one of his wands, tapped himself, and transformed himself into the body of a pig. So, made his way onto some farmland where there were some pigs and hid amongst them.

This would have worked, Cian was a pretty good shape-shifter and he was quick on his feet. Unfortunately he did it right in front of them so they saw exactly where he went.

Audience

*laughter*

Oisín Ó Dubhshláine

The three Sons of Turenn were Brian, Iuchar, and Iucharba. Now, Brian was the clever one, so he took out his own wand, tapped his two brothers and transformed them into hounds. So, they took off. Scared all the other pigs away. And some say that while Cian transformed into a pig, he still walked on two legs, so he made it fairly obvious that he was actually a human. I don’t know what was going through his head.

Audience

*laughter*

Oisín Ó Dubhshláine

Anyway, they hunted him down, caught him eventually, and went to stab him.

But, being a pig, that has magic, he cried out and he said, “ Please, please. Mercy. Don’t kill me.”

Now, Brian knew exactly who he was, and he went, “even if you had seven lives, I’d kill you every single time.”

And he said, “alright, alright okay. You can kill me but please, can I die in my own body? Will you allow me to transform back into my true form?”

Brian said, “ugh, fine.”

So, Cian transformed himself back into a man and thought, “I gotcha! Now, if you had killed me in the body of a pig, you would’ve just had to pay the blood price for a pig. I’m a man now, so if you kill me, you’ll have to pay the blood price -or the fine- of a man, and you won’t do that.”

And Brian said, “will I not?”

Being one of the Tuatha Dé Danann, Cian said, “well I know you won’t, because you won’t get away with it. Your weapons will cry out against you. Whatever you use against me, they’ll cry out against you and confess your own guilt. Even if you won’t.”

So Brian said, “that’s fine. We’ll use the earth.”

So, they picked up the biggest rocks they could find and unfortunately they stoned Cian to death. Now, they buried CIan. -fairly dark but- they buried Cian, but the earth rejected his body. So they had to bury him seven times. And eventually, they covered his body in a cairn and left him there.

Off they went.

They said, “right. We got away with that fairly easily.” and they left.

Lugh, who had just come from the battle with the Fomorians, was looking around and thinking, “Where’s my dad gone? Where was that help he was supposed to go and get us?”

So, somehow they won. They didn’t need the allies anyway. And Lugh was travelling back to Tara, in search of his dad along the way. As he passed the cairn, under which his dad was buried, the stones cried out to tell him what had happened to his dad.

So, Lugh stopped. Told the rest of his soldiers to stop and said, “look, I want to do this properly.”

Thug sé socraid ceart d’athair. So he gave his father a proper funeral, sang a lament, and carved some ogham into a stone. Send him off the right way. The way a son should send him off.

Now, after all this Lugh wanted revenge, like anyone would. He travelled back to Tara. When he entered he knew there was nothing he could do there. Because there was King’s peace, couldn’t have any fighting on Tara, otherwise the Tuatha Dé Danann would never have been allies with one another. So, Lugh asked the King, Nuada, the High-King at the time.

He asked him, “what would you do? My father’s died, what would you do to your father?”

And the king said, “ I wouldn’t kill the man in one day.” He said, “I would make it last days.”

And Lugh was thinking, “ Here you’re probably right.”

And he had a suspicious feeling that it was the sons of Turenn, who were present, cheekily enough.

So Lugh told the audience - well not the audience- the gathering, “my father’s been killed.” and there was a lot of outrage.

A lot of which came from the sons of Turenn, who were phenomenal actors. And Lugh said he wouldn’t ask the king to kill who had killed his own father.

And the sons of Turenn were thinking, “will we confess?”

Now Iuchar and Iucarba said, “yeah, we should. Definitely. He’s not gonna kill us.”

Brian said, “wait.”

Lugh said, “I only ask for an eric” -which was a blood fine -or a blood price. He said- “I only ask for something small.”

So the sons of Turenn stood and Brian said, “while we didn’t kill your father, we’ll pay the fine. We will restore your family’s honour, basically.”

And Lugh said, “Alright, do I have your word on that?”

And he placed under- he placed the sons of Turenn under a geasa, which was a little more than a swear. A magical swear.

Lugh said, “I only ask for three apples, the skin of a pig, a spear, two steeds and a chariot, seven swine, a welp of a dog, a cooking spit, and three shouts on a hill.”

Fairly… odd list to ask.

Which is what the sons of Turenn thought and Brian said, “even a hundred times wouldn’t be too much.”

So they agreed. Lugh said, “okay, Do you know what three apples I’m looking for?”

They said no.

He said, “ I’m looking for three apples from the garden of the Hesperides. They’re magical, and they’re golden. Only these will do. They taste of honey, and they’re as big as a child’s head. They heal all disease, and no matter how many times you take a bite from them, they never grow less.”

The sons were thinking, “ohh, this might’ve been a mistake.”

Lugh went through the rest of the list.

“The pig skin is owned by the King of Greece. It heals all wounds and if you place it in a stream, it will turn that water into wine for nine days.”

“The spear is owned by the King of Persia. It’s kept in a pot of oil because when it touches the air -or ever water- it’s set alight.”

“The two horses and the chariots are owned by Dobar, King of Sicily. They are- They can travel on land or sea, and cannot be killed.”

“The seven pigs are owned by Asail, King of the Golden Pillars. And even when they’re eaten at night, they’re still alive in the morning. They regenerate.”

“The dog’s welp. From the king of Iorraway, or Norway. Can slay any beast, and is impossible for you to get.”

“The cooking spit is owned by the Merrow and is found on the island of Finchorry, which is not found on the land or on the sea.”

“And the three shouts have to be given on the Hill of Mochaen to the north of Lochlann -which is where the Lochlannaigh came from, the Vikings-. Now, this is owned by Mochaen, who trained with my father. So, if you think that my price isn’t too much, his surely will be.”

The sons then knew they had to agree, they had to uphold their honour. So they went to their father, Turenn, and they asked for his guidance.

He said, “ask Lugh for his horse, Aonbharr. It’s the fastest horse and it too can travel on water or land.”

They thought, “okay, right. But what if he says no?”

And Turenn said, “well you’re not gonna actually ask him for the horse. You’re gonna ask for Scuabtoinne.”

Now Scuabtoinne was the Wave Sweeeper. It was owned by Manannán Mac Lir who was the God of the Sea.

He said, “Lugh is under a geasa himself. He cannot refuse a second request.”

So, they did as he asked, they said, “can we have Aonbharr?”

And he said, no.

They said, “ Can we have Scuabtoinne then?” and Lugh begrudgingly said, yes.

Now Scuabtoinne can grow to accommodate any size of people that would be on it and, of course, being called the wave sweeper, it was a very fast ship. So off they left. The left from Binn Édair, which is Howth, not far from here. And their sister Eithne sang poetry and weeped for them.

Their first quest, -the first part of their quest- they went to the Garden of the Hesperides. Brian transformed them, with the wand, -the three of them- into hawks. They took off into the air. They swooped down to snatch the apples, when they were shot at by fiery arrows. These apples were obviously very valuable, so they weren’t going to be taken easily. They snatched 4 of the apples. Brian took one in his talons and one in his beak. And off they flew. Now, the daughters who lived -the daughters of Hesperides- were then transformed into griffins, and they took off after them. So Brian transformed his brothers from hawks to swans, and eventually they dove into the sea and even the flaming arrows weren’t able to hit them. They made it back into the boat, and that was their first adventure.

Their second adventure! Off to Greece they went for the pig skin. Now, Ireland was known for its poets. It’s said that poetry was actually created here in Ireland. And this went back this far to the time of this tale. So, they disguised themselves as bards and in they walked. Now, the minstrels of the King of Greece sang their songs. And while they were warriors, they weren’t great poets. They were fantastic at fighting, but not great with the aul’ poetry. They did their best.

Brian told a poem where he very thinly threatened -like thinly veiled- used a threat against the king and spoke about the pigskin and how they were warriors and they would take what they wanted.

Now, the king said, “the poetry was great guys, but unfortunately I can’t give you the pig skin. But what I’ll do for you, is I’ll give you the fill of the skin in red gold by three.”

So they would have nine.

Brian said, “ Okay, that’s fine.”

They went to have their gold collected, when Brian snatched the pig skin anyway,

Audience

*laughter at bird flying away overhead*

Oisín Ó Dubhshláine

I don’t think they like my story.

Audience

*laughter*

Oisín Ó Dubhshláine

Brian snatched the pig skin anyway and sliced the king in half. They fought their way out. Eventually they made it back to Scuabtoinne and sailed to Persia.

Again, they went and disguised themselves as poets, as bards, and while Brian’s poetry had improved, the King of Persia still saw right through the lyrics and said, “that’s a great spear you’re talking about. That wouldn’t happen to be my spear would it?”

And Brian said, “it would. And I would like to take it.”

The king of persia obviously said, “well, no.”

So, Brian picked up the spare apple and lobbed it at the king’s head. It’s said that he threw it so hard, the king’s brains came out the other side. Which is quite gruesome. They took the spear anyway, they fought their way out, and made it back.

Now at this point they’d built a bit of a reputation for themselves, these three Irish lads going around Europe and fighting their way through anywhere to get what they wanted. So, eventually they went to Sicily and Iuchar and Iucharba were saying, “ We’re not doing the poet trick again, it’s not gonna work.

Audience

*laughter*

Oisín Ó Dubhshláine

“We keep getting hurt.”

Brian said, “okay fine I’ve a different plan, I’ve a different plan.”

So, the Irish were known for being fearsome warriors. So they enrolled in the king of Sicily’s army. They were there for a month, and no sign of the horses. They couldn’t find these horses that could travel on land or sea anywhere. So, as I said, after a month the three lads were sick of it.

They went to the king and said, “where are your horses? We’ve been here for a month! This is what we came for!”

And the king said, “ahh, you’re here for the horses, well why didn’t you say so? There’s a display tomorrow, you can come for them then.”

So, tomorrow came. And the horses were shown off. Now when the horses crossed the sea, mind you, they came nearby the lads. Iuchar and Iucharba jumped onto the backs of the horses, Brian slew the chariot rider, and off they went. The king screaming behind them.

So, that was four down, four left to go. They weren’t doing too badly. As I said, they had built themselves a reputation and they learned of this when they came to the Land of the Golden Pillars. Now they met with the king here, and while the place was well-guarded, the king allowed them in and they spoke. No fighting, no arguing, they just spoke.

There was a peaceful transition there. So they took what they needed and the king said, “where are you off to next?”

The lads said, “ We’re going to the king of Iorraway to get the dog’s welp.”

So with their seven swine on the boat, the king said “I’ll go with you. He’s my son in law. I’ll help this diplomatic mission.”

Off they went to Iorraway -to Norway- and, unfortunately, the king’s son-in-law, the king of Iorraway, wasn’t as peaceful and wasn’t as welcoming as his father-in-law had been.

The three sons went to him and said, “we need this dog’s welp, and we’re not taking no for an answer.”

He said, “well you’ll have to.”

So, they fought their way out. They were separated a lot during the fight. They fought half the fight, almost the entire army. They were cut, battered, bruised, nearly died a handful of times, but eventually they captured the king.

They brought him to the King of the Land of the Golden Pillars and said, “what do you want us to do with him?”

His father-in-law then said, “well, you’d make the right decision, you could use him as ransom to get the dog’s whelp and that would be that. You can set him free after that.”

So, that’s exactly what they did. The boat was fairly full at this point. And Lugh, who was back in Ireland, heard of what was happening to the sons of Turenn. He used his own magic, his own divination and could actually look right at how their adventure was going. Now, while Lugh may have seemed to be reasonable or like he- I don’t know, maybe you, yourselves thought the price wasn’t too much to ask. But he still had a fire in his heart. He was still burned. His own father had been killed. Agus he then sent the three of them to sleep.

When they woke, they forgot about the rest of the items that they had to get. They had a calling to go back to Ireland. They needed to go home, they needed to see Éire. Na cnoic, na habhann, gach rud. The hills, the rivers, everything.

They landed in Binn Édair, went to Tara, gave Lugh the six items. They were glad to be able to get rid of them off the boat anyway. The swine, the dog, and the horses. It wasn’t working out very well. They asked if that was enough, and if the debt was repaid.

And Lugh said, “no. You still owe me a cooking spit and three shouts of a hill.”

The lads were exhausted at this point. They went anyway because they knew they had to restore the honour of their family. They searched for years for that island that couldn’t be found on land and couldn’t be found in the sea. Until eventually, it occurred to Brian that it was underwater. So he fashioned himself a water dress and went right down under. He came to this village full of eerie lights and these women warriors. The Merrow. All the Merrow wore red caps and they were breathing fine, they didn’t need a water dress such as his.

When Brian came to them, he asked for the cooking spit. Now, these women warriors knew that they could take him on no problem, they knew that they could kill him. And they made that very clear to him. But still they let him take the cooking spit, no problem. Maybe it’s because it was only women down there and they loved seeing a guy for once. Or maybe, because the Merrow are magic themselves, they could see the outcome of this story already.

Either way, Brian went back up to the boat with the cooking-spit and thought “one item, one item left. Then we can go home.”

They went to the Hill of Mochaen, in Lochlann. It was freezing and they knew all they had to do was give three shouts from the top of the hill. Unfortunately, Mochaen has sons of his own. He had three sons: Corc, Conn, and Hugh. And it had been made illegal for anyone to shout from the Hill of Mochaen, which Lugh was bound to have known.

The sons of Turenn explained why they were there. They explained that they had to give three shouts off a hill and the rest of their quest.

And Mochaen asked, “but why? Why do you need to do all of this?”

Brian said, “well, we- we’re paying the blood debt for someone.”

“Who?”

“For Cian.”

Mochaen said, “there’s no way you’re gonna shout off this hill tonight.”

So, Mochaen and his three sons fought against the sons of Turenn, until eventually, with each side fatally wounding the other, the sons of Turenn prevailed. Mochaen, Corc, Conn, and Hugh all lay dead on the ground. And the sons of Turenn weren’t far behind them.

So they made their way to the top of the hill and gave three shouts for home. After this, it took them awhile to come back down off the mountain onto Scuabtoinne and make their way home.

Turenn, who was expecting his sons, waited in Binn Édair for them. When he saw their boat come in, he was happy. He rejoiced. They had to be done now. But when he found them, his hope died in his heart.

He said, “what do I do, Brian? What do you need me to do?”

Brian said, “give this to Lugh, and tell him, tell him we gave the shouts from the Hill of Mochaen. And ask him if he’ll give us the pigskin that can heal any wound and return a man to life as long as he’s still breathing.”

Turenn ran- or raced to Tara, as fast as he could. And when Lugh was given the chance to save the men that had killed his own father, he refused. He took the cooking spit and left, leaving Turenn to return to Binn Édair with only bad news.

There the sons of Turenn died, and Turenn, of a broken heart, he too died. Leaving Eithne alone to bury them in Binn Édair, in the ground.

So sin é an scéal Mhic Turenn. That is the story of the Sons of Turenn.

Audience

*applause*

Oisín Ó Dubhshláine

So, sin é ár n-imeacht ar Iarsmaí agus ar Réada. So that’s our event on Objects and Relics. Just to wrap up, I thought we’d talk about the different objects that we’ve seen today and maybe why these stories have survived. There’s that one, my own there, we saw the fine and all the objects that Lugh wanted. Ordinary objects but we see that when the value was placed on them, that it was a blood debt, we see that there’s an even more important value behind that. And it was justice. Lugh wanted justice. But he wasn’t going to pay the blood fine for killing the sons of Turenn when he knew that they killed his father. He was smarter than that. He manipulated them, basically, into going on a quest where he knew that they would be doomed.

We have things like- sorry, like weapons. Like Rachel was talking about earlier, where we as Irish will fight for what’s right and for ourselves really. Again, for justice. We have things like Kelvin’s story about his necklace. And he said it was an ordinary necklace but to him it was so much more than that because- it was almost the opposite of personification, where an object is embodied by a person, but in this case it was the person that was valuable to him. And he searched for a necklace that looked exactly like it because that was his story and it was connected to him- part of his identity.

Things like the hurl and iománaíocht in Éirinn- agus camógaíocht where it stretches back years, where groups of people, one hundred and fifty aside would have hurling matches because the Irish are very skillful people and a playful people, and always down for the craic. Things like books, like Daithí has written, leabhair ar fáil sa leabharlann. Where we see that- how important knowledge is. And Rachel herself has made an episode on Crainn na hÉireann, on the Trees of Ireland and how important the knowledge that they gave were. And I just think it’s very interesting that books are made from paper which come from trees. So even now, we still get all our information from the trees- until the Internet.

Audience

*laughter*

Oisín Ó Dubhshláine

We talked about portal tombs where we see the importance of death in Ireland. And it’s something that we’ll explore further at Project Béaloideas with some more of our events. And not just death but celebrating life. And not only that, but how these tombs inspired Sharon to create even more art. More Irish art, which is obviously fantastic. That was all of them. I hope I didn’t miss anyone.

Audience

*laughter*

Oisín Ó Dubhshláine

So, in our series, you can see the different objects that we’ve talked about. The Four Treasures of the Tuatha Dé Danann. The Three Values of the Tuatha Dé Danann. Harps. The Mether. Trees. And then Ships. They all represent different things. Things that are still valuable to us, even here at Project Béaloideas. We have things like the Mether, where hospitality is important. Community was important. We had things like ships where adventure is important and while we haven’t gone on tour yet, that’s not to say that we won’t in the future.

So, we can see that as long as we keep telling stories about these objects, about why they’re important to us, they’ll be important to future generations.

So, to just finish up with the thank you’s, we just want to say a go raibh míle maith agat to Aon Scéal. Great staff and seriously cannot recommend more that you come pop up and chat to the staff, some of whom are here tonight.

Audience

*whooping and laughter*

Oisín Ó Dubhshláine

And they didn’t make me say that.

As well, we’ll say a big go raibh míla maith agat tot the Comhairle Contae, to the County Council for supporting us and helping us to make this as nice as it is.

We’ll also say a big thank you to you guys, an lucht féachana, the audience. Thanks for being with us and obviously, it’s your support that helps us continue with what we’re doing.

Lastly, to the speakers, go raibh míle maith agaibh. Really, if it wasn’t for you’s it would actually just be me, telling stories all night. And I don’t know if anyone one really wants to hear me talk about the Sons of Turenn for an hour and a half.

Audience

*laughter*

Oisín Ó Dubhshláine

But anyway, it’s nice to mix it up and of course, with the inclusion, we’re always getting more stories from more people.

So our next event, right before Oíche Shamhna, the day before Halloween, we’re gonna be talking about Scary Stories and we’re gonna have loads of new stories for you guys every week on our website projectbealoideas.com and our Instagram @projectbealoideas. So, be sure to check them out. Go raibh míle maith agaibh.