The Storyteller's Knowledge
"How do we sing, chant and speak our world into existence?"
Timothy J. Cooley, Cultural Sustainabilities: Music, Media, Language, Advocacy (2019, 23)
The Irish storytelling tradition has had a central role in the development of Irish culture and identity. Across time and space, Ireland's history, landscape and people have been recorded through the voice of the storyteller, or seanchaí. It was through the storyteller's performance that communities accessed information about and experienced their local environments.
Audiovisual collage by Catherine Finn
Storytelling as Knowledge Creation
Not only a cultural tradition, storytelling rooted itself into Irish society as a knowledge-creating practice which has shaped communication, meaning and experience in communities.
James Bulley and Özden Şahin, 'What is Practice Research?' (2021, 11)
Martin Paul Eve, 'What is Practice Research?' (2021, 8)
Bulley and Sahin's paper outlines the potential for self-reflexive practice research to explore different 'ways of knowing' and to expand the ways in which we create and communicate knowledge.
o
o
o
o
With roots in pre-literate Ancient Ireland, the storyteller was a repository of all types of knowledge; history, myth, geneologies and land records. These were interwoven through the storyteller's voice to form stories for the community. This knowledge was kept alive through the oral tradition, and was transformed as it was passed between communities, geographies and generations.
o
o
o
o
o
o
The storytelling tradition broke down distinctions between types of knowledge; between what is real and what is imagined, what is 'fact' and what is 'fiction.' It was through these blurred narratives that people understood the landscape around them, understood the world and formed their sense of self.
o
o
Mediums and Mediators the sounding of the story
In what ways can knowledge be communicated?
Cartoon from Dublin Opinion, early 1960s
In its most traditional oral form, a storytelling performance usually centres around spoken word, but may also draw on the interlinked traditions of music and song to further enhance the tale. Well-known storyteller Eddie Lenihan has described the the tradition as being 'of its time,' in that the stories are most brilliant when performed orally, and suffer when translated into other mediums such as the written word. While he values the traditions, Lenihan embraces modern technology to facilitate communication and engagement. He has hosted online storytelling sessions, and has been a participant in 'Dial-a-Seanchaí'—a project by which one can call a phoneline to listen to stories and music. Perhaps there is indeed room for a wider range of mediums within the storytelling tradition.
Eddie Lenihan on Zoom
the voice of knowledge
Stories were told by a particular individual who had been trained in the craft of memory and performance. Most often an older man, this person was looked upon by the community as a bearer of ancient wisdom. As a performer himself, Eddie Lenihan strongly values the power of one's individual voice and expression to transform a story and captivate an audience. The heightened importance of the storyteller's voice gave them heightened agency within the community. While tales, histories and landscape did not belong to them, the storyteller's voice exerted influence over the local people's sense of identity and connection to their surroundings. The storyteller became author or auteur of history and landscape as their stories became the point of access for people to construct and navigate their environment.
The power of the traditional storyteller's voice brings to mind the agency of the wider population within this knowledge-creating practice. Who is entitled to shape the landscapes and histories across Ireland? Where do alternative voices and mediums belong in the storytelling tradition? Are there more seats at the storyteller's fireside table?
Peig Sayers (1873–1958) is one of the few female storytellers whose name is recognised and remembered today. Born in County Kerry, she was an Irish speaker and held the position of archivist for the Irish Folklore Commission.
Máire Bhuí Ní Laoghaire (1774–1840) was a poet, storyteller and singer from County Cork. A direct ancestor of mine, she recorded the land and events around her through song and poetry. Most of her repertoire remains unknown outside of Cork, apart from the song 'Caith Chéim an Fhia', which detailed a battle between local farmers and the yeomanry.
'Caith Chéim an Fhia' performed by Lorcán Mac Mathúna