This audio story is one of the many stories that circle around the great Táin Bó Cúailnge , The cattle raid of Cooley. It is not a well known story but it is important as it is really the ‘origin’ story for the whole cycle. It is also a great tale and explains a lot!…
Author: Chris Thompson
Stories and Activities with Children 6: Become a hero poet
Try your hand at a Rosc poem Rosc is very old. The very first stories were told through this type of poetry. The form was used to describe both the setting of a story and the action. It was a good way of describing a battle. It can be hard for us to understand today…
Stories and Activities 2: Fergus Fergus Mac Léite and Aithirne The Unsociable.
I have included an introduction to the Irish Stories on this page. It is part of my -on-line ‘Stories in the Landscape schools’ programme. Contact me if you would like to find out more about this lively, cross-curricular schools” programme and how to book it for your class.. Choose from two of my favourite stories….
Stories and Activities for Children 1: Bricriu’s Feast
Bricriu’s Feast his story has everything It has a king who gets someone else to solve his own problems. It has warriors who are determined to have adventures and show off to the MAX, It has giants, water monsters, fearsome cats from an Otherworld cave and more. There is also a VERY BIG AXE! The…
Walking with the Táin ~ Stories in The Landscape
The text of the Táin Bó Cúailnge is one of Irish story’s greatest treasures. The central tale of the two great bulls may be familiar but the wealth of wider stories that circle the Táin, involve some of the most colourful of Irish characters and encompasses almost the whole of the country. Since 2011, a…
The Cats of Cruachan ~ an short animated film
This time last year, I was struggling with what felt like an impossible task. I was asked to come up with a scripted screenplay for the Rathcroghan Visitor Centre, Roscommon. This short animation was commissioned by Nollaig Feeney, the Roscommon Heritage Officer and was a direct outcome of the Schools workshops undertaken in the county…
Medb: Conquests and Consequences
Medb, Queen of Connacht, is rightly renowned in Irish legend and mythology, as a strong and influential woman leader. Her centre of power, Cruachan Ai, is still recognised as one of the most important Iron-age sites in Ireland. Medb lead her people in her own name and by her own right. She was a strong woman…
Robin Williamson: Five Denials on Merlin’s Grave
Robin Williamson released 1997 When I was putting together my audio-article on story telling, I mentioned that I owed a debt of honour to the musician, story teller Robin Williamson. I also mentioned that I once owned an entire vinyl collection of Incredible String Band albums! (that was in another country and besides …..) I…
Telling Stories : Continuing the Oral Tradition
Join Chris Thompson as she takes a story-teller’s view of the old Irish stories. Who told them and why were they so memorable. In this audio article, Chris celebrates the old stories and explores the challenges in telling them today. For those who have asked me for ideas and advice on story telling generally, I…
The Dagda’s Cauldron ~ A home-brew supplemental
In the audio article ‘The Dadga’s Cauldron’ I was speculating, in a somewhat lighthearted moment, that the transformative element of the Dagda’s wonderful cooking pot from which no-one went away unsatisfied might have been connected to memories of early fermentation processes, i.e. the brewing of beer. There has been plenty of evidence for feasting at…