Category Archives: Related Material
Walking with the Táin ~ Stories in The Landscape
Chris Thompson ♦ 25/06/2019 ♦ Leave a Comment
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 …
Medb: Conquests and Consequences
Chris Thompson ♦ 10/03/2019 ♦ 1 Comment
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
Chris Thompson ♦ 08/03/2019 ♦ Leave a Comment
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
Chris Thompson ♦ 28/02/2019 ♦ Leave a Comment
Join Chris Thompson as she takes a story-teller’s view of the old Irish stories. Who told the 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 …
Story Archaeology Music
Story Archaeologists ♦ 24/02/2019 ♦ Leave a Comment
I have been meaning to put up a post recommending the musician whose composition ‘The Tamlin Jig’ has opened and closed Story Archaeology posts since the beginning. Isolde and I met Gian living in Drumshanbo, a few km from us, about the time we were first setting up the podcast. We were impressed with his …
Some questions answered by The Story Archaeologists
Story Archaeologists ♦ 25/11/2018 ♦ Leave a Comment
We regularly receive questions from listeners and readers. We try to answer them as soon as we can but many are well worth exploring in more detail. Here we discuss just three. Firstly there is the problem of ‘coir’, a word that we use regularly in episodes to express an important but complex concept. Another …
Could you help with ‘tech’ support?
Story Archaeologists ♦ 02/09/2017 ♦ Leave a Comment
Hi! Isolde and I are not exactly ‘techies’. We are competent but not much more. We waste so much time when there are minor connectivity issues with the website or podcast. For instance, why do we have to connect every post to Facebook manually? It should connect automatically but it never does. Why not? I have …
A Battle between Equals
Chris Thompson ♦ 20/12/2016 ♦ Leave a Comment
In a recent episode, 6.01 – The Quarrel of The Two Swineherds, we discussed a magical battle between two equal antagonists. These were Friuch and Rucht, the swineherds attached to the chieftains of Munster and Connacht respectively. As we made clear in the podcast, this pair were in no manner low status menials. As with the cup …
Uaimh na gCait (Oweynagat)
Chris Thompson ♦ 29/06/2016 ♦ Leave a Comment
The Cave of the Cats Taken from a personal journal entry after an early visit to the cave …..“There it is, by that house” and we tumble out of the car into the everlasting drizzle. The cave of Cruachán was said to be the most notorious otherworld entrance in folktale and legend. From here, so …
Other Appearances of The Morrigan
Chris Thompson ♦ 24/06/2016 ♦ Leave a Comment
As discussed in the podcast, there are several other notable appearances which the Mór Rígan makes through Irish Mythology. Below, I have produced a translation of the Dindshenchas poem, “Odras”. Before we get to her, here are links to some of her other roles: Esnada Tige Buichet, “The Melodies of the House of Buchet”. This is …
