I have used the story of Sinann to inspire creative writing, especially poetry and drama, in groups of primary age children (9 to 11 years in this case). The story sparked observation and a wide variety of poetic styles. Here are a couple of examples from a school situated close to the river.
The Shannon Pot
The Shannon is the longest river in Ireland and the UK with a length of 280km. The river flows from its source in the Cuilcagh Mountains to its estuary below Limerick. This important river and its tributaries drain some 15,500 sq km or about one fifth of the island of Ireland. The traditional source of…
How Long Can A Story Last?
Defining the longevity of information passed orally from group to group, and from generation to generation, is hard to quantify. Stories change and grow. Their sources become lost in the mists of time, and yet they continue to have significance. Back in 1998, “The Year of The French”, commemorating the bicentennial of the political events…
Stories of Creation
Virtually all cultures have creation stories… There are two main types of creation myth: the cosmogenic, which is about the creation of the universe or the world; and those that concern the creation of human beings. The stories of the creation of humans often comes in the same package as that of the creation of…
The Importance of the Source
When I chose to study Early Irish, the principal reason was so that I could read the Irish stories and poetry that I so loved in their original language. As a student of literature and philosophy, I knew that translation meant interpretation. Being both cynical and a control freak, I wanted to remove the filter…
Imbás: Poetry, Knowledge and Inspiration
The “filid”, poets, of early Irish society were not poorly paid struggling artists: they were held in the highest esteem and a crucial part of culture. Indeed, the word “fili”, poet, more literally means seer, and the “ollamh”, great poet, chief poet, had equal status with the king of the “túath”, petty kingdom, and the…
More Poems about Sinann
FROM THE METRICAL DINDSHENCHAS VOL 4: ed. Edward Gwynn translated by Isolde Carmody, based on Gwynn’s work. The complete edition by Gwynn can be found here pp 36 – 43: Poems 11 & 12
The Poems of Sinann
FROM THE METRICAL DINDSHENCHAS VOL 3 ed. Edward Gwynn translated by Isolde Carmody, based on Gwynn’s work. The complete edition by Gwynn can be found here pp. 286 – 297; poems 53 and 54
The Story of Sinann
The Story of Sinann In the days of dreaming when the when the Everliving Ones still walked freely among the misty mountains and green valleys of Ireland, when the soft light of enchantment still shone from every hill of the sidhe, there was a well.
Mythical Women 01: The Story of Sinann
Sinann is the mythological source of the river Shannon, the longest river in Ireland. But who is she, and how far back does her story go? Was she a wayward girl, or the flower of her people and bringer of deep poetic inspiration? Delve into the original Irish texts in conversation with the Story Archaeologists….