STORIES and the legacy of Doolin storyteller Stiofáin Uí Ealaoire will be celebrated in North Clare this week.
Stiofáin’s stories will be brought back to life at a free event for over sixteens in Doolin Community Centre n Thursday (August 20th) at 19:30.
Local storytellers will take centre stage to celebrate storytelling, heritage and community. The evening is the culmination of a series of storytelling workshops facilitated by renowned storyteller and performer Aindrias de Staic of the Burren Storytelling Centre, with the assistance of Alysh Doyle and members of the Doolin Heritage Project.
During the workshops, local participants have explored the stories, characters, traditions and storytelling heritage of Doolin, learning how to bring this material to life for a modern audience. The event is funded by The Heritage Council and is supported by The Doolin Heritage Project.
At the heart of the project is the work and legacy of Stiofáin whose stories and knowledge form an important part of Doolin’s cultural heritage. Rather than simply preserving these stories as part of the past, the project gives a new generation the opportunity to explore them, learn from them and share them in their own voices.
Aindrias has worked with locals to develop their storytelling skills, helping them to transform material from Doolin’s rich oral tradition into a live performance. The result will be an evening where Doolin’s stories are told by local people, for the local community, while celebrating the storytelling tradition that has helped to give Doolin its distinctive cultural identity.
“This is about keeping the stories alive,” Andrias told The Clare Echo. “Stiofáin Uí Ealaoire behind a wealth of stories and a wonderful storytelling tradition. Through this project, those stories are being passed on to a new generation, giving local people the skills and confidence to bring them onto the stage and share them again”.
Born in Ballycullaun in December 1858, Stiffen attended school irregularly for two to three years, his parents Mícheál Ó hEalaoire and Cáit Ní Dhanachair were both storytellers. Like his father, he became a farmer and was involved locally with the Land League. He died on May 4th 1944 and never married. He became well known as a storyteller from around 1930, when the renowned folklorist James Delargy got to know him. Stories collected from him by Delargy were published in Daithí Ó hÓgáin (ed.), Leabhar Stiofáin Uí Ealaoire (Dublin, 1981). In addition, a good deal of material collected from him is housed in the National Folklore Collection, UCD, along with an account by him of his life, and an obituary by Seán Mac Mathúna.
