The art of storytelling
Cavan is set to have its own Storytelling Circle with the launch of Breifne Yarnspinners next week.
The new group will have its inaugural get together on Thursday, April 3 from 8pm in The Bridge Street Centre in Cavan Town.
Featuring trained storytellers from the locality and veteran storyteller Francis McCarron, this promises to be an engaging, fun and informative event. The group has been formed in association with Storytellers of Ireland and The Armstrong Trust, and is funded by the International Fund for Ireland.
The drive behind the establishment of Yarnspinning Circles nationwide comes about from a recent rebirth of storytelling as an art. The IFI funded BorderTalk project in 2023 trained dozens of storytellers across the region in anticipation they will now form the lead in local circles and rebirth this ancient Irish art in a new way.
Two such local leads are Daniel Downey and Catherine McGuinness.
Daniel has told stories in the community to over 1,000 people in the last year alone, from youth groups to Hen’s Sheds, on mountain sides and in the Ramor Theatre.
“Storytelling is part of who we are as a culture, a way for our rich heritage to be shared and passed down. In the 20th century we saw the fall of this art, we want to see it reborn in the 21st and we intend to be a part of that rebirth,” said the Cavan man.
Daniel, who is also a Bard and community worker, explains that stories are what hold us together as a people.
“It is in story that we find one another and bring ourselves together. It's the original social inclusion, the first entertainment and it can be our future too, in a vibrant Irish society.”
The Storytellers of Ireland will be supporting this event and you can find out more about them at www.storytellersofireland.org. The event will be hosted by both Daniel and Catherine as local leads on Cavan Storytelling, with local stories being told by a number of other attending tellers.
Members of the public are encouraged to register for this free event by emailing Daniel or Catherine on breifneyarnspinners@gmail.com or alternatively bordertalkproject@gmail.com