Ireland – a nation of storytellers

Ireland has a very strong  tradition  of storytelling. One of the reasons for this is all the groups of people who came to the island in the past. People such as the Celts, the Vikings, the Normans and the English all arrived at different times. Each group added something different to the culture of the island, including their tradition of storytelling.

For the Celts, spoken storytelling was very important. Their poets and singers were called bards. They had no written language in those days so bards had to remember stories, poems and songs so that they could  perform  them. Good storytellers knew hundreds of stories and could say them all  from memory . As there was no writing, stories were the only  record  of important events that happened.

Bards travelled from village to village, telling their stories. Wherever they went, people welcomed them and gave them food and a bed for the night. Parents told the bards’ stories to their children and when the children grew up, they told the same stories to their children. 2000 years later, people are still telling these stories.

In many places today, older people can still remember the céilí (pronounced ‘kaylee’ and meaning ‘ get-together ’). At a céilí, people met in a house, sat near the fire, told stories, sang songs, danced and played music. Recently, some people have started having these céilís again and the most popular storytellers are often very young.

Good storytellers use the language well. People sometimes call this ability with language ‘the gift of the gab’. In the south of Ireland, there is a castle called Blarney Castle. Some people say that if you kiss a special stone at the top of this castle – the ‘Blarney Stone’ – you will also have the gift of the gab. (To reach the stone, you have to climb a lot of steps and then lie on your back.) A number of stories explain the Blarney Stone. In one of them, an Irish king  rescued  a woman from a river a long time ago. The woman had  magical  powers. To thank the king for saving her, she gave him the ability to speak so well, he could  persuade  people to do anything he wanted. But first, he had to kiss a particular stone on top of Blarney Castle. The king did this and gained the gift of the gab.

You don’t believe in stories like this? Well, visit Blarney Castle, kiss the stone and see what happens ...

Jack and the beanstalk

1

Once upon a time, a poor boy called Jack decided to sell his cow to make some money. As he was walking to the market, he met a strange man ___ offered to buy his cow. The man gave him some magic beans and said, “Plant these. Tomorrow, a big beanstalk will grow up to the sky.” Jack was excited and walked home happily.

2

When he got home, his mother was angry. “We need money, not beans, you stupid boy!” she said, and threw the beans out of the window. Jack went to bed, sad and ashamed.

3

The next morning, Jack was amazed. Outside his window, in the place ___ his mother threw the beans, there was a beanstalk, like a tall tree. Jack climbed the beanstalk. He went up and up until he saw a large castle. He entered and heard a loud voice ___ said, ‘Fee fi fo fum! I smell the blood of an Englishman!’ Jack hid in a cupboard. From the cupboard, he saw a giant man ___ hands were as big as chairs. He was holding a hen and a golden egg. The giant fell asleep and Jack came out of the cupboard. He took the hen and the egg and started to climb down the beanstalk as fast as he could.

4

The giant woke up and came after Jack. “Help, Mother!” shouted Jack, and his mother cut down the beanstalk. The giant fell and died. Now that Jack and his mother had a hen that laid golden eggs, they were rich and lived happily ever after.