Stories in the Landscape conversations – Story Archaeology: Recent Episodes
Chris Thompson and Isolde Carmody
The story of Sinann, who gave her name to the river Shannon, was first recorded, in written form, in the Metrical Dindshenchas, ‘the Lore of Prominent Places’. Such tales morph and shapeshift as they are retold through time yet still retain unexpected applicabilities. Join Chris as she traces her own meandering journey in Sinann’s company....
Phillipa Klaiber is an artist, specialising in photography, who celebrates stories in the landscape through her evocative images and poetry. Join Chris and Phillipa as they explore two of Phillippa’s photographic projects, Understories and Vorest, and anticipate a new project inspired by the great river Shannon. In this conversation we discuss images from both Understories...
Among the generally agreed ideas about early settlements in Ireland were that you wouldn’t expect to find hill forts, as might be found located in the Uk or on the continent and that the first permanent towns were introduced by the Vikings. However, some recent archaeological research has changed all of this. On the 8th...
Mythical tales, linguistic archaeology and the wisdom of Irish lore This is a belated thank you and farewell post to a good friend and colleague. I would have welcomed the opportunity to upload this tribute earlier but, so sadly, Manchán died the day I left for a trip to Uzbekistan. Unfortunately, I have been ill...
Storytelling in changing times It is always exciting when new scientific research is able to throw a new light on ancient stories. Join Chris in a new and wide-ranging ramble as she explores the extaordinary vistas of the early Irish Cath Maige Tuired (The Battle of Moytura) and contemplates a neolithic tragedy. Links for this...
Sana Malik grew up in Pakistan, and has been a widely travelled humanitarian aid-worker. Ireland is now her spiritual home. Join Chris and Sana as they discuss two favourite Irish stories, ‘The Voyage of Bran’ and the ‘Story of Sinann’, exploring ‘Silver Branch Perception’ and the relatabilty of mythology to the voyages of life. Sana...
Tamlyn Young is a Limerick lecturer and artist specialising., especially in her current project on augmented reality art and storytelling, to create place-based storytelling. She describes her practice as exploring the synergistic, potentials of analogue and digital to create an immersive narrative experience for the viewer. Links for this episode Visit Tamlyn’s Website Explore Tamlyn’s...
In a recent conversation with, archeologist and historian, Daniel Curley we discussed the Táin bó Fraích: in some detail. It is a fascinating but, sometimes, complex story. I thought it might be useful to have a readable vession avilable that is still closely based on an earlier direct translation of the text. I do hope...
Daniel Curley is an archaeologist, author and manager of the Rathcroghan Visitor Centre . who has taken a particular interest in the mythological Connacht hero, Fraích. Join Chris and Daniel as they discuss the Táin bó Fraích, and discover how Daniel’s research has revealed a far more important role for this ‘lost’ hero. Links for...
Lisa Bitel is a Professor of Religion and a Medieval historian specializing in Britain and Ireland. and is the author of her new book ‘Otherworld’. Join Chris and Lisa as they explore some favourite stories and discuss how best to contintinue the transmission of these wonderful tales, from the deep past, to an audience today....
Designed to protect and celebrate the unique Karst landscape of South Roscommon and its embedded mythologies and stories, the Uí Máine community project has grown and developed from the inspired work of three main groups, The Celtic Eye art group, the Karst Farming group and the Taughmaconnell Hall, community. Join Chris as she discovers more...
I am so glad to have found this book! Lisa Bitel includes nine stories, each of which have a connection to the ever-present Otherworld of memory and imagination. Many of these stories are not well known outside the source translations and they are also some of my favourites, all well worth the telling. Lisa tackles...
Anthony Murphy, is an author, journalist, astronomer and photographer. He also curates the wondeful Mythical Ireland website. Join Chris and Anthony as they explore how Irish mythological stories, supported by recent evidence from genertics, seem to reflect the remarkable story of both neolithic and bronze age Ireland. This is a slightly longer ‘Conversation in the...
Back in 2004, I was asked to created a short book based on transcribed conversations I shared with groups of older people in Longford nursing homes. They painted some vivid memory pictures and I really did enjoy our conversions. It was a great pleasure and it was also very interesting to compare their memories of...
Grianstad an Gheimhridh, the winter solstice is that special moment when the year turns and the hours of daylight, begin slowly to increase. This time of year has long been a cause for reflection and celebration. So, join Chris on yet another ramble, as she explores an Irish Winter Solstice journey. Links for this episode...
Biodiversity & Survey Report 2023. The Uí Maine Kingdom groups ( Karst faming Group, Celtic Eye Art Group & Taughmaconnell Hall ) were delighted to hold a presentation on thursday October 19th at 9pm in the Taughmaconnell Hall, South Roscommon. Wonderful Co Meath Ecologist Linda Gilsenan who has worked on this survey & report over...
The The Lebor Gabála tells of a series of mythical Irish migration stories, which can be traced back to a very early date. Its history is somewhat complex and, although fascinating, it is not an ‘easy read’. So, join Chris and Jamie as they share Jamie’s new telling. ‘The Writing of The Takings’. Jamie has...
Culture heroes, ancestor figures, genii loci, gods and godesses … Can all, or indeed, any of these terms be useful in defining some favourite characters in Irish mythology, Join Chris as she takes a walk throuh a forest of stories on a light hearted search for hidden identities. Links for this episode I have referenced...
The Conference, in late August 2023. took place at the Rathcroghan Visitor Centre in Roscommon. A number of attendees came from all around the world with many more participating virtually. The event was focussed but well organised and very friendly. A big, and well deserved, ‘thank you’ to the conference organisers. There was plenty of...
Aboriginal oral traditions stretch back more than 12,000 years The archaeology of orality: Dating Tasmanian Aboriginal oral traditions to the Late Pleistocene I shared a conversation with Professor Patrick Nunn from the University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, on longevity of stories and the memories they hold, just last year. Patrick Nunn is the author of...
The inspirational figure who gave her name to Ireland longest river Great News! A new paper on the story of Sinann and the restoration of her story is now available, as a pre-print prior to publication. It is available to read here The paper has been the work of Professor Ralph Kenna with the support...
Meet Kate Lionis one of the seven adult winners of the ÉIRÍ art competition and project. So, join Chris and Kate as they discuss, the many creative possiblities of digitally enhanced photography, the enviromental relevance of Australian indigenous stories and share the colours, light, and scents of the Blue Mountains in New South Wales. This...
What if Brigid had undertaken her own Immrám? Join Chris and Jamie as they explore James’ Immrám Brig Bostún, an Irish Mythology Collage, in which he garners stories from Irish mtyhology and folklore, to curate a remarkable Immrám voyage for Brigid, taking her to the coastal islands of Boston and Cape Cod; a reflection on...
Meet Louise Shine, one of the seven adult winners of the ÉIRÍ art competition and project. So, join Chris and Ruth as they discuss, the importance of creativity in art and education, explore art and technology as well as the way in which women from Irish mythology can still speak powerfully to current issues. This...
Meet Lee Fenlon, one of the seven adult winners of the ÉIRÍ art competition and project. Now, join Chris and Lee as they discuss, what can be acheived in leaded glass and ceramic mosaic work , how Sinann has been treated in Athlone as well as stories of Boand and the Boyne. This is one...
Meet Ruth Egan, one of the seven adult winners of the ÉIRÍ art competition and project. So, join Chris and Ruth as they discuss, art, mthology and the importance of listening to the stories told by your grandmothers. This is one of a series of shorter ‘Stories in the Landscape’ conversations to celebrate the 2023...
Nicola and Rosemary are both gifted artists from the Celtic Eye artists group who have all come together to draw on their talents to create some inspiring and innovative landscape and environmental projects. Join Chris, Nicola, and Rosemary as they talk about about the wide scope of some of Celtic Eye’s impressive and on-going, still...
I have been trying to hold a ‘Conversation in the Landscape’ with Nocola Bowes, from Celtic Eye, for the last three weeks. A technical hitch interfered with our planned recoding date. Since then, Easter School holidays, and generally busy lives, have conspired togather to prevent us both from having the same date free. We may,...
Shona is a talented artist and illustrator who tells stories through images. Join Chris and Shona as they explore some of the wonderful women characters to be found in the world of Irish story, and even try out a path to a most perplexing library. View more of Shona’s work on her own website.
Maluw Adhil Urngu Padanu Mamuy Moesik (Legends from the deep sitting peacefully on the waters) Clare’s installation, ‘A Well at the Bottom of Sea’ formed a part of an exhibition presented by a group of artists from the Sydney Biennale, 2022: rīvus rīvus will enable aqueous beings – rivers, wetlands and other salt and freshwater...
I have just returned from a journey that I used to undertake for a month each year before the pandemic changed things. I have just arrived back from Brisbane, Queensland and a month of hot sunshine, sometimes just a bit too hot! It has, of course been so good to be able to give real...
I thought I might add a few images connected to ‘Chris Ramble 4: Walking with Sheela-na-gigs’.
SacrumProfanum by Benjamin Dwyer is an exploration of the Sheela-Na-gig through music. Join Chris as she encounters this profound and poetic experience out walking her local landscape accompanied by Sheela-na- gigs. Music for this episode: Lamentum from SacrumProfanum by kind permision of Benjamin Dwyer https://www.farpointrecordings.com/product-page/benjamin-dwyer-sacrumprofanum https://benjamindwyer.bandcamp.com/album/sacrumprofanum Listen to the podcast episode ‘A Conversation with Professor...
Join Chris as she shares a conversation with Professor Benjamin Dwyer. Ben is a prolific Irish performer and composer as well as an educator. He is currently Professor of Music at Middlesex University. SacrumProfanum is Ben’s thought provoking musical exploration of the enigmatic Sheela-na-gigs as watchers and witnesses of a thousand years of Irish history....
Another recent paper by Daniel Curley As I posted a link to the Tain bo Fraich paper published By Ralph Kenna with Daniel and Mike , I thought I might mention another of Daniel’s recent papers. This paper examines a range of sources to consider the place held by the former lake of Lough Croan,...
New research and a brand new paper. By Professor Ralph Kenna Centre for Fluid and Complex Systems The most famous story in Irish mythology is Táin Bó Cúailnge – the Cattle Raid of Cooley. It’s about a war between Connacht in the west of Ireland and Ulster in the north. When the Connacht army attacks,...
NETWORK ANALYSIS OF THE KYIV BYLYNY CYCLE — EAST SLAVIC EPIC NARRATIVES In our last conversation Ralph mentioned an upcoming paper exploring the network connections and relationships contained in the Kyiv bylyny story cycle. The oldest byliny belong to a cycle dealing with the golden age of Kievan Rus in the 10th–12th century. They centre...
The September conversation had to be postponed for a couple of weeks, or so. This means that there that there are now two upcoming, and very interesting conversations on the way. A Conversation with Mary Forde Mary and I will be discussing the important, and unique Corlea Trackway Centre in County Longford A Conversation with...
Every community has folk tales to share, but do some of these stories encode ancient memories of climate change? This short podcast conversation with Professor Nunn focuses on stories from the North west coast of Ireland and Scotland that may have been told far longer than we might imagine. Listen, and then discover more in...
Patrick Nunn is the Professor of Geography at the University of the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia. He is a leading climate change scientist, author, and a specialist on how stories from oral traditions may have encoded memories of geological and oceanic change from around seven thousand years ago. Join Chris and Patrick as they...
Join Chris and Ralph, professor of Statistical Physics and enthusiastic comparative mythologist, as they enjoy discussing the ongoing ÉIRÍ project, ‘Evoking Ireland’s Resiliant female Icons‘, and discover how you, too, can add to some exciting and unusual research as well as discovering more about Ralph’s upcoming Myths and Maths projects. Links for this episode. Find...
Bilbury Sunday, an old Irish custom, is still taking place, on Ardagh Mountain, ancient Brí Leith each year. In the recent podcast, ‘A conversation with Ann Gerrety Smyth‘, Anne told us about how the custom has been revived and the Bilberrie are growing wild on the hill again. It takes place every year on 31st...
Ardagh hill, in County Longford, Ireland is a very special ‘Stories in the Landscape’ location. This is the legendary Bri Leith, where much of the Tocmarc Étaíne is set. The Ardagh Heritage and Creative Centre, managed by story teller and educator, Ann and her colleague Annette, nestles at the foot of this beautiful hill. Join...
The completely true and absolutely false history of Boston’s annexations.“Why is only this part of Boston officially called Boston?”“Not hard to tell, Ansa… Boston was an English noble. He committed an unspeakable affront to coir and in doing so broke ageis. For this, he was cursed to live alone on a small hill, an island...
Echtrae Standish, or the Story of Merrymount“Why do they call this part of Quincy ‘Merrymount’? Why not just call it Wollaston after the Tstop?”“Oh, that one’s not hard to tell, my Ansa. Merrymount meant exactly what it said. The firstEnglish colonists had such a good time here that they named this seaside hill the Merry...
In the days of dreaming when the Indigenous ones still walked freely among the misty mudflatsand green hills of the Massachusett, there was a well.It was a deep hidden pool, narrowed by points of land boasting nine strong hazel trees1 whosered nuts would drop softly into the deep reflecting mirror of the well.Within its depth...
I mage from Nancy Seasholes’ Gaining Ground showing extent of landfill in Boston, compared to sea level rise projection from the City of Boston’s Climate Ready Boston Map Explorer. Note, the Back Bay (the filled area on the south side of the Charles River) is expected to be spared the flooding of harbor-side neighborhoods like...
The Irish Dindshenchas The Lore of Prominent Places are a collection of origin stories which celebrate stories in the landscape. Yet, could they also inspire creative approaches to town planning? Join Chris and Jamie, a storyteller, genealogist and town planner, originally from Boston and now living in Seattle, as, together, they explore the broad and...
During my conversation with Clare Millege, we both referred to some of our landscape memory moments. Clare grew up close to Wollumbin, in Northern New South Wales. (still sometimes known by the name given to it in 1770 by James Cook, Mount Warning). I refered to one of my all time, favourite places on the...
Clare Milledge’s work re-examines contemporary environments with a focus on our engagement with ecology through art, in particular through the use of the historical figure of the artist-shaman. Working with fieldwork as her primary methodology she collects, re-organises, transforms and re-presents recordings, information and material gathered on ecological surveys and site visits. Her research output...
Join Chris and Clare, an artist from Sydney Australia, and an eloquant exponant of the art of landscape stories, as they discuss, art, ecology, the Australian landscape and, especially, Clare’s recent installation Imbás: a well at the bottom of the sea at the Sydney Biennale 22. Take the opportunity to explore the installation as Clare...
‘ÉIRÍ’ Évoking Ireland’s Resilient female Ícons Celebrating Women in Irish Mythology €10,000 in prizes Including up to €3,000 for schools Any form of visual, musical, or literary art We are launching an international arts competition in parallel with a participatory research project to re-ignite awareness of inspirational female figures from Irish mythology and folklore who...
The second of a new Series of Story Archaeology podcast conversations on mythology and its ‘Stories in the Landscape’. Join Chris and Ralph, professor of Statistical Physics and enthusiastic comaparative mythologist, as they discuss the remakable possibilities of applying socio-physics to epic myth cycles;take an appreciative retrospective look at the International ‘Arts for Sinann’ competition...
The first of a new Series of Story Archaeology podcast conversations on mythology and its ‘Stories in the Landscape’. Join Chris and Daniel, archaeologist and manager of the Rathcroghan Visitor Centre as they discuss Cruachan Aí,the royal home of of Medb, Ailill and the Finnbhennach, the white bull of Connacht. Yet,this famous setting forms only...