Dial a Seanchaí for a uniquely Irish storytelling experience
Dial a Seanchaí, a unique audio experience celebrating Irish folklore, storytelling and song is back for the month of November 2023.
The island of Ireland is known for its love of storytelling and its oral tradition remains strong. Now people around the world can enjoy the unique experience of listening to an authentic seanchaí by simply dialling in on their phone.
The seanchaí is a traditional Gaelic storyteller, musician and historian, the custodian of an oral tradition that preserves the past for future generations.
Callers can choose from six Irish folklore stories and songs performed by acclaimed Irish artists who were invited to reinterpret existing Irish folklore tales for a contemporary audience. The featured artists are Manchán Magan, Ruth Marshall, Junior Brother, Edwina Guckian, Branwen Kavanagh and Rónán Ó Snodaigh.
The tales and songs cover all manner of subjects from cures, curses and epic battles to fairy hurling matches, dances with the dead, and a cow with an unlimited supply of milk.
Dial a Seanchaí is curated and produced by artist John Lillis from County Clare on Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Way. He travelled around the island to meet with the six seanchaithe and capture their stories and songs.
He says: “Stories allow us to pass teachings and wisdom onto new generations and connect us to those that came before us. They can re-awaken our relationship to landscape and language and allow the words of our ancestors to live anew.
“It was a great privilege to sit and chat with these people in their own surroundings, and to witness the power of the word passed from one person to another. The phoneline acts as a crackly reminder of the wealth of wisdom contained in our ancient stories and a salute to those who today still continue to share magic through the voice.”
The Dial a Seanchaí service will be available until 30 November and you may dial in as often as you like to hear all the stories for the cost of a local call. To access the Dial A Seanchaí phoneline from the UK, please dial 020 8079 1720. To call from the US, please dial (833) 611-2230 (Toll Free).