National Leprechaun Museum Talking Stories

In todays episode Paudie tells the story of Bicriu's Feast. Mark and Brendan discuss the story, in Brendan's debut episode of the podcast! If you have any question you'd like us to answer, topics you'd like us to discuss, or stories you'd like us to tell, tweet us at @leprechaun_ie with #AskAStoryteller or find us on Instagram @leprechaunmuseum. Featuring Paudie and Jade. The Rathcoffey Púca is to...

In todays episode Mark tells the story of The Rathcoffey Púca. Paudie and Jade discuss the story, in Jades debut episode of the podcast! If you have any question you'd like us to answer, topics you'd like us to discuss, or stories you'd like us to tell, tweet us at @leprechaun_ie with #AskAStoryteller or find us on Instagram @leprechaunmuseum. Featuring Paudie and Jade. The Rathcoffey Púca is told...

Naoise tells the story of Daniel Crowley and the Corpse, affectionately referred to in the museum as the Corpse Disco. Mark and Paudie discuss the story, how a story can have many different endings and if they all exist within the one universe. If you have any question you'd like us to answer, topics you'd like us to discuss, or stories you'd like us to tell, tweet us at @leprechaun_ie with #AskAS...

In anticipation of spooky season just around the corner, Naoise brings us the classic Samhain tale of Taig O'Kane. Join Deirdre and Tara as they listen and discuss the idea of running from your responsibilities and the consequences you could face on a dark Irish road, how traveling alone at night is never a good thing, and how important the strange and dark tales are within Irish mythology and fol...

Mark is back in the Storytelling seat to bring us the tale of The Three Geese. Paudie and Deirdre listen to and discuss the twists and turns this story takes, from how far you can take a lovers quarrel, an Irish funeral, and how much trouble a goose can cause in ones life. If you have any question you'd like us to answer, topics you'd like us to discuss, or stories you'd like us to tell, tweet us...

Paudie returns to the podcast today to bring us The Great Potato, the captivating story of a woman who puts her skills in exaggeration and embellishment to the test... But to what end? Mark is joined by podcast-newcomer Tara, as they discuss the history and uses of the potato in Ireland and Irish folklore, and their own personal relationship with what is probably the best food of all time. If you...

Museum director Tom returns as a Storyteller to bring us one of the museum's most beloved stories, the Legend of Knockgrafton. Mark and Eleanor delight in Tom's unique telling, as well as discuss the beautiful but poisonous foxglove plant, the enduring and unusual appeal of Lusmore as a folkloric protagonist, and Mark wonders: what if Lusmore was queer? If you have any question you'd like us to an...

Eleanor has a wide-ranging conversation with museum director Tom O'Rahilly about the power of live oral storytelling, the state of storytelling in Europe, and where the idea for the National Leprechaun Museum came from. And they listen to a story! Deirdre tells a story of two lads in Cork who give some rich folks more than they bargained for, literally. Plus, some news from Eleanor. If you have an...

Eleanor goes from co-host to Storyteller in this episode, telling a story of two brothers from Donegal who fight over a woman and lose nearly everything in the process. Mark is joined by Lenny to discuss the ferocity of sibling rivalry, how to talk to animals, and Lenny's dislike of the sea and all she holds in her. If you have any question you'd like us to answer, topics you'd like us to discuss,...

In Paudie's story, Fionn Mac Cumhail and the merry men of the Fianna are trapped by Conaran of the Tuatha Dé Danann and his three daughters who are as hairy as they are wicked, and their only hope lies in the hands of the man who killed Fionn's father... Mark and Eleanor relish this tale, as well as reminisce on the museum's recent beach day out, Mark's trip to Roscommon and Longford, and the loca...

Deirdre brings a tale more commonly associated with the Brothers Grimm - seven little goats are tricked by a wolf and swallowed whole, but their mother has a trick up her sleeve... Mark and Eleanor discuss how this could have possibly been told as a children's story (!), how storytellers can portray animals using only their voices, and Eleanor describes how anthropologists in 2013 used an algorith...

Diarmuid, the Fianna's most handsome warrior (thanks to that love spot), shows kindness to a cailleach hag on a stormy night, and wakes up the next morning with a beautiful new wife, an enormous new house, and three wonderful greyhound puppies - life couldn't be better! Paudie tells us how Diarmuid ends up making a mess of it all. Eleanor and Mark discuss how jealousy, immaturity, and insecurity t...

Would you marry Cúchulainn? Emer did, against her father's wishes, but it's not easy being the wife of Ireland's greatest hero. Deirdre tells us the story of Emer, Cúchulainn's wife, and Paudie and Mark discuss Celtic Ireland's attitudes towards marriage, Fearghail's efforts to prevent his daughter marrying the Hound of Ulster, and how their views of Cúchulainn himself have changed over the years....

Ahead of Saint Brendan's feast day on 16 May, Eleanor and Paudie are transported to Tom's retelling of St. Brendan's Voyage, on which Ireland's third saint could have sailed to America a thousand years before Christopher Columbus (and a little before the Vikings too)! Tom O'Rahilly, Director of the National Leprechaun Museum, shares his first story on Talking Stories Podcast, and Paudie and Eleano...

Paudie shares the surreal and magical love story of Midir and Etain, two star-crossed lovers who navigate time, space, and games of Irish chess to be together. Mark and Deirdre discuss the story along with Midir and Etain's happy and unhappy endings, if blame and fault are helpful when discussing a story, and encountering lads like Midir on Tinder. If you have any question you'd like us to answer,...

Lenny brings us a Dublin tale from the coastal village of Baldoyle, a story of a shipwreck by Ireland's Eye and the hunt for its bounty. Mark and Paudie discuss the storyteller's physical approach to building characters, old Irish death customs, and the beautiful county of Kerry. If you have any question you'd like us to answer, topics you'd like us to discuss, or stories you'd like us to tell, tw...

Mark tells the darkly funny tale of Hudden, Dudden, and Donal O'Leary, three farmers in a battle of wits for their livelihoods and their very lives. Deirdre and Eleanor discuss this twisted story along with sharing a story of a museum-wide game of Hide and Seek, and explain the common Irish terms "cute hoor", "gobshite", and "acting the maggot". If you have any question you'd like us to answer, to...

March is the month of St. Patrick's Day, a perfect time for a leprechaun story! Paudie introduces us to the first leprechaun story, recorded in the 8th century from the Saga of Fergus Mac Léti, starring a feisty leprechaun queen, a porridge-mad king, and leprechaun assassins! Mark and Eleanor also discuss why we shouldn't make "leprechaun traps", the museum's Giant's Room, and how they plan to cel...

Eleanor and Deirdre (no, not that Deirdre) explore the tragic love story Deirdre of the Sorrows told by Naoise (no, not THAT Naoise either...) Along the way they discuss J. M. Synge's play adaptation which had its own tragedy, Naoise as the Snow White of men in Irish mythology, and wonder if Deirdre's sorrow could have been averted? If you have any question you'd like us to answer, topics you'd li...

Did you know that the Irish people originally came from the north of Spain? Mark and Eleanor follow the path of the Sons of Mil as Paudie tells the story of how they took Ireland from the Tuatha De Danann. Along the way they wonder what the appeal of Ireland actually was for foreign invaders, Mark notes the impact of our mythology on Irish revolutionaries, and Eleanor tells us how this Irish origi...

Mark and Eleanor listen to Stephen's take on The Birth of Oisín, and discuss the importance of exploring classic or well-known stories from different perspectives, explore Sadbh's dilemmas, and thoroughly enjoy Stephen's storytelling! If you have any question you'd like us to answer, topics you'd like us to discuss, or stories you'd like us to tell, tweet us at @leprechaun_ie with #AskAStoryteller...

The bold and precocious Mark and Eleanor listen to Andy's telling of How Fionn Mac Cumhaill Became Leader of the Fianna, the noble band of Irish warriors, and discuss what the Fenian Cycle could have in common with the Marvel Cinematic Universe, how to become a leader of warriors or storytellers, and the awkward situation of working with the guy who killed your dad. If you have any question you'd...

In Episode 23 of Talking Stories, Paudie and Lenny dive into The Magic Spring, told by Sarah, and discuss the importance of water and wells in Irish folklore, dying of embarrassment as a teenager, and the dangers with leaders keeping precious resources to themselves. If you have any question you'd like us to answer, topics you'd like us to discuss, or stories you'd like us to tell, tweet us at @le...

CW: mentions of capital punishment, murder Deirdre and Stephen dive into the true tale of Lady Betty, the hangwoman of Roscommon Jail in the 18th century, and discuss the possible motivations behind taking up executing as a career, folk medicine as folklore, and the harsh life that Betty herself lived. If you have any question you'd like us to answer, topics you'd like us to discuss, or stories yo...

Eleanor and Tom (Director of the National Leprechaun Museum) examine the story of The Pig-Faced Woman of Dublin and discuss other stories of pig-faced woman, how this story could have become a part of Dublin folklore, and wonder at an evolving Dublin city over the centuries. If you have any question you'd like us to answer, topics you'd like us to discuss, or stories you'd like us to tell, tweet u...