Podcast Episodes – Story Archaeology

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...

As many friends of Story Archaeology will now have heard, Professor Ralph Kenna passed away and left the world we know, last Thursday. I received the sad news from his wife, Claire, last Friday. It is so very sad that it has taken me a few days to feel ready to write this post. I...

The Táin Bó Cúailnge is an dramatic epic well worth the telling but with some challenging themes including broken loyalties and friendships with destruction laid on the land, for the sake of status and honour. Join Chris as she explores the telling of the tales and encounters a fresh resonance for our times. Links for...

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...

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...

So how old are the Irish stories? Come to think of it what exactly is meant by old, or medieval or any of the other terms so frequently used to describe mythological stories, and… does it matter? Join Chris as she follows a familiar route and sets up a few indicative, and hopefully useful, signposts...

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...

This ramble, begun in Queensland, Australia and completed in Leitrim, Ireland. begins to explore the ways in which the environment in which the stories were told may change elements creating the tale. And, no, I didn’t walk all the way! This ramble was a long time in the making, begun in late January in Brisbane...

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.

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://benjamind...

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....

Join Chris on her ramble through the landscape of early Irish story and discover why many of the best stories contain the environmental messages which are still highly relevant today. Links for this ramble.

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...

Some reflections on a journey to discover Irish stories. Join Chris as she explores Irish oral story transmission and wonders if even stories sometimes need careful map makers to prevent them them from being lost. Links for this episode If you would like to find out more about the infamous Giraldus Cambrensis Or just join...

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 out more about these new posts, ‘Chris’ Rambles‘. Join Chris as she sets off, aided by an unusual sixteenth century map, encounters an excentric English polymath with big ambitions, and with the help of a medieval Irish monk, discovers a fresh view of the arrival of the Tuatha Dé Danann. And a good ramble...

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 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...

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...

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 Sina...

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...