Ireland

By Frank Delaney

It has been said that history is a story well told.  How much of story telling is history and how much of history is story telling?  Some would suggest that the way we understand our lives and those around us is by putting all of what we know and what we assume and what we guess, into stories.  It is simply the default way we understand everything around us:  the story of America, the story of our family, the stories of our lives.

Now, enter a novel filled with the stories of a people and a country; Ireland by Frank Delaney.  Through the tales of the last of the story tellers, a wandering Seanchai, the history of Ireland comes alive above and beyond the history books.  We will find a good seat around the fireplace with young Ronan O’Mara and enjoy the fascination of Irish history animated for us through an art as old as human speech- the telling of a story.

Be prepared to tell a story of your own at our first gathering.  Check out these web pages before our first meeting.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4532548  Interview with Frank Delaney

http://www.eldrbarry.net/roos/eest.htm    Effective storytelling for Beginners

 http://falcon.jmu.edu/~ramseyil/storyhandbook.htm    Handbook for storytellers