September 27, 2020
Welcome to season 3 of Unreal a podcast about Irish history, stories and tradition. I’m doing something a little different this time around. For the month of October, I will be bringing you weekly true stories of Irish witches: their lives, their trials, their fates. Alice Kyteler. Florence Newton. The women of Islandmagee. Bridget Cleary. These women were part of our history. Their lives and what they went through are all unique, and their stories are a mark of who we were and how far we have come. But all of them deserve to be remembered.
So join me next Sunday, to begin a new Chapter of Unreal: The Season of the Witch.
Song: Beacon by Ayla Nereo
**** A note for my regular listeners - the first episode will be a repeat of Alice Kyteler's story which I previously hosted in Season 1, so you may want to give that one a miss and tune in from the week after. Or feel free to listen again!
June 20, 2020
The tale of the Salmon of Knowledge is one of the most famous and well-loved stories of Irish in mythology. It’s a story about becoming – of a hero before he was a hero. Everyone in Ireland knows the story. But you might be surprised by its roots!
Read the Podcast Script
Sources and Further Reading
The Salmon of Knowledge Variants
Fionn / Enchanted Water Stories
Sigurd and Taliesen
Sinnan and Boand
Music
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May 31, 2020
Tales of mythical islands and enchanted cities have captivated our storytellers for generations. We are always searching, searching on the far horizon and in the depths of our lakes and rivers, for the worlds we have lost, and the promised lands we still have left to find.
Read the Podcast Script
Sources and Further Reading
Introductions
Kilstuiffeen
Caher Linn
Fintan Mac Bochra
Liban
Mystical Islands
The Voyage of Brendan
Music
May 17, 2020
Early Irish forests were thick with wolves. Fierce, fast and predatory, it’s no wonder these animals inspired so many myths and stories before their extinction. The legend of the werewolf - men and women who could walk through the world in the shape of wolves - has captured imaginations for centuries.
Read the Podcast Script
Sources and Further Reading
Ossory Werewolves
St Ronan
The Wolf Women of Cruachan Cave
Lady Jane Wilde’s Wolf Stories – in Ancient Legends, Mystic Charms & Superstitions of Ireland
Fiachna
“Fragmentary Annals” in Silva Gaedelica by Standish H. O’Grady
Cormac Mac Art
Music
Sound Effects
May 2, 2020
Down in the hollows, hiding just out of sight, the wee folk are watching our every move. And despite their size, these little beings can bring about an incredible amount of destruction.
But were the wee folk always thought of as so sinister? And do they think of humans as being just as magical as we think of them?
Sources and Further Reading
Leprechauns
King Fergus and the Wee Folk
Music
April 19, 2020
Far below the ocean waves live the strange and mysterious people of the sea. From ancient times to the modern day we have been fascinated by stories of the sea folk – the way they look, the songs they sing, and the great hold they have on us. But the merfolk are very different to humans, and when human and sea person meet, things rarely go according to plan…
Read the Podcast Script
Sources and Further Reading
Introductions
Stories
Essays
Music
March 29, 2020
When disease swept through a community, people would try anything that might help to save the ones they loved. In times before modern medicine, illnesses rarely seen today, like measles, pox and whooping cough, were killers, and traditions were passed down by families desperate for anything to give them the luck they needed to survive through the crisis.
But putting your trust in superstitious actions and legends of past cures could also lead to some very strange results...
With thanks to Con Ryan, my grandfather, for his unique and fascinating insight on these traditions.
Read The Podcast Script
Sources And Further Reading
Thinking Critically About Coronavirus
Old Cures
Minor Monuments by Ian Maleney
Music
March 14, 2020
St Patrick banished snakes from Ireland forever, and none have since dared to touch the land he charmed. But is the story really as simple as that?
Or could the legends of snakes, saints and Ireland’s beginnings stretch much further, with many more twists and turns?
SOURCES AND FURTHER READING
General Introductions to Serpent Symbolism and Folklore
St Brigid and Snakes: Carmina Gadelica, Volume 1, by Alexander Carmicheal
Gaedil Glas: Lebor Gabála Érenn, translated by R. A. B. MacAlister
Fionn and Snakes: The Ballad of Sliabh Truim from Duanaire Finn, translated by John Mac Neill
Cónán and the Caorannach
St Patrick
MUSIC
December 15, 2019
“The wren, the wren, the king of the birds,
On St Stephen’s Day was caught in the furze..."
Traditions surround this tiny bird in winter - but does the Wren Hunt have much more ancient roots?
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November 30, 2019
For the warriors of Ireland, speed was an important trait in a wife, tested in gruelling contests. But when you marry a fast, strong woman against her will, you can bet that the running she will do will be far and long away from you…
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