Ireland

Frank Delaney

Have you ever visited Ireland? Within a minute of plopping into the taxi after the flight you realize the storytelling tradition is alive and well. This book is about the waning tradition of itinerant storytellers that travel the country telling stories for room and board. But it is more than that, it is the evolution of one particular storyteller, and of secrets uncovered, and the evolution of a new generation of storytellers. Mr. Delaney points out in the author's note "Beneath all the histories of Ireland...there has always been another, less obvious, reporter speaking the oral tradition, Ireland's vernacular narrative, telling the country's tale to her people in stories handed down since God was a boy". In 1951, nine year old Ronan O'Mara's family hosts a storyteller for several nights in late October. Tales of adventure, myth, legend, and history are bought to life. Ronan is enchanted. "Every worthwhile story begins with the immortal words 'once upon a time'. Never did a phrase ring so true as it will this evening. I have come to this hospitable and decent house to continue my life's work, to do what I do every night of the year. And that is, to tell the story of Ireland." Several stories later, he begins: "As you probably know, nobody can actually write a poem. There's no such act as writing a poem. That's not how poems are made. Oh, yes, there's the physical business of pen, ink and paper but that isn't whence a poem comes. Nor may you send out an and fetch a poem from where it's been living. No, like it or not, you have to wait for a poem to arrive. "The people we call 'poets', by which I mean true, real poets they're merely keen listeners who've learned to recognize when a poem's dropping by. Then they copy down what the poem's telling them in their heads. After that, they tidy up the writing..." After several nights, the storyteller moves on. As he grows, Ronan dreams of the storyteller, trying to follow his trail inquiring of friends and strangers if they have seen him. He tries to sound casual, but he is driven in his quest to find the storyteller. Ten years on, Ronan's father passes away, and Ronan sees the storyteller again at the funeral. Again, the storyteller drifts away like the fog. But this time, Ronan begins his quest in earnest, on the trail of the storyteller, collecting stories himself, and in the process, becoming a storyteller. In the end, this turns into the story of a secret uncovered. But an open secret, as "in all secretive communities, such as the Irish countryside, there is no such thing as a secret, except to the people who live it". Why should you read this book? Well, a shoemaker questioned a friend when his friend wanted him to supply the old storyteller with a free pair of boots in return for a story. The shoemaker protested. The friend said just hear him out for an hour. The shoemaker closed the shop fifteen minutes before the normal six o'clock closing time to listen. Near midnight, the storyteller left the shop with two pairs of boots.