• NATIONAL
• FEATURED
• URCHIN STREET
• DANCE
• STORYTELLERS
• SCOTTISH VILLAGE
• HORSES
• CULINARY

Seanchaí

A seanchaí is a traditional Irish storyteller. A commonly encountered English spelling of the Irish word is shanachie.

The word seanchaí, which was spelled seanchaid before the Irish-language spelling reform of 1948, means a bearer of "old lore" (seanchas). In the ancient Celtic culture, the history and laws of the people were not written down but memorized in long lyric poems which were recited by bards (filí), in a tradition echoed by the seanchaithe.

Seanchaí used to be servants to chiefs of their tribe and kept track of important information for their clan and were very well respected. The seanchaí made use of a range of storytelling conventions, styles of speech and gestures that were peculiar to the Irish folk tradition and characterized them as practitioners of their art.

Although tales from literary sources found their way into the repertoires of the seanchaí, a traditional characteristic of their art was the way in which a large number of tales was passed from one practitioner to another without ever being written down. Because of their role as custodians of an indigenous non-literary tradition, the seanchaí are widely acknowledged to have inherited – although informally – the function of the filí of pre-Christian Ireland.

Some seanchaí, however were not part of a clan, some were itinerants, traveling from one community to another offering their skills in exchange for food and temporary shelter. Others, however, were members of a settled community and might be termed "village storytellers" who told their marvelous stories and tales at ceremonies and community events, simialar to the servant Seanchaí. The distinctive role and craft of the seanchaí is particularly associated with the Gaeltacht (the Irish-speaking areas of Ireland), although storytellers recognizable as seanchaí were also to be found in rural areas throughout English-speaking Ireland.

The North Texas Irish Festival has a long tradition of welcoming local storytellers to our stages, not just on the Urchin street area Harkness Stage, but also as an integral part of our cultural program. Please visit with some of our local seanchaí while you are at NTIF.

Gary Whitaker

Master Storyteller, Gary Whitaker, has been performing since 1997. He is noted for being a creative and enthusiastic teller of Irish and Scottish folk tales. He loves to bring these ancient tales to life with dramatic flair. The Storyman has performed a variety of programs all over Texas in schools, libraries and at festivals. For more information visit his website at www.storymantales.com or visit his fan facebook site registered under Gary Whitaker / The Storyman.

"Give people a fact or an idea and you enlighten their minds; tell them a story and you touch their souls."

Jane McDaniel

Born 1945 in Limerick, Ireland, Jane started to write and retell stories at an early age thanks in part to a rich family storytelling tradition. I lived to a certain extent between two cultures, as her father was English and a staunch Protestant and her mother was from Belfast, and Catholic. She attended schools in Limerick and university in Germany, and worked in Germany as a business print journalist and radio news reporter for 26 years before moving to the USA in 1993.

She first told stories to a larger public while hosting annual St. Patrick’s Day specials for AFN Forces Radio Network in Frankfurt, Germany and was a featured Rising Star at the Texas State Storytelling Festival in Denton in 2002. She held the title of US National Irish Storytelling Champion for four years, and was voted The Biggest Irish Liar in Texas in 2006.

She telsl at Folklife Festivals in San Antonio, Corpus Christi, Natchitoches, the North Texas Irish Festival and at the Milwaukee WI. Irish Fest. In addition sheI tells at elementary and middle schools, libraries, retirement homes, social clubs, corporate events, vineyards, and at Adult Education classes. She also tells a range of international wonder tales, participatory tales and riddle stories specifically for children.

Rickey Pittman

Rickey E. Pittman, storyteller, author, and folksinger was the Grand Prize Winner of the 1998 Ernest Hemingway Short Story Competition, and is originally from Dallas, Texas. Pittman presents his stories, music and programs at schools, libraries, organizations, museums, Civil War Reenactments, and Celtic festivals throughout the South. His first CD of songs from the American Civil War will be produced this fall. In addition to the guitar, he plays mandolin and has just picked up the harp, which he will incorporate into his storytelling in the true tradition of the bard. He is the author of several books including the Scottish Alphabet, a children's picture book.

Pittman is a certified Secondary Gifted English teacher and currently teaches freshman composition for Louisiana Delta Community College, the University of Louisiana at Monroe and Virginia College Online.

John Burleson

John Burleson has been performing in Texas since the mid 80’s and is a veteran of all but the first NTIF. Storytelling appearances include Texas Folklife Festival, Ohio Renaissance Festival, Mississippi Celtic Fest, and many school, library, concert and club dates in Ireland and Ontario.

His love of the spoken word comes from a lifelong attraction to folklore and mythology.