Murray Reader

Wow! The Murray Reader made it to the new year! I have some cool things planned on the horizon, but taking my time to make sure that they are rolled out effectively and sustainably. One of those new things is a live storytelling series through Irish Network Minnesota focusing on the stories of Irish immigrants. And while that’s not exactly been reflected in the columns of this newsletter, I have been experimenting here so hopefully the roll out for the new performances are all the more effective. So, thank you for that. The Irish has a well-known tradition of storytelling, so I thought that I would use the first episode of the new year to break it down and hopefully find some new inspiration going forward. Online Contents Sympathies with the Universal by Lady Jane Wilde Molly Malone , traditional song Further Reading Voyage of Bran Voyage of St. Brendan Oisin

The Viking influence upon Ireland cannot be overstated – so much to the fact that Hiberno-Norse nearly becomes a redundant statement. From the iconic red hair to the founding of Ireland’s three largest cities (Dublin, Cork, and Limerick), many things that we think of ironically Irish have heavy Scandinavian origins.             It is no small thing then that the American Swedish Institute here in Minneapolis chose to feature Ireland in their Christmas display this year. Every year they show a living room and its settings from a particular decade for each of the five Nordic Countries (Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, and Finland) as well as a rotating European country. This year, it just happens to be Ireland.             This has been a huge blending of backgrounds for me. The obvious is my Irish and Finish heritage. But also, when Mary and I lived in Chicago, we lived in...

It’s hard to get away from the constant drumbeat of bad news – especially surrounding climate change. If you follow the Irish weather at all (apparently since I like Ireland, my phone also thinks I need its weather reports), they have been experiencing the ping-pong effect of the changing weather going from drought to flooding to hurricane to flooding again. And while the drought was helpful in exposing previously undiscovered archeological sites, the rest is not good for anyone. Without trying to sound like an Irish version of John Oliver (Last 10,000 Year This Month) I am going to talk about some of the stories that have been passed down through the millennia about how a change in climate affected the Emerald Isle.             Because Ireland is an island, they are more vulnerable to many things. Much of what is needed to sustain a modern society cannot be found on the island and has to be imported from mainland Europe or elsew...

Yes! It’s Samhain!!! Samhain (Sah-wen) the Celtic festival that gave birth to Halloween. For the ancient Celts Samhain marked the end of the harvest season, the beginning of winter, and the beginning of their new year. It was a time of feasting and bonfires. It was also a time of gatherings. It was when accounts – personal, financial, legal – were settled. Important weddings and many important moments in the legendary Irish history happened at Samhain.             It was also a time when the veil between the spirit world and the mortal world was at its thinnest point – a liminal time. Food would be left of the door step to feed the wandering spirits of the ancestors who wandered home because they could. People dressed up in masks and costumes in case any evil spirits were out to get them – they would be thrown off by the disguise (mumming and guising!). And faces were carved into turnips to scare off evil spirits. These were...

Created by Tourism Ireland, this 2,500 km driving route encompasses the whole of Ireland’s Atlantic Shore from Ulster to Cork. As varied as it long, the route is also synonymous with the West of Ireland (along with the North and much of the South coasts). American travelers always speak romantically of the West of the Ireland – untamed and more “traditionally” Irish. It wasn’t well controlled by the British and indeed you can still find enclaves where the natives speak the Irish Language better than they do English. But the Atlantic Coast marries this rugged living with the rugged and awesome forces of nature.             Oh, and this is where puffins live.             In late August, when the light starts to slant toward Autumn and the shadows length, my mind wanders back to my 2010 trip with my father and I long to go back again and again and again. Finally, this edi...

" Are you a witch? O r are you a faery? Or are you the wife o f Michael Cleary? " In my Sophomore year of college, I served as Assistant Lighting Designer for a show entitled Away with the Fairies .  The play concerns the murder of Bridget Cleary in the west country of Ireland in 1895. She fell ill and her husband believed that she had been spirited away by the faeries and replaced with a changeling. While not an uncommon story, it was odd to have happened so recently. And either way the man way clearly mad. In an effort to exorcise the changeling, he ended up burning and immolating his innocent wife. The case became somewhat of a media frenzy and the locals may have even believed that there was something to it. The judge was not fooled. Her husband, Michael, was convicted of manslaughter. The mob that helped lead to the violence was also charged though only four were convicted of “wounding.”             This mo...