The Tuath Dé Danann: continuing the oral tradition

Marty Mulligan brings one-man show to the stage

Marty Mulligan is bringing his one-man show Tuath Dé Danann: The Greatest Irish Story Ever Told to Canton Caseys for two nights, Thursday and Friday October 27 and 28.

The slam poet and curator of Electric Picnic's Word Stage has been immersed in storytelling from a young age, carrying on the tradition atop the Hill of Uisneach, the sacred site outside Mullingar.

He is preserving and passing on the art of storytelling, a unique Irish pastime, and bringing it to life in this 90-minute performance, directed by local man Daniel Egerton.

"It's something I've always wanted to do, I've been telling the stories up at Uisneach for the last ten years or so and I've always been encouraged to put it all together as a one-man show, a theatrical performance," he tells the Westmeath Examiner.

"My uncle Mick Kelly, married to my auntie Maureen, Mick was a proper seanachaí. I always loved going out to his house and hearing all these stories. My auntie would be saying, 'Don't mind him, that's not true', and then she'd say, 'That is true' when he'd be talking about the Banshee.

"I just loved it, I was fascinated by it and I think it's from him that I picked it up. It's something I didn't even know at the time was an art in of itself," he explains.

"The oral tradition, that's what the Irish are known for. Our stories weren't written down, they were told and passed on from mouth to mouth, béal go béal. The stories were memorised. The story would always have the same beginning, middle and end, but it can be elaborated and grow legs each time you tell it, as long as you stick to the nub of the story.

"I suppose over the years I've honed the art of it, and the great thing I love about stories is you can add or subtract as much as you like, as long as you keep the true essence of the story intact."

Speaking about his new one-man show, Marty, who recently appeared on Sky's History Channel discussing Tuath Dé Danann, says it's a combination of his favourite stories from Irish mythology

"I read a lot of Irish mythology, I feel drawn to it and I finally got around to writing some of my favourites down, and these performances are something I'm really looking forward to. It's something very different.

"There's loads of room for audience interaction because it makes it a unique performance every time. It's me doing my thing, it's storytelling, and I get such a buzz out of it. I always think when I'm telling these stories, I don't feel that it's me, I feel that the stories are being told through me."

The story of Tuath Dé Danann

Marty claims the renowned JRR Tolkien based his famous Lord of the Rings Trilogy on Tuath Dé Danann.

"Tolkein was a lecturer in Galway University and he used to live out in Clare. He'd invite the local storytellers in and he was heavily influenced by the story of Tuath Dé Danann - which I feel is one of the greatest stories ever.

"Most people, when they local at our Irish culture and Irish identity, they think of the Celtic culture, but the Celtic culture only came here 2,000 years ago. There was a whole other race or culture of people that were associated with Ireland for 3,000 years before that. Most of our great Irish stories came from that era, including Tuath Dé Danann. Tuath means tribe, and Dé means God's tribe, the divine tribe, the good tribe. And anú was an old word for earth. So, God's tribe on earth.

"These stories should be brought up to the modern language we have today, so that we can fully understand. Sometimes when I read the stories they're very complex and can be hard to get your head around, but when it comes from the oral it's there, it's embedded in my brain."

With plans to bring his one-man show one the road, Marty says:

"I'd love to bring it to schools around the country, to tour with it, and I've already been asked to take this to Australia and America, so we'll see where it leads. But I think it's important for people to hear these stories, these are the some of our greatest stories of all time.

"It's something I'm terribly passionate about, that whole art of storytelling, and I feel we need to keep that art of storytelling alive and bring it into the modern day."

So what can the audience expect from the performance?

"I love the upstairs room in Canton Caseys, I started dj-ing there when I was 19 years of age and that's a long time ago, so I feel right at home there. I'm coming back to the place I started performing in. It will be small and intimate. The performance itself is an hour and ahalf in total will be in two 40-minute halves, with a break in between.

"It free in because the show has been funded by Westmeath County Council's Arts Office and the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sports and Media, and I'd really like to thank all those involved, especially Kim Magee, for making this project come to fruition."

- The Tuath Dé Danann, written and performed by Marty Mulligan, gets underway upstairs in Canton Caseys, two nights Thursday and Friday October 27 and 28 at 8pm.