08/06/2026
I spent the weekend at storytelling workshops in honour of the Lingaun Valley, which forms part of the border between Kilkenny and Tipperary, with its source in the foothills of Sliabh na mBan (Slievenamon). This area is home to sacred and archaeological sites including the Knockroe Passage Tomb, an Ogham stone, medieval High Crosses, early monastic settlements, and the Slate Quarry of Ahenny. The Lingaun River is a thread in a living tapestry of mythology, heritage, farming tradition and natural beauty, where Ireland's mythological, prehistoric and early Christian past is woven together with the animate Earth.
We were invited by storyteller Helena Byrne to make up a story in small groups. The story my group created was a parable about a local boy disappearing into the portal tomb of Knockroe and ending up beneath the lake at the Slate Quarry. A wise Moor Hen helped him appease an angry Water Horse (an Each Uisce). This was a cautionary tale about contracts, boundaries and capitalism.
The incredible Martin Matthews taught us how to embody a story through place, people and an arc that creates memory. My story this time was a retelling of The Fox Woman, reimagined to give it a modern spin. My aim was to make it feel like you know, and probably live beside, the protagonist. I wanted to show that exiling wildness, nature, beauty and love will be our downfall.
Aurora sings the lyrics: "You cannot eat money, oh no. When the last tree has fallen and the rivers are poisoned, you cannot eat money, oh no."
My pondering is about art, myth, folklore and song as activism. Can we use art to create change, reconnect people with their deepest, most primal archetypes, and shake us out of the conditioning that allows the Earth to be used and abused?
Each person at the workshops told stories that made the Lingaun Valley come to life. Through the art of story, roads, bridges, rivers, farmers, soldiers, stones and fairy hosts all stood shoulder to shoulder. To me, this is the medicine for the times.
See for a series of events throughout the Lingaun Valley, bringing people on a journey through Landscape, within & without 🏞️
