Racontour Archive - 2020 onwards

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Mary, and particularly Sean, relish the chance to go through various voices from through the ages give their critique of Sligo. If the curmudgeons they are mimicking could be won over, hopefully you will be too. 

Tour curator John Ward welcomes listeners about to embark on a range of sites that inspired a young Yeats to conjure up his Celtic Twilight. All of the well-known sites, plus a few non-Yeats treats are included culminating in a visit to Yeats's grave at Drumcliffe. Please see the dedicated Yeats page https://www.racontour.com/yeats/ which has an overview of what the ful tour entails including pointers on the planning of the route over three days. To really get the most out of this guide though, you need to listen to it on our Yeats Country Guide playlist on Spotify where the stories are combined with songs: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7MFBdeOsoiScwyxo0zVty9?si=98c7331a3bad4451Assuming you are doing so, after this audio piece, we have The Waterboy's epic version of a Celtic Twilight poem from the 1899 collection, The Wind amongst the Reeds: -The Hosting Of The SidheThe host is riding from KnocknareaAnd over the grave of Clooth-na-Bare;Caoilte tossing his burning hair,And Niamh calling Away, come away:Empty your heart of its mortal dream.The winds awaken, the leaves whirl round,Our cheeks are pale, our hair is unbound,Our breasts are heaving our eyes are agleam,Our arms are waving our lips are apart;And if any gaze on our rushing band,We come between him and the deed of his hand,We come between him and the hope of his heart.The host is rushing 'twixt night and day,And where is there hope or deed as fair?Caoilte tossing his burning hair,And Niamh calling Away, come away.You'll have noticed Mick changed some of the lines around, but if someone is going to tamper with the master, let it be Mick! Besides, it was artistic licence. we love how he turned the opening lines into the chorus. It also made for the most perfect opening track as we ask you to come away with us on our epic tour of Yeats Country. An Appointment with Mr Yeats, the Waterboys album of WB Yeats poems-become-songs first released in 2011, was recently remixed and remastered with six previously unreleased bonus tracks. It was released in late May 2022. Highlights of it feature throughout the playlist, including Steve Wickham's rendering of Come Gather Round Me, Parnellites which features straight after a visit to Connolly's where Parnell had been in Sligo. Says Mike Scott: "I remixed the Yeats album during the 2020 lockdown, using all the skills I picked up while making the last several Waterboys records. Then it was mastered by my colleague Don Jackson. I'm thrilled with how it's come out. Not distractingly different, but fuller and richer, more powerful." No word of a lie, Mike!

Coming from the bleak R232 Pettigo road, the traveller will get the finally see the Bluestack Mountains reveal themselves with spectacular gusto. 

Guide producer John Ward welcomes you to this extensive travel guide for the Bluestack Way. Along its 51 km route, hear the myriad stories this magical place has to offer.

Speaker: archive producer, John WardFull details on the project can be found at RacontourWelcome to the Celtic Calendar, a comprehensive audio archive on the four seasons and their cross-quarter days in Ireland.  As old as time itself, the seasons were the constant path by which our ancestors survived through passed-down knowledge, customs and rituals.GUIDE FEATURES: This playlist is laid out in the way the old Celtic Calendar was set with the new year starting at Samhain. Another feature to note is that the new day commenced at dusk, not dawn and thus why Halloween is on the 31st of October, May Eve is a key part of Bealtaine etc. SPOTIFY: This platform has allowed us to be creative in ensuring you can access it on your smart phone with ease. Below are the Spotify options: -Celtic Calendar playlist - no music, just audio of all four festivals.Samhain folklore - music and lore for SamhainImbolc folklore - music and lore for ImbolcBealtaine folklore - music and lore for Bealtaine*Lughnasa folklore - music and lore for Lughnasa*Bealtaine has a different format in that a lot of it was recorded via Zoom in May 2021. Sometimes the audio slips. VOICES: a wide variety of voices were used in the making of this programme. We have endeavoured to have their names directly under each audio piece. A special thanks needs to go to Sean McMahon RIP, Mary Murphy, Dessie McCallion and Gretta Browne for their sterling work. We've used a variety of styles from scripted audio to live and natural to outdoors and yes, Zoom - it adds a nice mix for what is in itself an often unpredictable miscellany!Our atavistic instincts are still attuned to beliefs that existed long before Patrick arrived. An ancient time when the deities who oversaw the cycle of the seasons were honoured through customs and rituals. Four festivals in this Celtic calendar helped our ancestors plan how their crops and animals should be utilised. The cross-quarter days of Imbolc, Bealtaine, Lughnasa and Samhain serve as markers for the season ahead.Though they may sound slightly archaic, we still perform customs that our ancestors once did at these festivals. For centuries, they've brought communities together serving as a benign social control from respecting the darkness of Winter to the plenitude of the harvest. Paying heed to the cycles of the seasons creates a visceral bond between us and Mother Earth. Not just that, the customs of the Celtic calendar form a potent arc between us and ancient Ireland. Bypassing all invaders, both spiritual and temporal, these living customs are the most direct and powerful link to the distant past we could possibly imagine. Long may they thrive.This audio archive is dedicated to my late cousin, Helen Sharkey, a remarkable artist from Belfast. Her heart took her far too early while she sold her art in St. George's Market in July 2022 with a funeral at Lughnasa.© 2021-2022 Racontour Productions. This clip forms part of the Celtic Calendar audio archive from Racontour Productions. Feel free to share if enjoyed, but with a credit or a social media tag to Racontour Productions please. SPOTIFY: This platform has allowed us to be creative in ensuring you can access it on your smart phone with ease. Below are the Spotify options: -Celtic Calendar playlist - no music, just audio of all four festivals.Samhain folklore - music and lore for SamhainImbolc folklore - music and lore for ImbolcBealtaine folklore - music and lore for BealtaineLughnasa folklore - music and lore for Lughnasa

Speaker: John WardLughnasa - the time of the harvest runs from the end of July well into August. Just as a good Rosary has its trimmings, so too does Lughnasa have a number of ancillary events that need to be referenced. The first major event after Garland Sunday was the Assumption, being the 15th of August. This was the day that the Virgin Mary assumed or rose into Heaven. It was also known as Big Lady Day, Marymass or grandest of all, Great Lady in the Harvest!© 2021-2022 Racontour Productions. This clip forms part of the Celtic Calendar audio archive from Racontour Productions. Feel free to share if enjoyed, but with a credit or a social media tag to Racontour Productions please.SPOTIFY: This platform has allowed us to be creative in ensuring you can access it on your smart phone with ease. Below are the Spotify options: -Celtic Calendar playlist - no music, just audio of all four festivals.Samhain folklore - music and lore for SamhainImbolc folklore - music and lore for ImbolcBealtaine folklore - music and lore for BealtaineLughnasa folklore - music and lore for Lughnasa

Speaker: John WardFor our Irish ancestors, Garland Sunday could not come soon enough. The bitter six weeks leading up to Lughnasa were when food was at its scarcest. Other names beyond Hungry July were 'The Hungry Month', 'The Blue Month' and 'Staggering July.' Regionally, it was known as the yellow month in Kilkenny as Buímhís' The yellow month being the colour of the faces of the poor. The stifling heat alone had locals in Charles McGlinchey's time call it Mí Mharbh “ or The Dead Month.© 2021-2022 Racontour Productions. This clip forms part of the Celtic Calendar audio archive from Racontour Productions. Feel free to share if enjoyed, but with a credit or a social media tag to Racontour Productions please.SPOTIFY: This platform has allowed us to be creative in ensuring you can access it on your smart phone with ease. Below are the Spotify options: -Celtic Calendar playlist - no music, just audio of all four festivals.Samhain folklore - music and lore for SamhainImbolc folklore - music and lore for ImbolcBealtaine folklore - music and lore for BealtaineLughnasa folklore - music and lore for Lughnasa

Speaker: John WardThese days it forms the location for one of the great Lughnasa set pieces being Reek Sunday held on the last Sunday in July. It is all in honour of St. Patrick overcoming the swarms of winged demons that plagued him for 40 days and nights on that very mountain. Few may be surprised to hear that the mountain had been host to pagan gatherings long before Patrick's arrival. These were to morph into the Christian festival we see today under St. Patrick's watchful eye. Led by the clergy, some 30,000 or so pilgrims make the hazardous journey up to complete the ritual of 'rounding' involving circling various cairns at the top of the mountain. Many do so barefoot.Up until 1974, the Reek pilgrimage was done at night - health and safety how are ya?! See the RTÉ archive footage to see more! © 2021-2022 Racontour Productions. This clip forms part of the Celtic Calendar audio archive from Racontour Productions. Feel free to share if enjoyed, but with a credit or a social media tag to Racontour Productions please.SPOTIFY: This platform has allowed us to be creative in ensuring you can access it on your smart phone with ease. Below are the Spotify options: -Celtic Calendar playlist - no music, just audio of all four festivals.Samhain folklore - music and lore for SamhainImbolc folklore - music and lore for ImbolcBealtaine folklore - music and lore for BealtaineLughnasa folklore - music and lore for Lughnasa

Speaker: John WardThe royal charter from King James I in 1603 means little to the fair dwellers for they have their king, a wild mountain goat whose untamed and hardy nature reflect that of the fair itself. The festooned goat or 'poc'  is crowned King Puck by the young fair queen on the main fair day before being hoisted 20 feet high above in his regal cage to survey the scene. As J.M. Synge noted 'He is kept in position, with a few cabbages to feed on, for three days, so that he may preside over the pig-fair, the horse-fair and the day of winding up.'  Pamplona can have its charging bulls, we've got a grazing goat whose a damn sight more welcoming! © 2021-2022 Racontour Productions. This clip forms part of the Celtic Calendar audio archive from Racontour Productions. Feel free to share if enjoyed, but with a credit or a social media tag to Racontour Productions please.SPOTIFY: This platform has allowed us to be creative in ensuring you can access it on your smart phone with ease. Below are the Spotify options: -Celtic Calendar playlist - no music, just audio of all four festivals.Samhain folklore - music and lore for SamhainImbolc folklore - music and lore for ImbolcBealtaine folklore - music and lore for BealtaineLughnasa folklore - music and lore for Lughnasa

Speaker: John WardSounds: Drummers and MF himself!"When I was sixteen, I remember slipping out one Sunday - it was this time of year, the beginning of August - and Bernie and I met at the gate of the workhouse and the pair of us went off to a dance in Ardstraw..." Maggie prior to the big dance to The Mason's Apron in Act One of Dancing at Lughnasa.Lughnasa is the culmination of what the Celtic calendar has been all about. The patience of seeing out Winter, the thrill of the lambs and snowdrops of Imbolc and the strange mix of hope and apprehension of Bealtaine were all leading to the peak of plenitude that is the month of Lughnasa, being August. Samhain may well be the most famous of the cross quarter festivals, but the most vibrant of the four and indeed the most pagan of them must surely be Lughnasa. The crackling of a bonfire on the side of a hill, the pulsing beat of a bodhran, the rising of the summer sun and of course that most magical and pagan of events, the dance. Ensure you watch the full 1994 Riverdance spectacular here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0v_pu6miJ8© 2021-2022 Racontour Productions. This clip forms part of the Celtic Calendar audio archive from Racontour Productions. Feel free to share if enjoyed, but with a credit or a social media tag to Racontour Productions please.SPOTIFY: This platform has allowed us to be creative in ensuring you can access it on your smart phone with ease. Below are the Spotify options: -Celtic Calendar playlist - no music, just audio of all four festivals.Samhain folklore - music and lore for SamhainImbolc folklore - music and lore for ImbolcBealtaine folklore - music and lore for BealtaineLughnasa folklore - music and lore for Lughnasa

Speaker: John WardLugh gave his name to the cross quarter day of harvest time, but according to the Book of Invasions, the inspiration for it is usually given as a mourning ceremony for his deceased foster-mother Tailtiu, to whom the festival was named the Fair of Tailteann. The fair was held on the banks of the River Blackwater in what is now Teltown in County Meath over the last two weeks of July and culminating on the first day of August being of course, Lughnasa.© 2021-2022 Racontour Productions. This clip forms part of the Celtic Calendar audio archive from Racontour Productions. Feel free to share if enjoyed, but with a credit or a social media tag to Racontour Productions please.SPOTIFY: This platform has allowed us to be creative in ensuring you can access it on your smart phone with ease. Below are the Spotify options: -Celtic Calendar playlist - no music, just audio of all four festivals.Samhain folklore - music and lore for SamhainImbolc folklore - music and lore for ImbolcBealtaine folklore - music and lore for BealtaineLughnasa folklore - music and lore for Lughnasa

Speaker: John WardAn audio overview about the sun God Lugh who gave his name to the most vibrant of cross quarter days, Lughnasa in August. Lugh played a major role in the battle of Moytura where the Tuatha de Denann defeated the Fomorians led by Balor of the Evil Eye, being his grandfather no less. That defeat at the Poisoned Glen in Donegal is a cracking tale as of course is the one involving his son*, Cúchulainn in The Táin. Lugh offered the boy his only respite from days of slaughter as he finally got some rest for three days and nights, thus recovering from his wounds. Negotiation and guile were also part of his skillset as he did a deal with the Fomorians to gain knowledge of ploughing, sowing and reaping the harvest. While this demonstrates a move from the megalithic to the modern, needless to say, all his good work will soon be pinched by that grand interloper St Patrick who subsequently replaces him as the hero in all future telling of the battle right down to Reek Sunday occurring on Garland Sunday. Give me the badass daring-do deeds of Lugh over the po-faced saint any day! © 2021-2022 Racontour Productions. This clip forms part of the Celtic Calendar audio archive from Racontour Productions. Feel free to share if enjoyed, but with a credit or a social media tag to Racontour Productions please.SPOTIFY: This platform has allowed us to be creative in ensuring you can access it on your smart phone with ease. Below are the Spotify options: -Celtic Calendar playlist - no music, just audio of all four festivals.Samhain folklore - music and lore for SamhainImbolc folklore - music and lore for ImbolcBealtaine folklore - music and lore for BealtaineLughnasa folklore - music and lore for Lughnasa*Cúchulainn was effectively born three times, so it all gets complicated on the birth cert. Suffice it to say that Lugh was his divine father with the mortal, Deichtire, sister of Conchobar MacNessa, King of Ulster.

Address: Trumon Barr on the R232GPS location: 54.598846 -8.041193Theme: the big revealThe first few miles into Donegal on the R232 Pettigo to Laghey road are deceptive. Low key and quite frankly forgettable, you start to wonder why all the fuss about Donegal's famous beauty. Here, tour producer John Ward, explains why the wonder of Donegal is a slow, but worthwhile reveal.Audio taken from Donegal's Hallowed Sites on the Racontour Archive.Spotify URL: Donegal's Hallowed Sites playlist on Spotify

Speaker: Maurice TimonyFrom The Bluestack Way Audio Guide, Part One.This plant grows in the manner of ivy and it is believed its feather-like fruit heads are used to flavour beer brewed from barley. This plant grew wildly in the friars’ time and lay unrecognised for years after their departure until a clean-up operation was taking place by the Office of Public Works. Alfred Timony from Revlin just outside of Donegal Town retrieved a cutting and planted it in his garden. His grandson, Maurice Timony (whose shop we recommended for buying maps) became aware of its provenance and brought a piece to Glenveagh National Park for verification. It now forms part of the National Plant Archive and is grown today in both Glenveagh and Killarney National Parks.

Speakers: Seoirse Ō Dochartaigh and John WardPatrick Campbell writes that 'scarcity would still be felt in and around the small mountain farms until midsummer or even the end of July. Indeed July was called ‘the hungry month’, ‘the lean month’ (the old Irish speakers named it Iul an ghorta’) ‘the shaking of the bags ‘ which when emptied were left ready and waiting for August and the golden harvest. Then the saying was ’we’ll soon be on the pig’s back’ for Lunasa Eve is at hand.Seoirse Ō Dochartaigh tells us about the old diets as remembered in Charles McGlinchey's time. © 2021-2022 Racontour Productions. This clip forms part of the Celtic Calendar audio archive from Racontour Productions. Feel free to share if enjoyed, but with a credit or a social media tag to Racontour Productions please.SPOTIFY: This platform has allowed us to be creative in ensuring you can access it on your smart phone with ease. Below are the Spotify options: -Celtic Calendar playlist - no music, just audio of all four festivals.Samhain folklore - music and lore for SamhainImbolc folklore - music and lore for ImbolcBealtaine folklore - music and lore for BealtaineLughnasa folklore - music and lore for Lughnasa

Location: The Diamond, Donegal TownNarrators: John Ward/Mairead McNultyPatents for these days go back as far as the early 1600s when Sir Basil Brooke had taken over the castle from the O'Donnells. The fair day was held on the second Friday of each month while the market occurred every Saturday.Signs and symbols were used to show availability for work: men carried sticks, straws, tools or a bundle under their arm whilst women wore aprons and string bags. All those hired went through the ritual of being examined and questioned about their ability to milk cows, thresh or carry out other farm or household chores. It was very much the survival of the fittest with only an early-risers being sought. Weak or feeble individuals were ignored as they stood forlornly in line at the fairs. The more experienced farm hands were known as spalpeens and would have emblems of their capabilities.With major social and economic changes in farming in the 1930s, the practice of hiring declined. The introduction of social welfare benefits in the early 20th century also meant workers increasingly wanted to work and be paid on a weekly basis; whilst new legislation began to push youth into education rather than work. By the mid 19th century, they were a thing of the past, but I can think of one friend whose father was part of the Donegal Town hiring fairs, so they are not quite the distant horror story they deserve to be. Sean Beattie's article has more on the fairs: https://historyofdonegal.com/derry-hiring-fairs-sean-beattie-recalls/© 2021-2022 Racontour Productions. This clip forms part of the Celtic Calendar audio archive from Racontour Productions. Feel free to share if enjoyed, but with a credit or a social media tag to Racontour Productions please.SPOTIFY: This platform has allowed us to be creative in ensuring you can access it on your smart phone with ease. Below are the Spotify options: -Celtic Calendar playlist - no music, just audio of all four festivals.Samhain folklore - music and lore for SamhainImbolc folklore - music and lore for ImbolcBealtaine folklore - music and lore for BealtaineLughnasa folklore - music and lore for Lughnasa

Speaker: John WardLest we think that only the young lads had it tough after the 1st of May with the Hiring Fairs, there is a summertime activity reserved for the young girls that certainly was no picnic. Transhumance may sound like a phenomenon from a sci-fi film, but it's the more prosaic activity of humans bringing the cattle to mountain pastures. Known in Ireland as 'booleying', it was largely the preserve of young women. Coming from the Irish word 'buaile', it referred to any kind of cattle enclosure and can be traced back to the fourth century BC in Greece no less. It is still practised in parts of Scandinavia and Iceland, but its heyday in Ireland has long since gone. © 2021-2022 Racontour Productions. This clip forms part of the Celtic Calendar audio archive from Racontour Productions. Feel free to share if enjoyed, but with a credit or a social media tag to Racontour Productions please.SPOTIFY: This platform has allowed us to be creative in ensuring you can access it on your smart phone with ease. Below are the Spotify options: -Celtic Calendar playlist - no music, just audio of all four festivals.Samhain folklore - music and lore for SamhainImbolc folklore - music and lore for ImbolcBealtaine folklore - music and lore for BealtaineLughnasa folklore - music and lore for Lughnasa

Speaker: John WardMidsummer's Eve was celebrated on the 23rd of June. At the heart of the celebrations was the bonfire which had been so for centuries in saluting the sun at its height before it declined south once again. All ages were involved in the gathering of any material to complete the bonfire, including bones which were believed to allow the fire to burn longer. It is from bone that we get the original word bone fire later becoming bonfire. This ancient Irish tradition of bone burning was in imitation of ancient sacrifices with the extra crackling sounds and extra stray sparks of them adding to the grandeur and excitement of this annual spectacle. Unlike Bealtaine fires which were a festive celebration, these were communal fires that were lit to great excitement after the working day.© 2021-2022 Racontour Productions. This clip forms part of the Celtic Calendar audio archive from Racontour Productions. Feel free to share if enjoyed, but with a credit or a social media tag to Racontour Productions please.SPOTIFY: This platform has allowed us to be creative in ensuring you can access it on your smart phone with ease. Below are the Spotify options: -Celtic Calendar playlist - no music, just audio of all four festivals.Samhain folklore - music and lore for SamhainImbolc folklore - music and lore for ImbolcBealtaine folklore - music and lore for BealtaineLughnasa folklore - music and lore for Lughnasa

Narrator: John WardFrom the Celtic Calendar archive saluting all of the folklore associated with the calendar year in Ireland.Lady Jane Wilde doesn't mince here words in her evaluation of it: Whitsuntide is a very fatal and unlucky time. Especially beware of water then, for there is an evil spirit in it, and no one should venture to bathe, nor to sail a boat for fear of being drowned; nor to go on a journey where water has to be crossed. And everything in the house must be sprinkled with holy water at Whitsuntide to keep away the fairies, who at this season are very active and malicious, and bewitch the cattle, and carry off young children, and come up from the sea to hold strange midnight revels, when they kill with their fairy darts the unhappy mortal who crosses their path and pries at their mysteries.'© 2021-2022 Racontour Productions. This clip forms part of the Celtic Calendar audio archive from Racontour Productions. Feel free to share if enjoyed, but with a credit or a social media tag to Racontour Productions please.SPOTIFY: This platform has allowed us to be creative in ensuring you can access it on your smart phone with ease. Below are the Spotify options: -Celtic Calendar playlist - no music, just audio of all four festivals.Samhain folklore - music and lore for SamhainImbolc folklore - music and lore for ImbolcBealtaine folklore - music and lore for BealtaineLughnasa folklore - music and lore for Lughnasa

Wexford storyteller Gretta Browne gives us her take on the customs associated with Bealtaine - everything from May Bushes to pisoegs to sayings to even a poem at the end. © 2021-2022 Racontour Productions. This clip forms part of the Celtic Calendar audio archive from Racontour Productions. Feel free to share if enjoyed, but with a credit or a social media tag to Racontour Productions please.SPOTIFY: This platform has allowed us to be creative in ensuring you can access it on your smart phone with ease. Below are the Spotify options: -Celtic Calendar playlist - no music, just audio of all four festivals.Samhain folklore - music and lore for SamhainImbolc folklore - music and lore for ImbolcBealtaine folklore - music and lore for BealtaineLughnasa folklore - music and lore for Lughnasa

Speaker: John WardWith some wry Patrick bashing, John talks about Brigid has a proper aura about that Patrick simply cannot compete with!© 2021-2022 Racontour Productions. This clip forms part of the Celtic Calendar audio archive from Racontour Productions. Feel free to share if enjoyed, but with a credit or a social media tag to Racontour Productions please.SPOTIFY: This platform has allowed us to be creative in ensuring you can access it on your smart phone with ease. Below are the Spotify options: -Celtic Calendar playlist - no music, just audio of all four festivals.Samhain folklore - music and lore for SamhainImbolc folklore - music and lore for ImbolcBealtaine folklore - music and lore for BealtaineLughnasa folklore - music and lore for Lughnasa

Speakers: Dessie McCallion in conversation with John WardDessie dwells on the pagan elements of the festival and the portents that people expect at that time of year.© 2021-2022 Racontour Productions. This clip forms part of the Celtic Calendar audio archive from Racontour Productions. Feel free to share if enjoyed, but with a credit or a social media tag to Racontour Productions please.SPOTIFY: This platform has allowed us to be creative in ensuring you can access it on your smart phone with ease. Below are the Spotify options: -Celtic Calendar playlist - no music, just audio of all four festivals.Samhain folklore - music and lore for SamhainImbolc folklore - music and lore for ImbolcBealtaine folklore - music and lore for BealtaineLughnasa folklore - music and lore for LughnasaImage by steven earnshaw (c) 2007

Speakers: Dessie McCallion in conversation with John WardBrigid served an important role in helping Christianity gain traction. In this piece, Dessie elaborates just how she went about it despite John teasing him on whether she actually existed!© 2021-2022 Racontour Productions. This clip forms part of the Celtic Calendar audio archive from Racontour Productions. Feel free to share if enjoyed, but with a credit or a social media tag to Racontour Productions please.SPOTIFY: This platform has allowed us to be creative in ensuring you can access it on your smart phone with ease. Below are the Spotify options: -Celtic Calendar playlist - no music, just audio of all four festivals.Samhain folklore - music and lore for SamhainImbolc folklore - music and lore for ImbolcBealtaine folklore - music and lore for BealtaineLughnasa folklore - music and lore for Lughnasa

Speaker: Dessie McCallionDessie speculates on whether Brigid - along with Patrick and Colmcille is actually buried in Downpatrick. He also salutes her in ensuring she got her dues in the ensuring her position in the pantheon of irish saints. © 2021-2022 Racontour Productions. This clip forms part of the Celtic Calendar audio archive from Racontour Productions. Feel free to share if enjoyed, but with a credit or a social media tag to Racontour Productions please.SPOTIFY: This platform has allowed us to be creative in ensuring you can access it on your smart phone with ease. Below are the Spotify options: -Celtic Calendar playlist - no music, just audio of all four festivals.Samhain folklore - music and lore for SamhainImbolc folklore - music and lore for ImbolcBealtaine folklore - music and lore for BealtaineLughnasa folklore - music and lore for Lughnasa

Speaker: Mary MurphyDivination being the practice of foretelling one's future husband was a well established custom in ireland at both Samhain and Imbolc. Here, Mary tells us more about this curious tradition. © 2021-2022 Racontour Productions. This clip forms part of the Celtic Calendar audio archive from Racontour Productions. Feel free to share if enjoyed, but with a credit or a social media tag to Racontour Productions please.SPOTIFY: This platform has allowed us to be creative in ensuring you can access it on your smart phone with ease. Below are the Spotify options: -Celtic Calendar playlist - no music, just audio of all four festivals.Samhain folklore - music and lore for SamhainImbolc folklore - music and lore for ImbolcBealtaine folklore - music and lore for BealtaineLughnasa folklore - music and lore for Lughnasa

Speaker: John WardPagans or indeed non pagans out there will enjoy the list of activities that can be done in anticipation of Imbolc. © 2021-2022 Racontour Productions. This clip forms part of the Celtic Calendar audio archive from Racontour Productions. Feel free to share if enjoyed, but with a credit or a social media tag to Racontour Productions please.SPOTIFY: This platform has allowed us to be creative in ensuring you can access it on your smart phone with ease. Below are the Spotify options: -Celtic Calendar playlist - no music, just audio of all four festivals.Samhain folklore - music and lore for SamhainImbolc folklore - music and lore for ImbolcBealtaine folklore - music and lore for BealtaineLughnasa folklore - music and lore for Lughnasa

Speaker: Dessie McCallionBrigid was a woman with serious clout who managed to get things done. Here Dessie explains how much of a force of nature she actually was. © 2021-2022 Racontour Productions. This clip forms part of the Celtic Calendar audio archive from Racontour Productions. Feel free to share if enjoyed, but with a credit or a social media tag to Racontour Productions please.SPOTIFY: This platform has allowed us to be creative in ensuring you can access it on your smart phone with ease. Below are the Spotify options: -Celtic Calendar playlist - no music, just audio of all four festivals.Samhain folklore - music and lore for SamhainImbolc folklore - music and lore for ImbolcBealtaine folklore - music and lore for BealtaineLughnasa folklore - music and lore for Lughnasa

Speaker: Sean McMahon RIPSean discusses that most pagan of shrines that was appropriated by Christianity. There are some 3000 or so in Ireland with accompanying customs and pattern days. Many are believed to have cures for particular conditions. © 2021-2022 Racontour Productions. This clip forms part of the Celtic Calendar audio archive from Racontour Productions. Feel free to share if enjoyed, but with a credit or a social media tag to Racontour Productions please.SPOTIFY: This platform has allowed us to be creative in ensuring you can access it on your smart phone with ease. Below are the Spotify options: -Celtic Calendar playlist - no music, just audio of all four festivals.Samhain folklore - music and lore for SamhainImbolc folklore - music and lore for ImbolcBealtaine folklore - music and lore for BealtaineLughnasa folklore - music and lore for Lughnasa

Speaker: John WardThere is a lot of lore to explore with the ancient custom that still exists. Here, John tells us about them in a comprehensive review. © 2021-2022 Racontour Productions. This clip forms part of the Celtic Calendar audio archive from Racontour Productions. Feel free to share if enjoyed, but with a credit or a social media tag to Racontour Productions please.SPOTIFY: This platform has allowed us to be creative in ensuring you can access it on your smart phone with ease. Below are the Spotify options: -Celtic Calendar playlist - no music, just audio of all four festivals.Samhain folklore - music and lore for SamhainImbolc folklore - music and lore for ImbolcBealtaine folklore - music and lore for BealtaineLughnasa folklore - music and lore for Lughnasa

Speaker: Dessie McCallionNever shy of a theory, Dessie tells us that the real reason for the invasion of Ireland by the Normans has more to do with the sacking of Brigid's Kildare monastery by Diarmaid than it does with his Breffni shenanigans! © 2021-2022 Racontour Productions. This clip forms part of the Celtic Calendar audio archive from Racontour Productions. Feel free to share if enjoyed, but with a credit or a social media tag to Racontour Productions please.SPOTIFY: This platform has allowed us to be creative in ensuring you can access it on your smart phone with ease. Below are the Spotify options: -Celtic Calendar playlist - no music, just audio of all four festivals.Samhain folklore - music and lore for SamhainImbolc folklore - music and lore for ImbolcBealtaine folklore - music and lore for BealtaineLughnasa folklore - music and lore for Lughnasa

Speaker: Gretta BrowneWexford native Gretta Browne gives an excellent overview of Brigid and the customs that are associated with her.© 2021-2022 Racontour Productions. This clip forms part of the Celtic Calendar audio archive from Racontour Productions. Feel free to share if enjoyed, but with a credit or a social media tag to Racontour Productions please.SPOTIFY: This platform has allowed us to be creative in ensuring you can access it on your smart phone with ease. Below are the Spotify options: -Celtic Calendar playlist - no music, just audio of all four festivals.Samhain folklore - music and lore for SamhainImbolc folklore - music and lore for ImbolcBealtaine folklore - music and lore for BealtaineLughnasa folklore - music and lore for Lughnasa

Speakers: Dessie McCallion and John WardDessie tells John about the harbinger of better days herself and of the miracle that was the survival of Catholicism in ireland no less!© 2021-2022 Racontour Productions. This clip forms part of the Celtic Calendar audio archive from Racontour Productions. Feel free to share if enjoyed, but with a credit or a social media tag to Racontour Productions please.SPOTIFY: This platform has allowed us to be creative in ensuring you can access it on your smart phone with ease. Below are the Spotify options: -Celtic Calendar playlist - no music, just audio of all four festivals.Samhain folklore - music and lore for SamhainImbolc folklore - music and lore for ImbolcBealtaine folklore - music and lore for BealtaineLughnasa folklore - music and lore for Lughnasa

Speaker: John WardIn 2022, there's a great new lease of life for Brigid's memory around the capital city. Audio based on an Irish Times article about Brigid or Brigit as they have it. © 2021-2022 Racontour Productions. This clip forms part of the Celtic Calendar audio archive from Racontour Productions. Feel free to share if enjoyed, but with a credit or a social media tag to Racontour Productions please.SPOTIFY: This platform has allowed us to be creative in ensuring you can access it on your smart phone with ease. Below are the Spotify options: -Celtic Calendar playlist - no music, just audio of all four festivals.Samhain folklore - music and lore for SamhainImbolc folklore - music and lore for ImbolcBealtaine folklore - music and lore for BealtaineLughnasa folklore - music and lore for Lughnasa

Speaker: Mary MurphyImbolc is strongly associated with Saint Brigid (Old Irish: Brigit, modern Irish: Bríd, modern Scottish Gaelic: Brìghde or Brìd, anglicised Bridget). Saint Brigid is thought to have been based on Brigid, a Gaelic goddess. The festival, which celebrates the onset of spring, is thought to be linked with Brigid in her role as a fertility goddess.On Imbolc Eve, Brigid was said to visit virtuous households and bless the inhabitants. As Brigid represented the light half of the year, and the power that will bring people from the dark season of winter into spring, her presence was very important at this time of year.Source: Wikipedia © 2021-2022 Racontour Productions. This clip forms part of the Celtic Calendar audio archive from Racontour Productions. Feel free to share if enjoyed, but with a credit or a social media tag to Racontour Productions please.SPOTIFY: This platform has allowed us to be creative in ensuring you can access it on your smart phone with ease. Below are the Spotify options: -Celtic Calendar playlist - no music, just audio of all four festivals.Samhain folklore - music and lore for SamhainImbolc folklore - music and lore for ImbolcBealtaine folklore - music and lore for BealtaineLughnasa folklore - music and lore for Lughnasa

Bonus Shrine: a proud son of DonegalLocation: 54.643029, -8.433699Speaker: John WardTheme: grace under pressure.The 6th of January 2022 marks the 52nd anniversary of P.J. Ward and the 7th of January marks the 100th anniversary of his Treaty speech in Dáil Eireann. Here his grandson, John Ward, looks back at those momentous events and salutes a proud son of Donegal. To see P.J. Ward's speech in full and to find out more about him, go to:https://www.racontour.com/a-tough-call/#Treaty100 #Donegal #IrishhistoryAudio taken from Donegal's Hallowed Sites on the Racontour Archive.Spotify URL: Donegal's Hallowed Sites playlist on Spotify

Our audio piece is our first song from the Lough Eske/Barnes Mór area. It’s a tune from the 1950s in Irish from a local singer whose identity we’re unsure of. He is singing about his young love and even if you cannot understand it, the language of love is universal and you certainly pick up on the man’s dedication to his lady. We shall dig deeper, promise!

Speaker: Nancy's Jennifer McHughFrom the Bluestack Way - Part 4 playlist.The capital of festivals not just in Donegal, but possibly Ireland? We're not going to list out all of the festivals here - you'll know of the Cup of Tae festival and maybe the Walking festival, but rarely is there a week that goes by in the Spring and Summer that there isn't some sort of celebration in the town. Not a bad way to pass time! The area is famous for its spectacular scenery, beautiful unspoilt beaches, and the hospitality of its people. Ardara is a designated Heritage Town and also a well known centre for the manufacture of Donegal homespun tweeds and knitwear. We are great fans of Kennedy's of Ardara for their very nifty knits - see their website on the right hand column. Great trad music is to be heard around the town and a visit to Nancy's for seafood and music is a must - it's just been crowned national Pub of the Year by the Georgina Campbell guide book. The Diamond has been a market place since the 1700s when George Nesbitt had livestock and tweed traded on the first day of the month. Today, the fair is held annually, usually around Whit weekend. In the Heritage Centre, you'll hear a good telling of the role the county played in the weaving industry. There's a hand loom weaver on site and an audio visual guide upstairs as well as a small cafe. It doubles up as a Tourist Information centre. Open Easter-September, Monday to Saturday 10-6, Sunday 2-6. Our audio piece comes from Jennifer in Nancy's famous award-winning pub telling us that Ardara was recognised as Ireland's best village by the readers of The Irish Times in 2012 no less.

Speaker: Bart WhelanFrom the Bluestack Way - Part 4 playlist.The end of the Bluestack Way is at Ardara on the Atlantic coast on Loughros Bay. Ardara - Ard an Ratha (pronounced 'Ardra') means Hill of the Fort, named after the large ringfort situated above and overlooking the village. Located behind the national school at the top of the town, the ringfort is approx. 28km in diameter and enclosed by an earthen bank and ditch. it was probably home to a single family and dates from AD 500-800.  Our pictures show you the wall and gate to look out for to access the Ardara fort. Make your way over the gate and up the hill to see the fort.  There is an even more impressive ring fort a few miles away, just outside of Portnoo called Doon Fort.  Wondering what else to see in the area? Ask about any one of these wonderful sites: -  Iniskeel Island, St Connell's Church and two Cross Slabs; Narin's championship 18 hole Golf Course, Kilclooney Portal Dolman; Cloney Wood Forest walk; Massrock at Morganstown; Owenea Bridge standing stone (see POI 7), Ardara Fort at Hillhead, Evie Hone stained glass window, Drumbarron Hill scenic view, The Dorleens, Loughros Point, Maghera Caves, Assaranca falls near Maghera, Glengesh Pass and Ard an Amharc.

Speaker: Bart WhelanFrom the Bluestack Way - Part 4 playlist.Directions You'll be taking a left at the T-junction to bring you into the last stop of Ardara. On leaving the river, the route makes its way to the main Ardara to Narin/Portnoo road, the R261. At this road, you turn left to make the final kilometre of the Bluestack Way into the village of Ardara - well done and here's hoping you've made it to the end in one piece!  Taking the right would get you to the beautiful coastal villages of Narin and Portnoo - we could not complete the Way without having Bart Whelan tell you one of the great tales of the area, the early days of Narin golf club and its unusual golf hazards.

Speaker: Bart WhelanFrom the Bluestack Way - Part 4 playlist.Upon getting onto the R261, you may wish to turn right and view the nearby Owenea Standing Stone, a massive block some 3.5 metres high in a scraggy field behind a ruin. Folklore says that Fionn McCumhaill threw this shoulder stone from “Clo na Cleire Mountain” and it landed here. When you get to the brown sign on the right saying Owenea river, cross the stile right beside it and turn left to see the standing stone - you have the landowner's permission to be there.  In our audio piece, local Bart Whelan tells us the colourful story of Fionn's reason for throwing the stone - not just a warrior, but Ireland's earliest eco warrior it would appear!

Speaker: Bart WhelanFrom the Bluestack Way - Part 4 playlist.The Bluestack Way makes its final river crossing at 'Iron Bridge' in the townland of Glenconwal. Take a final look at the panoramic views over Loughros Mor Bay and the rising mountians of Meenacurrin and Slievetooey in the distance.  Just by the bay is a place known far and wide as Kentucky - Bart Whelan tells us why in the audio piece.

Speaker: Mary MurphyFrom the Bluestack Way - Part 4 playlist.Fairy lore is prevalent in Donegal, albeit not to the same extent it was over 100 years ago, which some sceptics tie in with the development of modern technology to entertain us and the diminishing of native poteen making and of tales spun around to keep people away from certain places with a well placed fairytale.  There are stories right across the county of people who have come across them in their travels. Well documented stories exist for places in south Donegal, from Pettigo to Carrick. Our audio piece tells us more about them and the poem below may be known to many of you. It was composed by Ballyshannon poet, William Allingham.  The Fairies  Up the airy mountain, Down the rushy glen, We daren't go a-hunting For fear of little men; Wee folk, good folk, Trooping all together; Green jacket, red cap, And white owl's feather!  Down along the rocky shore Some make their home, They live on crispy pancakes Of yellow tide-foam; Some in the reeds Of the black mountain lake, With frogs for their watch-dogs, All night awake.  High on the hill-top The old King sits; He is now so old and gray He's nigh lost his wits. With a bridge of white mist Columbkill he crosses, On his stately journeys From Slieveleague to Rosses; Or going up with music On cold starry nights, To sup with the Queen Of the gay Northern Lights.  They stole little Bridget For seven years long; When she came down again Her friends were all gone. They took her lightly back, Between the night and morrow, They thought that she was fast asleep, But she was dead with sorrow. They have kept her ever since Deep within the lake, On a bed of flag-leaves, Watching till she wake.  By the craggy hill-side, Through the mosses bare, They have planted thorn-trees For pleasure here and there. Is any man so daring As dig them up in spite, He shall find their sharpest thorns In his bed at night.  Up the airy mountain, Down the rushy glen, We daren't go a-hunting For fear of little men; Wee folk, good folk, Trooping all together; Green jacket, red cap, And white owl's feather!

Speaker: Sean McMahonFrom the Bluestack Way - Part 4 playlist.Local writer Seumas MacManus collected and told of the gentle people in his book, 'Donegal Fairy Stories'. Writing on Old Lammas Day from Donegal town in 1900, his preface starts:- 'tales as old as the curlew's call are today listened to around the hearths of Donegal with the same keen and credulous eagerness with which they were hearkened to hundreds of years ago. Of a people whose only wealth is mental and spiritual, the thousand such tales are not the least significant heritage...  ...the professional shanachy (sic) recites them to a charmed audience in the wake house, in the potato field, on the green hillside on summer Sundays, and at the crossroads in blissful autumn gloamings, while the green marge rests his hearers' aching limbs...he would wish that this world might for a few hours, give him their credence on trust, consent to forget temporarily that life is hard and joyless, be foolish, simple children once more, and bring to the entertainment the fresh and fun-loving hearts they possessed ere the world's wisdom came to them. And if they return to the world's wise ways with a lurking delight in their hearts, the shanachy will again feel rejoiced and proud for the triumph of our grand tales.'

Speaker: Bart WhelanFrom the Bluestack Way - Part 4 playlist.The Owenea River runs for some 13 miles, draining Lough Ea in the west of the Croaghs, into Loughrosmore Bay at Ardara. The Owenea is primarily a spate river taking around one to two days to run off after a good flood. The season on the Owenea runs from 1 April to 30 September.  The Owenea is one of the best salmon rivers in the county. The river has a run of spring salmon, grilse, sea trout and has a resident stock of small brown trout. The fishery consists of nine beats on the bottom eight miles of the river with good pools spread throughout the whole river. The river has a lot of nice fly water with the majority of fish being caught by this method. When in condition the river is one of the best in the country for grilse. The main grilse run starts in July with salmon right to the end of the season.  The fishery has access for disabled anglers along a section of beat 3. There is an ongoing programme of maintenance and upgrading of access, angling structures, habitat restoration etc. N.B. Shrimp and Prawn are strictly prohibited.  Single-day and multi-day fishing products are available. Please ensure that you also purchase a licence if you book your fishing permit online. To fish on the Owenea you must hold a fishing permit and a fishing licence. Bookings are non-transferable. Rods are assigned to beats on a first come first served basis. Payment can made by credit or debit card, including Visa, MasterCard and Laser. Bookings and in-season information available through: Owenea Angling Centre, Glenties Hatchery, Glenties, Co. Donegal. Tel: (074) 9551141. Fax: (074) 9551444. Email: [email protected] Off-season information available through Northern Regional Fisheries Board, Station road, Ballyshannon, Co. Donegal. Tel: (071) 9851435. Fax: (071) 9851816. Email: [email protected]