Summer Stars stories from County Clare with Niall de Búrca

Beginning on 4th August, Niall will deliver a fascinating array of stories of County Clare based on heroes, legends and places you may, or may not, have heard of.

Everyone can listen to these amazing tales by tuning in to Clare Library’s YouTube Channel or on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram every Tuesday in August beginning at 11:30am. Each story will be family-friendly and will encourage engagement with books in libraries.

Here is a selection of the stories you will hear:

Aoibheall the Shining One

Somewhere in Clare is a hidden entrance to the fort of one of the most powerful fairies in Ireland. She is celebrated in song and story. But Aoibheall has two sides; she can bring happy dreams to children or nightmares to a king...

The Banshee

When Niall de Búrca was a child stories of the banshee made him hide under the duvet. But he couldn’t stop listening… they were delicious! For Summer Stars Niall shares one of his favourite banshee tales.

Fionn Mac Cumhaill and the Fianna

Fionn and the Fianna have had many an adventure in Clare. Niall relates a tale of Fionn in the Banner! Is there a place or story associated with the Fianna near where you live?

Riddle Me This!

People in Ireland always love riddles. In days of yore people spent hours thinking up great riddles to trick friends and family. Niall has a tale of how a kid out-riddled a king!

Animal Tales

In Clare we share our landscape with incredible wildlife. Deer, otters and badgers are just some of the animals of which there are many stories. Sionnach Glic – Foxey – the wiliest of all creatures deserves a tail or two!

 

Linked to this array of stories, Clare Libraries invite children and young people of all ages to share their own stories, riddles and photographs for publication on the Library website and social media platforms. These may include:

• A story about an historical place or person from the past who lived in the locality (parents or grandparents might be able to help with this one)
• A riddle based on local stories or places
• A photograph, for example of an old fort, church, castle ruin or other famous landmark in the area with one or two short paragraphs to explain what it is.

Stories, riddles or photographs may be emailed to library_mailbox@clarecoco.ie at any time during August 2020 with 'Summer Stars Storytelling' in the email subject heading.

The information on local places and people of interest will be posted on the Library website at the end of August 2020. Clare County Library reserves the right to edit text or photographic submissions if necessary.

 

Summer Stars

The annual children’s reading programme, Summer Stars, is underway in all branches of Clare County Library and there is still lots of time for children to become involved. Pick up a Summer Stars reading log at your local library and sign up to read as many books as you wish at your own pace until the end of August. In addition, children have the option to include e-books and e-audio books downloadable for free from the Library website to add to the Summer Stars reading experience this year.

Page last reviewed: 24/07/20

Content managed by: Library Service

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