In September of 2004, Chrissie, Drew, and I went to the Celtic Folklife and Music Festival in Cincinnati, OH. It was a glorious weekend of telling stories, listening to music, and, of course, buying some new Celtic "wear." Drew and I are standing in front of an old stone tower with the last of summer's flowers laying at our feet.
Here is a piece I wrote to my Storytell listserve after I returned from the Celtic Fest:
The leprechauns and fairyfolk were out in force at the Cincinnati's Celtic World Festival. My daughter, Chrissie, and Baby Drew came with me as the music, dancing, singing and storytelling spun its magical web. As we meandered the crooked paths of old Coney Island, strands of Celtic harp, bagpipes, flutes, and drums wafted in the cool September air. Irish lasses in colorful dresses and embroidered mantels danced as their curls kept time to the music. Since the weekend was made up of snippets of memory, I have highlighted bits and pieces:
First things first - I went to the Celtic Imports to find "the outfit." I was immediately drawn to a Celtic Blue (is there such a color?) dress. I liked it so much I wore it the next day. Sandy Messerly surprised me with a necklace she made. Would you believe it - the blue stones matched my dress.
Another present! Stephen Hollen came to hear Sandy and me and presented me with one of his brooms. It has this knotty handle made of polished apple wood. I had to hide it - people wanted to buy it from me when they saw it! Thanks, Stephen. He, Sandy and I commiserated for an hour before it was time to tell. There were some Oopsters that made it to the BS tent as well. It was good to see that this event gets the support of the local tellers. Sandy was on hand to answer any questions about storytelling for newbies.
Bardic School - A lovely combination of old school (cultural, traditional storytellng) and new school (academic topics). The listeners were "active" listeners - they laughed, they joined in, they smiled, and they empathized. Sandy told many a delightful Irish tale. Some tellers tell through body language, some through vocals, but Sandy tells with her eyes. She has these huge eyes that looks right into your soul as her words take hold. Even though Sandy wore many hats that weekend - Tent moderator, Emcee, Festival Organizer, she somehow freed herself of that as she stepped up on stage to tell her stories.
I think we made a nice mix because my stories were more "Irish-American" or "American-Irish, " if you will. I told "McGoogan Moves the Mighty Rock" by Dick Gackenbach and "Wicked John" for the opening sessions. On Sunday I prefaced Wicked John by altering my "three stupid human tricks" to fit the festival. Well, I had to get those "Sassy Eyes" in there somewhere!
For my session on Saturday I gave a short genealogy of the Kinsella Clan starting with a King of Ireland that is purportedly a part of the lineage and Lake O'Kinseliegh where many of the Kinsella's originated.
"William Kinsella left from Dublin in the mid 1800's to seek his fortune in America. He came to the St. Louis area to work on a new railroad line that (still) leads from East St. Louis, IL towards the East. He built a lean-to and soon saved enough money to send for his bride, Anne Connely of Wexford. He built a two-story log cabin and they started a family with 12 children. The youngest, Lawrence, was willed the farm and house. He and Emily Fournie raised their family of 10 children adding a substantial room to the back of the house. The farm was left to their youngest child, Cyril who married Rita O'Brien and they raised their four children on that farm. The oldest was Larry (ah, this is where the German girl makes her mark!) who married Marilyn Niemann. He bought a couple of acres of the farm land before it was sold to the city for a nature park and built his home there. They raised three children on that land, the oldest being Christine. Christine (as most of you know by now) just had the latest addition to the Kinsella Clan - Drew Adele.
After Chrissie raised Drew to thunderous applause, I told Jane Yolen's "The Rosechild" in her honor. I also told a few family stories. One about Lawrence Kinsella's horse trading business, one about Larry called "Hold On" (on my website) and one about our son Brian called "Corn-knappin' and Nut-knappin."
The next day, I was going to tell some scary stories, but the listeners included some wee one's ears, so I told two Jack Tales - Jack and the Haunted House (good jumps!) and Lazy Jack (lots of laughs!).
At the Wee One's Play Place I told my combo, participation story "Darby, the Tailor" both days.
The Catholic Mass - Chrissie, Drew and I gave thanks for this wonderful weekend with Father Flanagan and the rest of the congregation. Now that our senses will filled, it was time to fill our souls.
After my last telling, we went back to the vendors to buy our trinkets - Sneaky Peat's was not to be missed. I wanted to buy Larry a utilikilt, since the idea of him down in a pit digging with a kilt on sent me into fits of laughter...but reason won out, he got a belt with Celtic designs on it instead. We found a beautiful carved box for Drew and a pearl bracelet with Celtic beads on it to put in it.
Okay, there were some drawbacks - no Highland games. Sandy wrote that the river was up just the day before. I still think that they could have had some dandy mud wrestling bouts! Some little critter kept biting my ankles (ouch!) Chrissie is on a no-carb diet, so it was a test of our will power to pass up the Irish pasties, Welch cookies, and English scones. We were so tired by Saturday night that we didn't have the energy to come back for the concert that night.
On our way home we stopped at Joe's Crab Shack on the Ohio River in Louisville. They gave us a table that overlooked the Ohio as the sun was setting. Awesome colors whirled and swirled in the sky and in the water! There was a balloon artist who came to our table. He also does magic and storytelling. Soon he sat down and we were trading stories. Chrissie bought a giant red rose from him.
It wasn't until the next day that I discovered that we were missing a package. The one with Drew's Irish pearl bracelet in it and a gift for my daughter, Amy. I had no idea how to reach them, but luckily I did write their name on my check register "Kilkenny." So I looked up the name on Google.com and found "Kilkenny Creations." I called them and they had it! She is sending my way at no charge. Now that's the luck and love of the Irish!
But, I guess I have to say that having Drew with us was our most treasured memory. She put a smile on everyone's face. You sometimes forget how a baby can bring out the best in people. She may not consciously remember this weekend, but tiny webs were spun that will remind her of her Celtic heritage that will stay with her forever.
