We recently celebrated the Gab’s 10th Birthday at Elizabeth fort, thanks to sponsorship by Cork City Council Nighttime Economy fund. We don’t know how he does it, but Max Bell’s photos get better every time, thanks so much Max (and Édith for the above photo which includes Max) for making us look beautiful! Thanks a million to Mervyn and Adam at Elizabeth Fort who set everything up for us in the beautiful garden at the fort and cleared all the chairs away while we ate pizza and had the craic. Thanks to Deirdre O’Mahony as Bean an tí who had the tough task of keeping more than 20 performers inline, she ensured a great flow and did an excellent job. Thanks to Paul Walsh who guided us through the fort. Thank you to the tellers, poets, singers and performers who kept us highly entertained for the night. And most of all, thanks to the listeners, ye were the best audience.
Mary Walsh was the first teller and told a short story about her brother Paul writing his news back in primary school. News so shocking to the teacher it resulted in a worried phone call to home but his mother, Bridie, was able to set the story straight.
The stalwart Gabber and storyteller, Sharon O’Neill delighted us with the audience participation in her story about a wonky donkey. There were whoops, cheers and plenty shouting from the crowd.
It was a beautiful warm, sunny evening in Elizabeth fort but Liam O’Shaughnessy charmed us with a short anecdote about rain and a Russia called Rudolf, the pun and punchline was just perfect.
Despite not many of us knowing the song, “Old Orange Flute”, Rob McKahey had us singing along to the chorus. What a treat to hear the a cappella folk song in Rob’s inimitable and humorous style.
Can you believe it was Julie Crowley who introduced Mary Walsh and Deirdre O’Mahony to storytelling when she brought them to the Cape Clear storytelling festival in 2012? It was lovely to hear Julie telling the story of how and when our love of storytelling began a few years before the Gab was born.
The man from Bonane, Brendan O’Sullivan, never disappoints and he gave us a cracker of a short story about Sr. Ignations on her deathbed, surrounded by her sisters. They decided to give her a drop of brandy in her milk to perk her up. It worked and provided her very memorable last words.
Not that you’d guess it but Pauline O’Grady-Noonan is a relative newbie to the Gab. We were in stitches with her story about a man with a male pet camel who brought him to Dublin for a match and caused fierce confusion reporting the crime.
Now a regular at Mixtapes and Sketchbooks, Pat Murray sang a very timely, funny and thought-provoking song, “I’d Go Anywhere to Fight For Oil to Lubricate the Red, White & Blue” by the American folk musician, Dana Lyons.
Lenka Forrest, long-time supporter of the Gab since the very early days, gave us a story with her unique Eastern European perspective on cooking a family meal in Ireland, hilarious!
The West Waterford duo, Sinead O’Neill and Liam Roche brought us down memory lane with a bopping rendition of a story they sang at their very first Gab in O’Mahony’s in Watergrasshill, “I wanna dance with somebody” by Whitney Heuston.
Rom Hyde had us roaring with laugher telling a story about Jack who had a surname that sounds the same as the vernacular word for excrement, Sh1t and the trouble it caused for him.
Pat Speight has been a guiding professional storytelling hand since the very first year of the Gab’s existence so it was wonderful to have him celebrating with us at our 10th birthday. His first story was about a farmer whose wife couldn’t cook and his second story was a tricker’s story about a man with a horse who swallowed his gold.
Caroline Foley composed a poem about the Gab to celebrate the Gab’s 10th birthday, especially highlighting the monthly workshop, the Sketchbook in the Blarney Castle hotel, where “they help us discover stories we never knew”. Thanks a million, Caroline!
Conor Ó Buachalla, who runs https://www.gormu.com/, small-group eco-adventures, delighted us with a tale of taking two Canadians and two locals on a tour in West cork. The locals were more than anyone could handle ending up with Conor and the Canadians having the experience of a lifetime.
Judith Coffey was at the very first night of the Gab in Coughlans in 2016 and charmed us with a bespoke poem for the Gab’s 10th birthday. She reminded us that nobody had a clue what was going to happen that first night, she thought it was going to be boring, imagine! And she beautifully reminded us of Gabbers we have lost over the last 10 years, thanks a million Judith! Judith finished with a signature dirty witty ditty, “Soft as putty”.
Colm Ryan gave us a life-affirming story about surviving a climb of Carrauntoohil in extreme conditions a few years ago. Despite the fine evening, we were all in that wind tunnel with Colm thanks to his evocative descriptions.
No stranger to the Gab, Terri Ryan introduced us to Willie Joe Dulux, a character from her youth and the craic they got up to as innocent youngsters in Mitchelstown.
Diarmuid O Drisceoil’s story could be considered an ecumenical matter, a few days after the resurrection, Jesus meets up with some of the lads, has a few pints with them, goes out in a boat on the sea of Galilee, hilarity ensues. Diarmuid’s actions and sound effects were spot on.
Paul O’Sullivan told a wonderful poignant story filled with unspoken kindness and community spirit about an old childhood neighbour George. Very fitting for the occasion.
Sinead and Liam rounded off the performances of the evening with a few songs, “From this valley” by the Civil Wars, “Carolina” by Taylor Swift and “Set fire to the 3rd bar” by Snow Patrol.
Thanks again for celebrating 10 years with us. Here’s to many, many more.
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