Pat Speight is a master storyteller, known affectionately as “Pat the Hat”. Bringing the Irish and international tradition of storytelling to life, Pat draws on an extensive catalogue of folktales, myths and legends. Known for his quick wit and mischievousness, Pat’s unique storytelling style has delighted audiences at home and abroad for many years.Pat will be supported by Paul O’Sullivan and Colm Ryan who have both been attentively honing their storytelling skills at the Gab in recent years.
Music on the night will be from Trip the Light, Caroline Sweeney and Wayne McSweeney, a guitar-playing, singing duo from East Cork, covering favourites from the 1960s to present day as well as their own original material.
The yellow weather warning neither dampened the spirits or lessened the size of the crowd that turned up in Callanan’s for our first Gab Mixtape of the season last Tuesday evening.
BAT, Sharon O’Neill, started us bang on time at 8.30pm and after a brief welcome back and housekeeping introduced the first teller, Brendan O’Sullivan. An old neighbour of Brendan’s said going to the bog was akin to the penal island of Spike. Brendan took us back to the bog and introduced us to Jacob, the stallion donkey with an unmerciful bray and a fondness for the jennets.
Trish Burke, with a Chinese story, told us of a prince who brought the best craftspeople and the best materials together to build a palace. They were guided by a small, thin, little man who told them to work with the elements, “the rain and the wind are your allies, and they built a paradise on earth in an atmosphere of comradery and kinship.
Diarmuid O Drisceoil took us in a very different direction with a folk tale about a misfortunate blacksmith, his mother, his mother-in-law, his horse and a boy who came to visit who changed everything with a silver little hatchet. The listeners were squirming and shrieking with the gore that followed.
Just before the break, music man Mo O’Conor, stepped up with his guitar and announced he was running for the Aras and assured us we’d save a fortune because he’d be able to recycle the suits of the man vacating the job. Mo started with a cover of the Dubliner’s Zoological Gardens before giving us his own song inspired by the moving statues called Ballinspittle.
After appearing in Waterloo in August and due to popular request, Liam O’Shaughnessy and Paul O’Sullivan were back with two great stories. Liam told us again about Seán Óg de Barra, the young fella from Cork. They called him Seán Óg the Hare because he was stone mad for leaping which came in handy when he declared he would be the last man to ever join the Fianna.
While Paul reminded us the original intention of the GAA’s Scór was as a cultural base but was hijacked by clubs to settle old scores from the pitch. They didn’t know what hit them with the 5 piece all-female ensemble in the ballad group competition, as Paul said, you couldn’t make it up!
Sharon brought the stories to an end with a personal one about a kerfuffle outside her house, a request for a spin, the girl on each shoulder and a change in names to protect the innocent. There was no innocence left by the end of the story.
Mo closed the night with his poem “Silent car trip”, his own song “Homeland” about meeting a Mexican family in Texas in 2004, the Drifters “”Save the Last Dance for Me” and finally showed off his fret acrobatics with his own “The Long Journey Home”.
Thanks to Rob and Eileen behind the bar for all the support they give us at the Gab. Thanks to Deirdre O’Mahony for all the work putting the night together. Thanks a million to Colm Ryan for stepping in at the last minute to take photos, see Facebook
Thanks to the tellers, musicians and most of all those of you who came to listen.
The Gab 