The Gab

Tag: thegab

  • Back in Coughlan’s on Douglas Str

    The Gab Presents in Coughlan’s, Douglas St.
    Friday 23 January 2026

    Doors 7.30pm, Starts 8:00 pm

    Tickets: €24.50 including booking & venue fees

    https://tickets.peoplesrepublicofcork.com/11189334/The-Gab-Presents:-Storytelling-/Fri-23-Jan-2026

    The Gab is delighted to return to Coughlan’s in 2026 for a night where four outstanding storytellers will weave a tapestry of folk tales, personal stories and local lore. Guiding us through the evening will be our Gab Bean an Tí, Deirdre O’Mahony.

    Julie Crowley
    Not many people know that Julie’s attendance at the Cape Clear Storytelling festival in 2011 set off a series of events that lead to the creation of the Gab, it’s all her fault! Julie is comfortable telling folk tales and personal stories, always told in her warm, engaging and inimitable way.

    Daniel Galvin
    Daniel Galvin has told stories throughout Ireland, at festivals and venues including Electric Picnic, All Together Now, Yarn Storytelling Festival, and elsewhere. He is a two-time recipient of the Arts Council Agility Award and holds an MA in Creative Writing from UCC. Daniel is the founder of Grapevvine, a platform for modern storytelling based in Cork.

    Patricia Burke
    Drawing from the rich local and family lore of her Blarney upbringing, Trish charms listeners with her gentle style. She is also a long-term member of the award-winning Blue Hat Productions and when telling her stories, Trish captivates an audience in a way only she can.

    Liam O’Shaughnessy:
    Scientist by day, storyteller by night. Hailing from Carrigtwohill in East Cork, Liam tells tales that blend the everyday with the absurd, all steeped in Irish history, folklore and mythology. You can catch him spinning yarns and telling lies at storytelling gatherings in Cork city and county.

    Music: Sinéad O’Neill and Liam Roche
    Music on the night will be from the West Waterford duo, Sinéad O’Neill and Liam Roche. Sinead is a professionally trained vocalist, Liam is a singing & guitar-playing muso. When they sing together they bring a unique and beautiful sound to classic and contemporary covers.

  • A lovely way to end the year …

    🎄 The Gab Storytelling Christmas Special: Sunday 28 December Church of the Resurrection, Blarney. Doors 7pm for a 7.30pm start

    We are delighted to be receiving support from Cork City Council’s Night Time Economy fund for a special night of storytelling in the Church of the Resurrection in Blarney. This will be a free event. Hope to see you there

  • The Gab at Leap Scarecrow Festival ’25

    Photo taken by Rita O’Sullivan

    Thanks a million to Conor Ó Buachalla https://www.gormu.com/ for inviting us to tell stories in the Leap Inn last night as part of Leap Scarecrow festival. It was an epic night of stories covering virtues, vices, crucifixions, a golden ball, a fish king, a headless priest, a funeral home in NYC, a very able apprentice, several appearances of the devil and a seriously hairy pony. With great tunes from the local group 4 Uke Sake  and the Tim Healy band. We’re starting a fund for a mini bus so we can have more adventures like this to West Cork.

  • October at the Gab

    October Sketchbook: Tuesday 7 October 8.30pm Blarney Castle Hotel

    Regular Sketchbook in Blarney where we take a deep dive into stories and telling. Story slots are full but please email thegabstorytelling@gmail.com if you want to take a role or attend.

    The Gab presents Pat Speight: Thursday 9 October 7.30pm Coughlans Douglas Street €24.20

    Sold out, see you there if you got a ticket!

    October Mixtape: Tuesday 21 October 8.30pm Callanan’s George’s Quay

    We’re back in our Cork City home, Callanan’s. Doors open at 8pm, storytelling starts at 8.30pm. Get in early if you want to get a seat. 

    Storytelling for Leap Scarecrow Festival : Tuesday 28 October 7.30pm Leap Inn Bar & Restaurant

    Looking forward to heading to Leap to tell stories for grown-ups as part of their Scarecrow Festival. Tickets are free but you have to register https://www.eventbrite.com/e/storytelling-music-at-halloween-with-the-gab-15yrs-tickets-1716562166649 and see https://www.leapscarecrowfestival.com/ for more info and events 

  • Great article about Pat Speight and the Gab in today’s Echo

    Thanks to Pat Speight and Aisling Meath for this excellent article about Pat, storytelling in Cork, the Gab and his gig with us in Coughlans next week with photos by Max Bell. Only a handful of tickets left https://tickets.peoplesrepublicofcork.com/11182963/The-Gab-Presents-Pat-Speight/Thu-09-Oct-2025 get one before they’re gone

  • The Gab presents Pat Speight – 9th Oct in Coughlans

    Tickets €24.20 (including booking and venue fee) https://tickets.peoplesrepublicofcork.com/11182963/The-Gab-Presents-Pat-Speight/Thu-09-Oct-2025

    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.

  • September ’25 Mixtape in Callanan’s

    Photo by Max Bell (not taken on the night!)

    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 Storytelling Summer Special

    The prayers all week for good weather were granted and we couldn’t have had a finer evening on the site of the old schoolhouse on the church grounds in Waterloo for the Gab Storytelling Summer Special. The collaboration with Blarney Community Choir that started in May paid dividends when the choir joined us for the evening. Under the guidance of Anna Mitchell and accompanied by Robbie Barron on guitar, the choir delighted us with “Under the Moon of Love” by Tommy Boyce and Curtis Lee followed by the timely Oasis classic “Don’t look back in anger” and the uplifting Coldplay’s “When I ruled the world”.  

    Local woman, Mary Walsh, was back as Bean a Tí, and had a very easy job with the talent of storytellers that showed up. First was a man from East Cork, Liam O’Shaughnessy, who introduced us to Seán Óg de Barra, the young fella from Cork with more notions in his head than stars in the sky who was the last man to ever join the Fianna. 

    Next up was Deirdre O’Mahony, whose grandmother Rita attended the school in Waterloo. Deirdre, sickened by the fact that she has to make a dinner every evening, her kids don’t know how good they have it with pesto and passata. So far from the canned corned beef and carrots of Deirdre’s summer holidays with her grandmother and grandaunts. 

    Local man, Paul O’Sullivan, gave us a scéal about Scór ballad group competition. It all started perfectly for the 5 piece women ballad group, well before the time of the Spice girls. They began with “Óró sé do bheatha abhaile”, followed beautifully by “Grace” and then it took a turn … well, you couldn’t make it up. 

    Up next, Ballincollig’s Julie Crowley, gave us a beautiful take on a folk tale about a farmer named Ned and his youngest, Mick, who wasn’t convinced his life would be made easier if he were to get married but he went along with the crowd to the local dance. Against his better judgment he got a date, another date and another. And Ned did his best to scupper all Mick’s chances with of all things, a big stone! 

    Meath man, Stevie O’Brien, started with a tune on his whistle, Coppers and Brass, and attributed it to Patsy Harrington, a piper who always let his pipes do the talking. Stevie went on to tell us a tale about Patsy, the widow O’Hara, the finest set of pipes, the first motor car in Co. Meath, a big mouthful of golden teeth and a whole lot more. If you missed it, you missed a good one. 

    Another blow-in to Cork, Brendan O’Suvllian, a Kerry man originally but we’ll forgive him. Brendan brought us back to the old days, when the graves were always dug by the neighbours. When the professional grave diggers came in, some of the locals took exception and continued to hang around which had a good ending for some. 

    Thanks to Fr. Michael Fitzgerald for allowing us to use the church grounds, to the Waterloo Renewal Group for all the hard work they do maintain the beautiful space and sharing it with us, to Fergal & Nora O’Callaghan for these wonderful memories captured with their cameras, to Anna Mitchell, Robbie Barron and the Blarney Community Choir for the beautiful singing, to the wonderful tellers, to Deirdre O’Mahony for pulling it all together and most of all, thanks to the listeners for coming along and lending their ears.

    More photos available https://www.facebook.com/media/set?vanity=TheGabStorytelling&set=a.815069964189928  

  • Summer’s end is around the bend just flying

    The summer seems to be whizzing by but not to worry, that means we’re back soon with plenty storytelling shenanigans to keep you going as the nights grow longer.

    😎Summer Storytelling Special: Friday 29 August 7pm – Waterloo Churchyard Old Schoolhouse – with Special Guests Blarney Community Choir 

    We are thrilled that Blarney Community Choir will be joining us for our end of summer special this year. This is our 4th summer returning to Waterloo, it’s always a special evening. Don’t forget to bring a chair plus coat/blanket and cash or card for donations. Keep an eye on our socials to see who will be telling. 

    🎯September Sketchbook: Tuesday 2 September 8.30pm Blarney Castle Hotel

    Regular Sketchbook in Blarney where we take a deep dive into stories and telling. Please RSVP if you want to tell a story or take a role. 

    ✨September Mixtape: Tuesday 16 September 8.30pm Callanan’s George’s Quay

    After our summer hols, we can’t wait to get back to our Cork City home, Callanan’s. Doors open at 8pm, storytelling starts at 8.30pm. Get in early if you want to get a seat! 

     The Gab presents Pat Speight: Thursday 9 October 7.30pm Coughlans Douglas Street €24.20

    Don’t forget, we are heading back to Coughlans in October, this time with our local storytelling legend, Pat Speight. Pat will be joined on the night by up-and-coming tellers Colm Ryan and Paul O’Sullivan with music from Caroline Sweeney and Deirdre O’Manony. Tickets are selling fast so get yours before they’re gone https://tickets.peoplesrepublicofcork.com/11182963/The-Gab-Presents-Pat-Speight/Thu-09-Oct-2025

  • June at the Gab

    Before we take our summer hols in July, you can join us in June.

    🎯June Sketchbook: Tuesday 3 June 8.30pm Blarney Castle Hotel

    The Sketchbook is an intimate storytelling workshop, a place for tellers and potential tellers to play with stories. A place to tell, listen and learn.

    Please get in touch, thegabstorytelling@gmail.com, if you want to attend

    ✨June Mixtape: Tuesday 17 June 8.30pm Callanan’s George’s Quay

    The Gab Mixtape is a monthly entertaining evening of storytelling where storytellers hone their storytelling craft. Stories are interspersed with a little music, but the spotlight is very much on the art of the oral tradition and contemporary craft of telling stories. The Mixtape has a pre-planned set list, it is not open mic.

    Our last mixtape before the summer in our perfect Cork City home, Callanan’s. Doors open at 8pm, get in early if you want to get a seat!