We’re just coming back to earth after a wonderful weekend of stories with Daniel Morden in Blarney. But fear not, we’re raring to go again for the Mixtape next Tuesday. Hope to see you there …
April Mixtape: Tuesday 21 March 8.30pm Callanan’s George’s Quay
Doors open at 8pm, storytelling starts at 8.30pm. Be early if you want a seat!
Performance – Friday 10 April 8pm
https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/the-gab-presents-daniel-morden-tickets-1984116863951
SOLD OUT Workshop – Saturday 11 & Sunday 12 April 10am – 4pm (includes performance)
Please contact thegabstorytelling@gmail.com for waiting list
Storytelling Performance – Friday 10 April 8pm
For over three decades, Daniel Morden has been transporting audiences around the globe through the ancient art of storytelling. Whether navigating a timeless Greek myth or thrilling adventure, Daniel commands the stage with rare, magnetic intensity. Witness a true master of the craft at work and join us for an evening of laughter, wonder and storytelling at its best.
Music on the night will be from Gab regulars mezzosoprano Gráinne Stafford, piper Stevie O’Brien and fiddler Fanny Leenhardt. Hailing from Kells, Co. Meath, Stevie O’Brien, has been playing the uilleann pipes and various whistles since he was a youngster. Gráinne Stafford from Enniscorthy in Wexford has performed with Opera Ireland, the National Chamber Choir, East Cork Choral Society and Cork Operatic Society. Fanny Leenhardt was born in the South East of France. She is passionate about traditional Irish music (and bread!) and is an exceptional fiddle player. All three now live in Cork, this special Gab event brings them together for the first time.
STORYTELLING WORKSHOP – Day 1 – Saturday 11 April
Step into the timeless world of traditional storytelling in this storytelling workshop. Designed for those with little or no prior experience with folk tales, the session introduces the art of telling traditional stories drawn from folklore, myth and oral traditions. Participants will explore how stories are shaped, remembered, and shared aloud.
You’ll learn techniques for choosing a story, defining its structure, and telling it in your own natural voice—without scripts or pressure to perform. The emphasis is on confidence, enjoyment, and connection rather than perfection. By the end of the workshop, you’ll have developed your own storytelling style and gained practical tools to continue telling stories in everyday and community settings. Participants should bring along a traditional story to work with. (The Gab will help you find one if needs be)
STORYTELLING WORKSHOP – Day 2 – Sunday 12 April
Building on day one, Daniel continues with the traditional tale. Myths, legends and folktales are sometimes enthralling, but all too often they can be confusing or even offensive. Daniel will explain strategies that he has developed to adapt old stories so that they are relevant to contemporary audiences.
Performance
https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/the-gab-presents-daniel-morden-tickets-1984116863951
Workshop & performance
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/storytelling-workshop-with-daniel-morden-tickets-1984118540967
It’s been an incredibly busy few weeks for the Gab with two more sold-out shows in Coughlans and making lots more plans for our 10th year in existence. We can’t wait to get back into Callanan’s on Tuesday night, it feels like last year since we were there!
Looking ahead to March, we have our regular Sketchbook in Blarney, an extra Sketchbook in Maureen’s and then the launch of Féile Fearann Rí to top off the month. And Daniel Morden comes to Blarney in April, exciting times ahead!
SAVE THE DATE!
April Workshop with Daniel Morden: Friday 10 – Sunday 12 April in Church of the Resurrection Blarney
We are delighted to be bringing one of the best storytellers in the English speaking world to Blarney in April. Daniel Morden has been a professional teller of traditional tales since the 80s. On the evening of Friday 10 April, Daniel will lead a storytelling performance in the COI Blarney. Followed by a 2 day workshop on Saturday 11 and Sunday 12 April in the same location. See https://danielmorden.org/
The Gab Presents in Coughlan’s, Douglas St.
Friday 6 February 2026 8:00 pm
Tickets: €24.50 including booking & venue fees
https://tickets.peoplesrepublicofcork.com/11191185/The-Gab-Presents:-Storytelling/Fri-06-Feb-2026
With one sold out night in January, we’re delighted to return to Coughlan’s in February, see https://www.coughlans.ie/whats-on/the-gab-presents-storytelling-11191185 for full details
Other upcoming Gab dates:
February Sketchbook: Tuesday 3 November 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, take a role or attend and dont forget €5
February Mixtape: Tuesday 17 February 8.30pm Callanan’s George’s Quay
Doors open at 8pm, storytelling starts at 8.30pm.
SAVE THE DATE!
April Workshop with Daniel Morden: Friday 10 – Sunday 12 April in Church of the Resurrection Blarney
We are delighted to be bringing one of the best storytellers in the English speaking world to Blarney in April. Daniel Morden has been a professional teller of traditional tales since 1989. On the evening of Friday 10 April, Daniel will lead a storytelling performance in the COI Blarney. Followed by a 2 day workshop on Saturday 11 and Sunday 12 April in the same location. See https://danielmorden.org/
More info coming soon. Please email thegabstorytelling@gmail.com to reserve a space
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
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 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
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
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.
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 