🐈 Let's take a seasonally-appropriate trip to a mysterious cave in County Roscommon, said to be Ireland's 'gateway to hell', and also the origin of Halloween...

We meet Queen Maeve, monstrous cats, the Morrigan, and of course... the sidhe!

📍 Oweynagat, Co. Roscommon, Ireland

Featuring the texts:

Táin Bó Cúailnge

(1. Queen Medb's Revenge)

Fled Bricrenn / Bricriu's Feast

(2. The Cats' Test)

Echtra Nerai (Adventures of Nera)

(3. Samhain's Threshold)

The Metrical Dindshenchas

(4. Meet the Morrigan)

🌟 Related episode: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠(S4E7) Stone and Sidhe with Thomas Sheridan⁠⁠

💎 Related bonus episodes:

1. ⁠⁠Are The Fairies The Dead⁠⁠?
2. Norah and the Fairies (specifically the second half looking at the sidhe/sithean)

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🎧 Soundtrack by ⁠⁠⁠@⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠big.big.sky⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠: https://spoti.fi/47jvok6

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Folkways welcomes back esteemed guest Thomas Sheridan! 🍻

Today we talk about the Irish Sidhe, and the stone circles and hills associated with them.

The circle on a roundabout mentioned is The Abbeyquarter stone circle, Sligo.

Featuring Darby O' Gill and the Little People, 1959. A place called Knocknasheega features in the film, which is likely based on the hill Knocknashee (Irish: Cnoc na Sí), county Sligo.

💎 Bonus episode: Thomas and the Sardinian fairy experience

🌟 Related episode: ⁠⁠⁠⁠(S4E4) Christmas Ghost Stories with Thomas Sheridan⁠

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🎧 Soundtrack especially scored by ⁠⁠⁠@⁠⁠⁠⁠big.big.sky⁠⁠⁠⁠: https://spoti.fi/47jvok6

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‘Jesters, clowns, shamans and poets belong to this border realm...’

An extract of the introduction to Boundaries and Thresholds, by Hilda Davidson.

📖 Boundaries and Thresholds from The Folklore Society

Davidson, H.E., Stroud, Thimble Press (1993), Boundaries and Thresholds, Papers from a Colloquium of The Katharine Briggs Club

🌟 Related episode: ⁠(S2E5) Places Between Places⁠

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🎧 Soundtrack especially scored by ⁠⁠⁠@⁠⁠⁠big.big.sky⁠⁠⁠: https://spoti.fi/47jvok6

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In 1929 an occultist was drawn to the Scottish Isle of Iona, her eerie story contributing to the island's already substantial mythos. 🌀

💎 Enjoy no less than 3 bonus sections created for this episode!

1. ⁠Norah and the Fairies⁠
2. Dion Fortune talk on the Green Ray, 1933
3. ⁠⁠⁠⁠Are The Fairies The Dead⁠⁠⁠⁠?

🤝 Become a valued ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Friend of Folkways⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠: https://bit.ly/34awiDB

🎧 Soundtrack especially scored by ⁠⁠⁠@⁠⁠big.big.sky⁠⁠: https://spoti.fi/47jvok6

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FEATURING:

Phillipa Cookman: Dion Fortune

Casper C: Norah Fornario

Gaz Kerr: John Duncan

Conor Charlton: Calum Cameron

Welcome to the broadcast! Some Lide winds blow the cobwebs away, before we head up into the Curlew Mountains to view some strange lights...

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| LINKS + SOURCES |

P.H. 'Old English Customs: Extant at the Present Time'. (London: Methuen, 1896) ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://bit.ly/3vMRKKf⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Dunlop and Tirion 'Night Sky Almanac: A Stargazer's guider to 2025'. (Glasgow: Collins, 2023) ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://amzn.to/3FTHfqL⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Hutton, Ronald 'The Stations of The Sun'. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1997) ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://bit.ly/3hG1Wft⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Lagram, Anne Marie 'Country Wisdom and Folklore Almanac'. (Talking Trees Books, 2020) ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.talkingtreesbooks.co.uk⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Leendertz, Lia 'The Almanac: A Seasonal Guide to 2025'. (London: Gaia/Octopus Publishing Group, 2023) ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.lialeendertz.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Roud, Steve 'The English Year' (London: Penguin Books, 2008) ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://bit.ly/3txP9RQ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Wright, Jonathan 'The Forager's Calendar'. (London: Profile Books Ltd, 2019) https://www.foragerscalendar.net

Welcome to the broadcast! Let's wander around some places associated with St Brigid, including a very famous street in central London...

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| LINKS + SOURCES |

P.H. 'Old English Customs: Extant at the Present Time'. (London: Methuen, 1896) ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://bit.ly/3vMRKKf⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Welcome to the broadcast! Step back with me into Ordinary Time as we celebrate Twelfth Night... Welsh style!

Plus let's pay a visit to Pentre Ifan, said to be the entrance to Annwn...

🤝 Become a valued ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Friend of Folkways⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠: https://bit.ly/34awiDB

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💌 Get in contact [email protected]

👋 Connect with Folkways on Instagram @folkwayspodcast

| LINKS + SOURCES |

Morgan, Trefor M. 'Mari Lwyd: A Study of Welsh Seasonal Customs'. Llanrwst: Gwasg Carreg Gwalch, 1992.

Roberts, Huw. 'Welsh Folk Customs'. Llandysul: Gomer Press, 1991.

John, Gwenllian F. 'Welsh Folklore and Folk Customs'. Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1978

Ifans, Dafydd and Rhiannon. 'Y Gwyliau Gaeaf a’u Harferion yng Nghymru (Winter Festivals and Their Practices in Wales)'. Aberystwyth: National Library of Wales Press, 1980.

P.H. 'Old English Customs: Extant at the Present Time'. (London: Methuen, 1896) ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://bit.ly/3vMRKKf⁠⁠⁠⁠

I sit down for the ultimate winter chat with Thomas Sheridan! We discuss everything from Alternative Folklore, Winter liminality, James Joyce, Irish Christmas traditions, The Snowman... to the symbolic murdering of the year! Not under any circumstances to be missed! 🚫

Featuring the end of John Huston's The Dead, 1987

🌟 Related episodes: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

1. (S4E3) SOLSTICE: The Real Story of Yule (referenced in the episode)
2. (S4E7) STONE AND SIDHE: Irish Fairies with Thomas Sheridan

🤝 Become a valued ⁠⁠⁠⁠Friend of Folkways⁠⁠⁠⁠: https://bit.ly/34awiDB

🎧 Soundtrack by ⁠⁠⁠@⁠big.big.sky⁠: https://spoti.fi/47jvok6

📺 F⁠olkways ⁠⁠⁠Youtube⁠: ⁠⁠⁠https://bit.ly/3rUs9PF

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Please enjoy the original stunning radio play 'Solstice' by Alison Mcleay, first broadcast Sat 21st Dec 1985, 10.30pm on BBC Radio 4.

Merry Solstice!

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Welcome to the broadcast! Thinking about Britain's Germanic heritage, this Christmas we raise a glass to the ancient northern spirits: the mothers at Modraniht, and the Norse dísir and their Dísablót. 🌬

Plus December's stargazing and a trip to St Anthony's Well!

Happy Jól / Yule! 🎄

| LINKS + SOURCES |

P.H. 'Old English Customs: Extant at the Present Time'. (London: Methuen, 1896) ⁠⁠⁠https://bit.ly/3vMRKKf⁠⁠⁠Dunlop and Tirion 'Night Sky Almanac: A Stargazer's guider to 2024'. (Glasgow: Collins, 2023) ⁠⁠⁠https://amzn.to/3FTHfqL⁠⁠⁠Hutton, Ronald 'The Stations of The Sun'. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1997) ⁠⁠⁠https://bit.ly/3hG1Wft⁠⁠⁠Lagram, Anne Marie 'Country Wisdom and Folklore Almanac'. (Talking Trees Books, 2020) ⁠⁠⁠https://www.talkingtreesbooks.co.uk⁠⁠⁠Leendertz, Lia 'The Almanac: A Seasonal Guide to 2024'. (London: Gaia/Octopus Publishing Group, 2023) ⁠⁠⁠https://www.lialeendertz.com/⁠⁠⁠Roud, Steve 'The English Year' (London: Penguin Books, 2008) ⁠⁠⁠https://bit.ly/3txP9RQ⁠⁠⁠Wright, Jonathan 'The Forager's Calendar'. (London: Profile Books Ltd, 2019) ⁠⁠⁠https://www.foragerscalendar.net⁠