Welcome to Mná Feasa, a podcast series featuring the stories of dozens of older women from County Kilkenny, produced by Helena Byrne, in collaboration with Kilkenny County Council Library Services and Kilkenny Heritage.In this episode, you’re in for a treat. The Mna Feasa project has encompassed much more than my interviews with older women from county Kilkenny. A group of wonderful Transition year students from Loreto secondary school in Kilkenny have also helped to bring this project to life. These students worked with me over several months, honing their storytelling skills and their performance styles, and then interviewing the older women in their lives that have stories to tell.What has come from the students’ work, the fruits of their labour, is a beautiful assortment of stories, covering a variety of themes, life lessons and experiences from a diverse group of women connected with county Kilkenny. Some of these stories are set within the county of Kilkenny, while some have come from as far-reaching places as Spain and Tanzania. What connects these stories to Kilkenny is the new generation of young Kilkenny women, these transition year students, who have brilliantly crafted and curated them, creating the next chapter in the Kilkenny woman’s folklore.***On November 3rd 1324 in Kilkenny City, Petronilla of Meath became the first woman to be burned at the stake for witchcraft in the British Isles. As maid to Dame Alice Kyteler, she was found guilty of heretical sorcery, having been tortured to illicit a confession. We can be thankful that the murmurs of witchcraft accusations have long faded from the streets of Kilkenny. The experiences of Kilkenny women in recent decades are far removed from the challenges faced by women of the 14th century. It’s time to give the women of Kilkenny the voice that Petronilla of Meath was not afforded.

In episode six, I talk to local Kilkenny women about dancehalls, dates and drinks. The vibrant social scene that played out in venues such as the Mayfair in Kilkenny, the absence of alcohol and the many romances that sprung from the dancefloor.

This collaboration is kindly funded by Commemorative Initiatives under the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media. To find out more, visit https://helenabyrne.com/

In episode two, we hear from local older women across the county of Kilkenny about their schooldays. How different was the education system then to how children of Kilkenny might experience it now? What are their feelings towards Peig Sayers? And did they really have to walk miles to get to school?

This collaboration is kindly funded by Commemorative Initiatives under the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media. To find out more, visit https://helenabyrne.com/

Welcome to Mná Feasa, a podcast series featuring the stories of dozens of older women from County Kilkenny, produced by Helena Byrne, in collaboration with Kilkenny County Council Library Services and Kilkenny Heritage.