One Story Before Bed - Original Irish Stories

A FESTIVAL OF CROWS
A darkly humorous Irish Halloween tale.

In the little coastal village of Easkey, on Ireland's wild Atlantic coast, an ancient Halloween festival is being revived for the first time in seventy years.

There'll be music, costumes, a procession and the spectacular burning of a giant wicker crow.

What could possibly go wrong?

But as hundreds of crows begin gathering on the village rooftops, one elderly man remembers something the festival committee has overlooked.

The old celebration wasn't simply a tradition.

It was an agreement.

And there was one very important part nobody was supposed to forget.

Blending Irish folklore, village humour and creeping supernatural dread, A Festival of Crows is a Halloween story about the dead, the living, and the things that remember us long after we're gone.

Some traditions should never be forgotten.

THE BORROWED STEPS

Some things are too difficult to put into words.

In a small Irish town, a publican has spent years quietly helping young men face the days they would rather never have to face.

He doesn't offer advice. He doesn't ask questions.

He just makes sure they have what they need.

Borrowed Steps is a short story about loss, dignity, and the kindness that often goes unnoticed.

Listen Sunday on Spotify.

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What makes a good door? One that keeps the world out, welcomes people in, or simply lets you decide?

Maura has spent years keeping the peace. Now, in a house of her own, she is discovering how unfamiliar peace can feel—and how difficult it can be for those she loves to understand why she left.

The Good Door is a story about fear, family, and the quiet courage of choosing a different life.

Kilmeaden, County Waterford, 1986. Mary Devine has spent her life looking after everyone else. Faced with a terminal diagnosis, she approaches death as she approaches everything: with a copybook, firm instructions and no patience for nonsense.

After her sister’s funeral nearly ends in disaster, Mary sets about training six unlikely pallbearers for her own. But the return of an old love brings unfinished business that even Mary can’t organise away.

A bittersweet story of duty, pride, second chances and learning to let others carry their share.

What if you discovered that some of your memories weren’t yours?

Terry O’Brien is an ordinary man with a decidedly extraordinary problem. Something from another life appears to be following him into this one — and the deeper the story goes, the harder it becomes to dismiss as coincidence.

Funny, strange and more than a little unsettling, The Reincarnation Situation of Terry O’Brien is an Irish tale of memory, identity and the possibility that death might not be quite as final as we think.

So, has Terry been here before?

You decide.

“Nobody remembered Maeve Rinn arriving in Bellweather.
That was the first thing they held against her.
She lived alone. She grew herbs. She loved her dogs. She was kind to children.
And sometimes, when nobody was supposed to be watching, she danced.
Naturally, the village thought she was a witch.”

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Martin’s arms are covered in tattoos — flowers, memories, pieces of a life laid down in ink.

But on one forearm, among the roses, foxgloves, chrysanthemums, bluebells and poppies, there’s an empty patch of skin. Small. Deliberate. Waiting.

And then there’s the walnut box.

Beautifully made, highly polished, with brass hinges and no lock.

Some things are kept for years before we understand why.

The Empty Patch — an original Irish short story, written and read by MJ O’Flaherty.

One Story Before Bed. One Irish story. Twenty minutes. Before the light goes out.