EAMON KELLY (b. 1914)

I met renowned shanachaí (story teller), Eamon Kelly, in the green room of the Abbey Theatre in Dublin. The late Eamon Kelly was a native of Sliabh Luachra, Co Kerry, a place steeped in folklore where many of his stories originate. Eamon spoke about his early days on Radio Eireann when he was involved in the Rambling House and Take the Floor. He also told me some of the stories most dear to him, for example The Looking Glass; Mick the Fiddler; The Microphone the Priest Used; His Time in New York; Emigration; The Tea Man, The Umbrella and The Tailor and Nancy. I was privileged to have been Eamon’s final interviewer before his death in 2001.