Clare Muireann Murphy

Born in a small town that was rife with stories, I grew up amongst the legends of Granuaile, the wandering White Woman of the Hill, the lore of Aideen’s grave that led to stories of Fianna warriors and all the old sagas that are soaked into the ground all over Ireland. That and the meandering monologues of my father as he tried to learn lines for his next show predestined me for a life of telling stories. Meeting with people like Walter Kerley, Liz Weir, and John Moriarty further enlightened me to the power of stories and I embarked quite by accident into a full blown life as a storyteller.

My work has brought me to many places around the world, from Lisbon’s beautiful festival of Ondas de Contos, to Denver’s Childrens Museum to the great and good gatherings around Ireland for children and adults alike. I delight in delighting my audiences with tales of adventure, sorrow, love and magic. In 2007 I was awarded a Social Entrepreneurship Grant from Social Entrepreneurs Ireland which allowed me to pursue my ideas for community projects that use storytelling to build bridges within communities. Please see our workshops page for more details on that.

In 2006 I began gathering people around a table for stories, this eventually turned into the fantastic and organic Story Night. This monthly gathering is open to tellers and listeners alike and meets on the first Tuesday of every month. The dynamism and community feeling there continues to amaze me, as do the new faces and new voices we see and hear every month.

My work has led me to many great collaborations, working with poet, novelist and fantastic storyteller Rab Swannock Fulton in our work with schools and at local and national venues continues to be an uplifting experience. Through storytelling I met Tommy Baker, creator and director of Your Mans Puppets, and with whom I do a show called Tales from the Workshop; a show which seems to enchant and delight audiences of all ages wherever we go. Working with Ger Mulkerrins, director of Spirit of the Voice Festival, allowed me to experiment with storytelling and to work with the wonderful Mr Jonathan Gunning and the lovey Mr Mattu Noone, both accomplished and brilliant tellers who had much to teach me. My work continues to grow and change with each passing year.

2008 saw me invited to Graham Langley’s Storytelling Café tour of England and then on to Vienna’s Literary Festival to share some stories there. My future ideas for storytelling and the ways in which it can be used to build community, personal confidence and create fantastic fun nights out are too numerous to mention. I do hope that you will peruse our archive and enjoy a tale or two before you go on your way.

Go n’eiri on bothar leat

In word and deed

Clare Muireann Murphy