Meet our 2025 Festival Artists
Discover more about our local and visiting artists for Listowel International Storytelling Festival 2025
Inés Álvarez Villa
Inés Álvarez Villa is a professional bilingual storyteller based in Edinburgh. More than two decades ago, Inés left her native Asturias and moved to Dublin. Four years later, she settled in Edinburgh, where she learnt the art of storytelling at the Scottish Storytelling Centre as a student of Janis Mackay and David Campbell. Now, as a member of the Scottish Storytelling Forum, Inés tells stories from Spain, Scotland, and around the world, sometimes including tales of her own creation. Inés has performed at the Scottish Storytelling Centre, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the Way Word Festival in Aberdeen, and the Edinburgh Horror Festival.
Omar Belaarej
Omar Belaarej is a young and talented storyteller from Marrakech who amazes audiences with his skills. He brings old Moroccan tales to life, sharing stories filled with wisdom, morals, and cultural traditions. What makes his storytelling special is his ability to tell stories in different languages, including English, Arabic, and Tamazight, allowing him to connect with people from various backgrounds. His stories are rich with Morocco’s heritage and offer meaningful lessons for listeners of all ages. Omar’s storytelling crosses language barriers and shows the timeless value of stories. His energy and love for his cultural roots make him one of the most promising storytellers today.
John Row
John is a veteran of the U.K. festival scene and a familiar figure at Glastonbury Festival Kidz Field and Cambridge Folk Festival, where he has been performing for nearly thirty years. He cut his teeth as a stage performer at the Ipswich Arts Theatre in the 70’s and as an open-air performer in the East Anglian Albion Fairs in the 80’s. Adding storytelling to his bow John was immediately drawn into a world of magic and wonder. He has shared that world in a mish mash of settings from prisons (he was the first storyteller in residence in a British prison) to international schools across the world.
Maria Gillen
Maria is a well-known popular storyteller on the storytelling circuit in Ireland and on the Cyberspace Platform. She was Storyteller in Residence for Kerry Writers Museum from 2019 to 2022 and Artistic Director of Listowel International Storytelling Festival from 2020 to 2022. Maria is currently working as an archivist with Sheahan’s Storytelling Cottage – a 300 year old traditional Rambling House in Finuge. An award-winning storyteller, she has been exploring the Medicinal Story through her work as a Dramatherapist and Story Teller with Cork Yarnspinners. She performs at storytelling festivals throughout Ireland and overseas including Marrakech International Storytelling Festival and Nova Scotia Storytelling Conference, Canada.
P.J. Murrihy
P.J. (Patrick Joseph) Murrihy is an Irish singer-songwriter from Mullagh, County Clare. As a youngster P.J. learned songs from singers in his family, including his mother and two of his uncles. He started playing music professionally with Michael Sexton Snr (the céilí-band leader from Mullagh) and played for a time with the Kilfenora Céilí Band, with whom he made two albums. He teamed up with accordionist Seamus Shannon for twelve years, specialising in Irish traditional and country songs and dance music. Before forming his own band, he played in a band called The Bannermen. One of P.J’s most popular songs is “Pat Murphy’s Meadow”, which was originally a poem, written in the late 1930s by J.M. Devine.
Seosamh Ó’Maolalaí
Seosamh started telling stories when he was working in Coolock library in Dublin city in the eighties. He has extensive experience of telling stories to all class groups in primary & secondary schools in both English and Irish. He also tells stories to adults, and his repertoire includes stories from around the world – folktales and fun tales, songs and rhymes. Seosamh is a member of Storytellers of Ireland, the Writers in Schools Scheme, run by the Arts Council, and the Heritage in Schools Scheme, run by the Heritage Council. Bhí fear ann fadó agus fadó a bhí agus d’inis sé scéal nó dhó nó trí.
Frances Kennedy
Even though Frances now lives in Listowel, she is quick to point out that she is very much a Cork woman. The youngest of a family of eleven, songs and stories were always part of her home life. Neighbours called at night and her father would fill them up with all sorts of stories, so it was easy for Frances to fall into singing and telling the odd story. But it was in Listowel that Frances first started singing in public and everyone in Kerry had a story to tell, so she just joined in.
Sonny Egan
Sonny is a cultural icon in Kerry. He is not just a champion storyteller – four-time All-Ireland champion – he is a musician, a singer, a podcaster, and an actor. He has appeared at festivals and on stages throughout Ireland and during lockdown Sonny became a huge international hit appearing online to audiences from Newfoundland to New Zealand.
In 1983 a cash starved Crotta O’Neills Hurling Club approached Sonny for the use of his home as they went on the Wren to raised funds for the club. What began as a fundraising initiative turned into one of the longest running and most popular Rambling Houses in Kerry.
Daisy Kearney
Limerick native Daisy is acclaimed, both at home and abroad, as a gifted Seanchaí. Her talent for storytelling was nurtured while growing up as her parents’ home was frequented as a rambling house and it was here that she picked up many of the stories in her vast repertoire. She won 3 All Ireland titles in storytelling at Fleadh Cheoil na hEireann. Daisy travelled to various countries on Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Eireann concert tours and is also a long-term member of the Carrickerry Wrenboys with whom she has won 8 All Ireland titles.
Stephen Murphy
Stephen has often been called the people’s poet. His work is scathing, controversial, warm and full of insight into the world of today. He tackles the things which matter to us as individuals and as a collective and draws his inspiration from the wildness of the land that shaped him. Far from just being a ‘protest poet’, Stephen’s live shows and his work are interwoven with ample warmth, wit, and humour that bring his audiences on a journey that is more of a communal gathering than a performative act.
Foinse
Foinse is a group of storytellers, musicians, artists and singers based in Corca Duibhne, who delve into the deep mythological stories stored in the landscape that surround them. The retelling of the stories in English and Irish involves a connection with the emotions and passions that the myths invoke, everything from the sacred to the profane. Their performances explode with sensory delights encompassing poetic narration, haunting music, projected artwork and soaring chorus’ that carry you on the winds of Gaelic Myths in a new immersive way. Foinse have previously staged the ‘Myth of Scail’ another original show at Feile na Bealtaine, Dingle to a packed District Courthouse.
Godfrey Coppinger
Godfrey is a five-year-old cleverly disguised as a little old lady. She is a life-long doodler, scribbler, and storyteller. She loves to sing songs, make music, and dance. Born a very long time ago in the faraway land of California, when she got old enough to leave home moved to the wilds of Wyoming, where she wandered the mountains between Cheyenne and Laramie. Travelling to Ireland in 1984, Godfrey met her other half in John B. Keane’s pub. They returned to California in 1990 and upon retirement, returned to Ireland and are now happily ensconced in a tiny home with two dogs at the edge of Listowel. Godfrey launched What Comes to Mind, a collection of stories & illustrations in June.
Eunan O’Halpin
Eunan is Professor emeritus of Contemporary Irish History at Trinity College Dublin. His most recent works are Kevin Barry: an Irish rebel in life and death (Dublin, 2020) and (with Daithí Ó Corráin), The Dead of the Irish Revolution (London, 2020). He is currently preparing studies of Irish Political Fatalities, 1922-1966 and An Island at War: Ireland, 1922-23.
Eunan’s research is influenced by his family background. His great grandfather P.J. Moloney was a member of the first Dáil Eireann, two of his great uncles – Paddy Moloney (1921) and Kevin Barry (1920) – were killed during the independence struggle. His great-aunt Elgin Barry was married to Richard ‘Mac’ O’Rahilly, eldest son of The O’Rahilly.
Eimear Chaomhánach
Beekeeper’s daughter and folklorist, Eimear Chaomhánach, is author of ‘The Keeper of the Bees – Bees and Beekeeping in Irish Folklore’, published by the O’Brien Press (2024). Eimear weaves folklore she has collected across Ireland alongside her research as an Irish Folklore student in UCD and memories of growing up in a beekeeping household.
Recent review in the Irish Times:
Eimear Chaomhánach’s beautifully presented and illustrated book, shares a gentle pride in her father’s lifelong care of these essential creatures, delving into beekeeping etiquette and the folklore that surrounds the matriarchal communities which work tirelessly in an elegant illustration of self-sufficiency. It’s the perfect read as we wait for winter’s cold fingers to loosen their grip and allow spring to arrive. – Claire Looby, Irish Times
Tom Dillon
A native of Listowel, Tom is one of Kerry’s leading historians. He has researched many aspects of Kerry history from the county’s Big House families to the First World War and 1916 Rising. Throughout the Decade of Centenaries, he delivered numerous public lectures, published articles and spoke on TV and local radio on these subjects and more. In 2020 and 2021, he served as the Kerry County Council historian-in-residence. Tom directs adult education sources in local history and folklore for Kerry ETB.
Lorraine Carey
Lorraine writes poetry, haiku and non-fiction with work published in Magma, Spelt, Poetry Ireland Review, The Cormorant, The Stony Thursday Book, Ink Sweat & Tears and Orbis among others. Her craft explores ecocentrism and the transformative power of nature, creativity and ornithology. A native of Donegal, Lorraine lives in Fenit and works in mental health support. An Agility Award recipient, she was selected for The Freedom to Write Project in 2024 and is working on her second collection of poetry.
Aidan O’Leary
Aidan is a writer, poet, and visual artist from Kerry. His work blends text, image, and sound to explore resilience, memory, and cultural identity. GRIT marks his first full-length multimedia publication. GRIT was completed as Aidan’s final year project in college – a fully formed book combining poetry, prose, photography, and sound. “I wanted to create something that allowed the reader to move between word, image, and audio in a quiet, reflective way.”
Priscilla Donovan
Priscilla is a dynamic and versatile artist who effortlessly wears many creative hats as an actress, singer, writer, painter. She is originally from the States but has whole heartedly embraced Tarbert as her home for the past 26 years. She now focuses on wielding the brush with oil paintings creating colourful and varied works of art.
Gabriel Fitzmaurice
Deeply rooted in the literary tradition of North Kerry, Gabriel is a poet, broadcaster, writer, translator, singer and raconteur. For more than three decades, he taught and later served as principal at his local national school in Moyvane but is now happily retired. The author of more than forty books, including collections of poetry in English and Irish as well as several collections of verse for children, Gabriel’s poems have been described as “comparable to Burns for their insight and lyricism” (The Irish Times).
John McGrath
Born in County Mayo, John is a poet, writer and publisher who now lives in North Kerry. He is a founder-member of the Seanchaí Writers’ Group in Listowel, was a member of the Listowel Writers’ Week committee for 15 years and is co-founder of The Ballydonoghue Bardic Festival. John has published three collections of poetry through Moybella Press which he founded – Blue Sky Day, (2007), Closing the Circle (2015) and After Closing (2021).
Mike Gallagher
Mike is a poet known for his published and translated works, including haiku and songs. He has won several awards, including the Michael Hartnett Viva Voce and the Desmond O’Grady International Poetry Contest. His collection, Stick on Stone, was published by Revival Press. Mike was born on Achill Island, spent 40 years in London and retired to North Kerry in 1999.
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Where to Stay
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REVIEWS
What people are saying about us
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Popped in here to escape the rain and get a cup of tea and cake. Very reasonable prices and great service. Then noticed the little hare jumping around on the wall when I used the toilets! Looked very intriguing and prompted us all to buy tickets to the museum. Wow! So worth it as the exhibits and the way it was presented was lovely, really unusual. So informative and so different to other museums. Really good value for money and a real highlight to the town.
Great Service (Trip Advisor Review)
– March, 2023
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Most impressive is how ingrained in both The Creative & local communities The Seanchaí is, from the workshops, coffee mornings & plain old drop ins, To Book launches, poetry recitals, projects & engagements with the local schools. The Seanchaí is a much loved and universally treasured cultural icon. By the inhabitants of Listowel, most of Co. Kerry and West Limerick.
Mark Ollerhead (Google Review)
– March, 2023
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We had requested the 30-minute tour, but happily lingered for an hour longer than we had planned. As we exited, we looked at each other and laughed out loud at our good fortune. We could have so easily missed this experience that left us feeling moved, intrigued and a bit more educated about the Kerry writers. In our delight, we failed to tip our guide but I will be going to your donations page to make a modest pledge in gratitude for our host whose name we did not record to memory.
Jane Braswell (Google Review)
– March, 2023
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Our visit to the Kerry Writers Museum was a very memorable experience from beginning to end. Cara, who was working at the centre that day, was very welcoming and most helpful. The exhibition of the Kerry writers was imaginative and most engaging. The seanchai relating the background stories each writer was magic! A wonderful experience all round.
Cara (Google Review)
– May, 2021
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This museum has been developed with great care and meticulous attention to detail. The audio elements are matched perfectly to the installations which are beautifully presented. The option to activate the audio guides in each room without resorting to the use of handheld devices worked very well. This is a must see/hear for anyone with an interest in Irish writing. There is also a little coffee shop and gifts on sale.
Beautifully Curated (Trip Advisor Review)
– July, 2019