I wanted to talk about someone we are proud to have as an addition to the Irish fest performers this year. Her name is Sharon Kennedy and she is a gifted storyteller. Boston-based storyteller (or in Irish: Seanachie, pronounced shawn-a-key) Sharon Kennedy performs stories from around the world, but is best known for those drawn from the Irish oral tradition: tales of the "little people" and the fairy world, of shapeshifting seals known as "selchies" who can assume human form, of giants and wizards, and of magical encounters between ordinary people and extraordinary worlds. She is also known for a one-woman dramatic monologue called "Mary Margaret O'Connell: Lowell Mill Girl," in which she assumes the persona of a teenaged immigrant from County Cork, Ireland, describing her journey and the circumstances of her family's life in 19th century Massachusetts.
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| Sharon as Mary Margaret O'Connell |
She also has a wonderful CD in stores called "Irish Folktales for Children" in which Sharon has tales of leprechauns and wizards that are accompanied by the music of harpist Barbara Russell, fiddler Johnny Cunningham, accordionist Evan Harlan, and bodhran (a traditional Irish percussion instrument) player Grant Smith.
I am quite excited at the thought of the spell she will weave for us at our Irish Fest!
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