Irish storyteller and singer Helena Byrne told stories steeped in horror and humor this October at Mount Saint Mary College.
Storyteller and singer Helena Byrne thrilled her audience with spooky tales and tunes straight from Ireland – the birthplace of Halloween – at her recent performance at Mount Saint Mary College.
“What I want to do is to transport you all to an Ireland of times past…the Ireland of my parents and great-grandparents,” she explained.
From ghosts to banshees, Byrne recounted classic fairytales from the Emerald Isle, along with a dash of her and her family’s own paranormal experiences while growing up in Dublin. The performance was punctuated with Irish folksongs and relatable humor.
In one story, she told of her father’s first solo trip to the movies when he was a child in the 1960s. Unbeknownst to him, the only film playing at the time was George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead. Reluctant but unwilling to back down, the youth purchased a ticket and headed in to the theatre. But on his way home in the dark, the boy noticed something peculiar in a field near his home.
“He gets about halfway up the road when he hears a sound he just can’t ignore,” said Byrne. “It’s the sound of heavy breathing. He turns to his left, and right there, in the field, illuminated by the moonlight, is the silhouette of a figure: five-foot-tall, horns protruding from the head, long, slender torso, and two spindly legs. It looks just like a devil or a demon!”
It didn’t take very long for Byrne’s father to run home, and for weeks afterward, he refused to pass by that field. But at the end of the summer, he eventually returned.
“He plucks up his courage to investigate,” Byrne said. “He walks down that same country lane, looking into the field, and right there – where he saw the devil – is a donkey. Obviously with ears, not long horns…[but] my father is suspicious of donkeys to this day.”
The event was sponsored by the Mount’s Kaplan Family Library and Learning Center, the Writing Center, and the divisions of Humanities and Education. It was spearheaded by Marie-Therese Sulit, professor of English.