For the Irish, Siamsa storytelling tradition as a way of life

By Anote Ajeluorou

YOU could almost say that like Africa like the Irish when it comes to storytelling traditions, a tradition that runs deep in the veins of the Irish with its 5.033 million people and over 65 million immigrants worldwide. And if there’s something they take with them everywhere they go, it is the storytelling tradition, a great cultural heritage they are immensely proud of. That tradition has a unique name just like Africa has its moonlight folktales sessions. Siamsa is what the Irish call it, that tradition of storytelling that also serves as news or local gossip about the happenings next door. Like Africa, Ireland has had an extraordinary amd excruciating history that is steeped in slave trade, the great famine, forced labour, migration and all manners of colonial injustices visited upon her people by her more powerful neighbour, England.