Storytelling is a very significant part of Irish culture. It originates over 3000 years ago in Irish history. It was used to build very strong social bonds. There was once a group in Ireland whose jobs were to remember and tell stories all around Ireland. This helped the society grow closer together, and become united.
There were also itinerant storytellers, who were storytellers that traveled. These people would exchange a story for food or shelter. Many people became itinerant storytellers after the potato famine, because they had no other way to earn a living. This became a route to survival; your ability to tell a good story determined your fate.
It was an honor to have a good storyteller stay in your home. The storytellers were very popular because they were able to get people (their audience) to get away from their troubles in order to listen to a story to understand what it meant to be Irish. Listening to stories instilled a great national and cultural pride, which is why storytelling is still a very important part of Irish culture today.
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