Shows / Fireside
Fireside
Fireside is the Irish Storytelling Podcast. Kevin C. Olohan is your host and Fireside Bard. Every Wednesday, Kevin takes a story from Folklore or Mythology, gives it a fresh retelling, and discusses the story itself and the craft, culture and history of Storytelling. Whether you’re a folklore fanatic, or someone who just enjoys hearing a good yarn, you can always join Kevin by the Fireside. For any sponsorship inquiries contact advertising@headstuff.org
Episodes
FiresideTale of the Piper
Episode 269: Kerry is the heir to Destiny. But on his ride home, he meets a dishevelled piper. He claims to be the greatest piper in the world, but as he…
FiresideSamhain: Fireside of Horror VI - The Unquiet Dead
Episode 268: The Halloween Special! Kevin discusses Lady Gregory and her written accounts of The Unquiet Dead: real stories from real Irish people of their…
FiresideSamhain: The Sea's Dead
Episode 267: It's a particularly stormy summer on Achill Island. A shipwreck has made a widow, an orphan or a bereaved parent of every family. The sea always…
FiresideSamhain: The Watcher of the Dead
Episode 266: Tim McGowan was buried at Gort na Marbh, the Field of the Dead. But in the last year of his life, Tim spent every single night at the graveyard…
FiresideSamhain: The Last of Squite Enniscrone
In episode 265 of Fireside, it's the first of this years Halloween batch of spooky tales! An old house on the Irish coastline has been uninhabited for a…
FiresideThe Dream of Macsen Wledig
In episode 264 of Fireside, Kevin tells the tale of Roman Emperor Macsen Wledig who falls asleep and dreams of a fortress in a land with deep valleys and high…
FiresideThe Bogside Bachelor
In episode 263 of Fireside, Kevin tells the tale of Jamie Boyson, a lonely old man who lives by the bogside in County Derry. His only company is a trained…
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Legend of the Faerie Lake
In episode 262 of Fireside, Kevin tells a tale of Welsh mythology- a lake in North Wales is supposedly a portal to another world - but only twelve mortals are…
FiresideDon't Curse the Childher
In episode 261 of Fireside, Kevin tells the tale of an old woman who begins to take out her grief over losing her husband on her own children... until one…
FiresideThe Glastonbury Thorn
In episode 260 of Fireside, Kevin tells a foundational myth of Britain - Joseph of Aramathia was a wealthy merchant, imprisoned by the Romans - he is visited…
FiresideThe Fisherman's Wife
In episode 259 of Fireside, Kevin tells the tale of those who go to sea, and the one's who are left behind. Kate Browne has been married to Dermot for…
FiresideScota and Scotland
In episode 258 of Fireside, we have a foundational myth of Scotland - a story that stretches back thousands of years, before the Celts, to sands of Egypt and…
FiresideThe Spirit of the Hill
In episode 257 of Fireside, Kevin tells a gothic tale of doomed romance, and what obsessive love can drive us toward. Aileen loves Connor, but Connor loves…
FiresideBrutus in Britain
In episode 256 of Fireside, Kevin tells a foundational myth of the island of Britain. Brutus is the great-grandson of Aeneas, Prince of Troy. After their city…
FiresideCurse of Fire and Shadow
In episode 255 of Fireside, Kevin tells a tale that fuses history and folklore. On July 1st, 1642, Sir Fredrick Hamilton set fire to a church, with all…
FiresideThe Snow Queen
In episode 254, Kevin tells the Hans Christian Andersen tale of the Snow Queen - two friends are divided by the shards of an evil mirror. But not even the…
FiresideThe Evil Eye
In episode 253 of Fireside, Kevin tells the folk superstition of the Evil Eye: That one bad look that gives you bad luck, and how that same anxiety has roots…
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The Little Mermaid
In episode 251 of Fireside, Kevin tells the world famous tale of The Little Mermaid - a story of desire, identiy and the sacrifices we make for the things we…
FiresideThe Milk White Doo
In episode 251 of Fireside, Kevin tells the Scottish folk tale of a wicked stepmother and a young boy who is cooked into a stew, but returns for retribution as…
FiresideOrpheus - 250th Episode Special
its the 250th episode of Fireside, and The Fireside Bard tells of the original and most significant of all bards - Orpheus. The Supreme master of words and…
FiresideMacPhie's Black Dog
Episode 249 of Fireside, a folk tale from the Hebrides of a rogue named MacPhie who goes hunting with a myserious black hound, only discover that it is true…
FiresideThe Devil's Horse
Episode 248 of Fireside - On the northside of the tiny Isle of Man, the locals endeavour to build a church, but when the would-be house of worship is…
FiresideThe Werewolves of The Other Side
Episode 247 of Fireside - Gabriel has always been curious about the other side of the river, a place where no one ever goes...and when he hears that's because…
FiresideThe Death Spancel
In episode 246 of Fireside is the Irish tale of a lustful landlord, a dark eyed woman, and a terrible curse that would bind them together forever... Source…
FiresideStoker: The Wondrous Child
In episode 245 of Fireside, we have the final adaptation from Bram Stoker's collection Under the Sunset: A brother and sister go on a quest to learn where…
FiresideStoker: The Castle of the King
In episode 244 of Fireside, A poet is separated from the love of his life, and goes on an impossible journey to reunite with her. He must journey through the…
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Introducing | The Greatest Matter
An audiodrama for fans of Fireside! The Greatest Matter is a new gothic crime tale set in Victorian Dublin, about a criminologist who arrives in the city and…
FiresideStoker: Lies and Lilies
In episode 243 of Fireside, A young girl learns of the Beautiful City where people go to live when they can no longer dwell Under the Sunset. A place where all…
FiresideStoker: How Seven Went Mad
In episode 242 of Fireside, Kevin adapts the Bram Stoker tale of a young boy and his magical pet raven Mr. Daw. When the boy is having trouble with a math…
FiresideStoker: The Shadow Builder
In episode 241 of Fireside, Kevin tells the tale of The Shadow Builder, who rules over the Procession of the Dead Past - where all things that have happened…
FiresideStoker: The Invisible Giant
In episode 240 of Fireside, Kevin continues his adaptations of Under the Sunset by Bram Stoker. The giants are gone. The giants have been gone for so long…
FiresideStoker: The Rose Prince
In episode 239 of Fireside, we continue the Stoker saga, with an adaptation of The Rose Prince from Under the Sunset. King Mago is the ruler of the land Under…
FiresideStoker: Under the Sunset
In the return of Fireside, Kevin becomes a new series of adaptations from Bram Stoker's book of original fairytales: Under the Sunset. in the title story, we…
FiresideBriar Rose: The Sleeping Beauty
In episode 237 of Fireside, Kevin adapts the Grimm Tale of Briar Rose, better known as The Sleeping Beauty. A king and queen are desperate to have a child, but…
FiresideThe Frog Prince
In episode 238 of Fireside, Kevin adapts the Grimm Tale of The Frog Prince, a spoiled princess loses her precious golden ball, but when a mysterious frog…
FiresideCinderella
In episode 236 of Fireside, Kevin continues the celebration of the folklore behind Disney, with a story of dress making trees, three day festivals, and brutal…
FiresideSnow White
In episode 235 of Fireside, Kevin begins a new chapter of the podcast, celebrating the one hundredth anniversary of Disney, by looking at the folklore origins…
FiresideFireside of Horror V
In episode 234, It's the fifth annual Fireside Halloween Special! This year Kevin takes another look at the gothic masterpiece Dracula, reading a segment where…
FiresideThe Witches' Excursion
In episode 233 of Fireside, Kevin tells the whimsical tale of a man who wakes up in the middle of the night to discover a party being held in his kitchen. A…
FiresideThe Queen's County Witch
In episode 232 of Fireside, Kevin tells the gruesome tale of a priest's long journey home - the farmer's complain that their cows give no milk...and the priest…
FiresideThe McCarthy Banshee
In episode 231 of Fireside, Kevin tells the gothic tale of Charles McCarthy, who lives a hedonistic life of whiskey, wine and women. But when his lifestyle…
FiresideThe Banshee on the Bridge
In episode 230 of Fireside, Kevin tells a tale of the figure that heralds the death of Irish families...Thomas Connolly is on his way to visit old Biddy…
FiresideThe Pooka's Tower
In episode 229 of Fireside, Kevin tells the tale of Daniel O'Rourke who drunkenly leaves a party and ends up encountering a bog, an eagle, a whale, a flock of…
FiresideThe Kildare Pooka
In episode 228 of Fireside, Kevin tells the tale of the staff of a Dublin townhouse, all of whom begin to hear creaks and clatters in the night. Who has…
FiresideThe Changeling Bride
In episode 227 of Fireside, Kevin tells a changeling tale with a twist - Jamie Friel works hard and looks after his mother. But one Halloween he takes a visit…
FiresideAbhartach - The Celtic Vampire
In episode 226 of Fireside, Kevin tells the bloody tale of Abhartach, a supernatural demon dwarf who terrorised the folk of Derry a long time ago. Abhartach…
FiresideThe Radiant Boy
In episode 225 of Fireside, Kevin tells the ghost story of Captain Stewart, who while hunting, gets caught in a storm. After taking refuge in a large country…
FiresideThe Ghost of Grace Connor
In episode 224, Kevin explores the ghost story of a hard working, honest woman named Grace Connor, whose spirit has unfinished business with the mortal world…
FiresideBrendan the Navigator
In episode 223 of Fireside, Kevin weaves the worlds of Myth, Religion and History with the story of Brendan the Navigator, who set out to discover the Isle of…
FiresideThe Great Race of the Chinese Zodiac
In episode 222 of Fireside, Kevin enters the world of Chinese Mythology with the ancient tale of the Zodiac. How it came about, what it's purpose was, and how…
FiresideThe White Trout
In episode 221 of Fireside, Kevin tells the Irish folk tale, of the tragedy of two lovers, and the vow of a princess to wait for her love, whatever the cost…
FiresideThe Voyage of Máel Dúin
In episode 220 or Fireside, Kevin tells the of the voyage of Máel Dúin, who's troubled birth leads him on a sea voyage to find his parents and avenge his…
FiresideIsis and Osiris
In episode 219 of Fireside, Kevin dives into Egyptian Mythology with the epic love story of the goddess Isis and her husband Osiris. The King of all of Egypt…
FiresideThe Corpse
In episode 218 of Fireside, Kevin tells the Irish folk tale of Teig O'Kane - an irresponsible and wandering rover. After his father gives him an ultimatum…
FiresideThe Morrigan and The Hound
In episode 217 of Fireside, Kevin tells a tale from the Ulster Cycle of Irish Mythology - Cú Chulainn, The Hound of Ulster does face to face with The Morrigan…
FiresideScheherazade and the 1001 Nights
In episode 216 of Fireside, Kevin delves into the epic origin and framing story of the Arabian Nights - Scheherazade is a learned and gifted storyteller, and…
FiresideThe Lazy Beauty
In episode 215 of Fireside, Kevin tells of a beautiful but lazy girl who wins the affection of a prince. But to win his heart, the girl must find a way to…
FiresideFlidhais and The Mayo Táin
In episode 214 of Fireside, Kevin tells another pre-tale of the Ulster Cycle. Queen Maebh of Connaught has taken Fergus Mac Roich into her home and into her…
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Baba Yaga - The Wild Witch
In episode 213 of Fireside, Kevin tells of Baba Yaga, the wild witch of Slavic Folklore. Two children are banished to the woods by their wicked stepmother, and…
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The Jackdaw
In episode 212 of Fireside, Kevin tells a tale from Irish folklore of a Dublin Linen Draper who comes into the possession of a Jackdaw - but what will happen…