Written by 
“The Irish are known for being natural-born storytellers, from our rich folklore to our ability to retell a tale and make everyone in the room feel like they were there with us.”
Since I started to write for IrishCentral in 2019, I have come into contact with the crème de la crème of Irish storytellers. Their words, (and music, as some of the best storytellers I know are also musicians) lift me on bad hair days and rekindle an ancient connection to our seanchaí, remembering the important role they played in our culture, their oral tradition laying a fertile ground for Ireland’s incredible literary output.
As IrishCentral mentioned, we come from a land of storytellers. I have always been fascinated by how Irish people could make a simple outing to do the messages into a gripping scenario.
Then you’d meet people of other nationalities, and God bless them, even if they had done the most exciting things, and visited the four corners of the world, they’d have you yawning at the dinner table and dying for the Irish person to continue with who they met in the butchers, and settle the cliff-hanger of many slices of streaky or back rashers they finally bought.
It’s how they tell it; it’s in our DNA.
I also wonder if our stories, recounted in melodious and at times in wild Hiberno-English speech, with extensive use of metaphors and transliterations from Irish in the words, along with an innate willingness to connect and a genuine curiosity about people and the world make for such prodigious tales.
There are also those incredible Irish writers whose well of inspiration, comes from deep within; words seem to come to them from ‘another world.’
The words of Irish man John Buckley McQuaid (singer/songwriter/fairy tale author and performer) are inspired by both the real world, current social issues included, and an imagination stoked by Irish myths, legends, and folklore along with a draconian work discipline.
Already a fan of his music lyrics, inspired by his roots, steeped in tradition with a generous portion of black humor, I recently read his fairy tale, “Stations In The Sky,” and was blown away. The tale with its imaginative plot and captivating characters is reminiscent of the late, great Welshman Roald Dahl.
Buckley McQuaid weaves a fairy tale of our times about a Birdman named Leo, of his search for a magical place known as the “Stations In The Sky,” of his Friends: Fred’rick, an out-of-work horse, and Kristi Sparkle, a girl with a dream.
I believe children of all ages, from the young to centenarians, will enjoy this story of “Friendship & Terror, of Freedom & Captivity, of Love and of Fantasy.” The tale is interspersed with his original songs.
Buckley McQuaid has been living in Denmark for decades and has a faithful fan base in his country of adoption. The Danish daily newspaper Dagbladet Information said about “Stations In The Sky:” “There are echoes of Lennon/McCartney in McQuaid’s imaginative story about the warm Birdman, the disillusioned Disco Dancer Kristi Sparkle and Fred’rick, the horse with the kind-hearted disposition. The soft sing-a-long melodies are supported by a harmonization which brings to mind the 3/4 acoustic music from the end of the 60s.”
A journalist from the Danish newspaper Jyllands Posten wrote: “John McQuaid is one of the best things that’s happened to Danish Folk Music. Rock musicians can also learn from him. This Danish-Irishman has got it all: Enthusiasm, presence, and a magical ability to make elegance look easy.”
The Jyllands Posten quote made me smile; so many of our great storytellers and artists are being claimed by other nations. I once saw Samuel Beckett smiling down at me, from a French writers’ calendar, featuring twelve of the best French writers ever!
The British have also gone wild over “Stations in the Sky.” Patrick Moss hosted Buckley McQuaid on his excellent “Magpie’s Folk Café” program with a reading of ‘Stations In The Sky’ interspersed with songs followed by an interview.
Buckley McQuaid will be touring with his magical one-man show, where he’ll orate “Stations In The Sky,” punctuated with his songs written especially for the fairy tale with video backing on a big screen. He is excited about the tour as he feels “The show is cross-generational, dealing with topics that are very much relevant today.”
The first concert of his tour will be on Thursday, February 27 in his Danish hometown Aarhus, in the Svalegangen Theatre, an impressive, on-the-pulse venue. The show is in two parts, the second part will include songs from Buckley McQuaid’s most recent 2024 album “Be Yourself,” which was produced by Lone Poulsen, who has written music to two of the songs and produces and plays on the album.
With the show on the road, I hope one of the stops will be Buckley McQuaid’s native Dublin. He grew up in Stillorgan, “in a house with a piano and a garden.”
It’s wonderful that our artists and storytellers are admired and even coveted the world over, but it is also so important that they are heard at home, continuing a legacy of great storytelling on our own home turf.
This article was submitted to the IrishCentral contributors network by a member of the global Irish community. To become an IrishCentral contributor click here.