'I got such a bug for it' - Laois man on his love for live storytelling and hometown event
Laois storyteller Fionn Phelan speaks to the Leinster Express about hosting hundreds of storytelling events and his latest trip back home to Eddie Kirwan’s Bar in Mountrath
A Mountrath storyteller is set to host an event at Eddie Kirwan’s Bar in the town after years of travelling across Ireland, the UK and Canada.
Writer and storyteller Fionn Phelan is set to take his talkshow Plámásing to his home of Mountrath on July 11.
Fionn was previously a part of Seanchoíche, a storytelling night hosted by Ciaran Gaffney where a person goes up and tells a 10-15 minute story about themselves.
This came after Fionn had spent three years in Vancouver, Canada honing his craft in storytelling.
“A friend of mine thought I'd enjoy it, so I went down there and I performed with Seanchoíche in the Fumbally in Dublin and I absolutely loved it.
“I got such a bug for it and then myself and Gaffney became good friends and I actually started hosting the event.”
“I've hosted well over a hundred storytelling events and I've been able to travel all around Ireland doing it. I've done it in Portlaoise three times and they've just been absolutely hopping nights.
“I was able to travel as a storyteller to Edinburgh, Manchester, London and then I also had kind of a full circle moment. I was able to travel back to Vancouver and do the first Seanchoíche event that was ever in Vancouver.
“I wanted to start a project which Gaffney was entirely supportive of as well and I actually had him on the show.
“The show is called Plámásing. It’s a live talk show style event. The original idea was, I would open the show with a bit of an intro and perhaps perform a story that I wrote and then I'd interview artists of various or any discipline but really it's just interesting people.
“I did my first Plámásing in Kerry last year in Killarney. I had two more sold-out events in Dublin, one in the Button Factory and one in the Sugar Club last year.
“I did two more this year, one in Kerry again and then one at the Beyond the Pale Festival and I've loved doing them.
“I'm delighted to be able to take this event to Mountrath on July 11 because growing up, I've always been giving out that there’s never anything on in Mountrath.”
Fionn grew up with a love for writing and storytelling, which he believes came from his family who were all great storytellers.
“On both sides of my family, they just had a great storytelling ability. I always loved listening to my uncles and aunties when they were talking.”
Fionn went to Ballyfin College before going to Mountrath Community School.
“I would just be such a freak in school that I just wouldn't shut up and then I think now later in life, I've eventually found a channel to do that.
“People still might tell me to shut up, but at least I can tell them to get out. In school I'd be told to get out.”
Fionn is also looking forward to hosting the event at Eddie Kirwan’s Bar.
“My local would be Kirwan's. It's good old small town pub and they've recently done up the back of it, so there's a big kind of venue spot.
“The main thing is I want the show to be a bit of craic. So when people go in to have a drink, I'll have the place kind of all done up, ready to go.
“The agenda of the night will be essentially myself and the guests talking.
“There's going to be a small, 10-minute play that I wrote, which will be acted out at the very end to close the show.
“After that, we're going to bundle up the chairs, move out of the way and the local band, Radio Nowhere, are going to be playing afterwards. We’re going to turn it into a bit of a party.”
Fionn’s dream for the project is for people all over the country to see Plámásing on and just want to go.
He said: “My marketing now is almost based on the guests. I want people to go because they know it’s going to be a great night.
“Then I could go on and the guests could be a priest, it could be a carpenter, it could be just someone who is really interesting even if they don’t have a lot of followers on Instagram.
“That’s where I want to build it and get a good reputation.”
Fionn also wants people to come from outside of Mountrath, and has offered to help people who are struggling with finding a way home.
“There’s buses and taxis. Go over to the Plámásing Instagram page if you aren’t sure about how to get out of Mountrath and I’ll give you the townlink schedule.”
Tickets for Plámásing are available here.