Story Bridges: A dream to connect countries through stories
I love sitting inside the walls of Sheehan’s Storytelling Cottage. Especially on those dark rainy evenings with a roaring turf fire. There are 300 years of stories in these walls, and it feels like they fall out to inhabit my internal world when I sit there in the dream space of a turf fire. It is in this place that my dream of connecting through story began…
The first person I shared the dream with was the lovely German Grammar School teacher, Katrin Somers. She came to Sheehan’s in 2023 to give a story to our growing treasure of Sheehan’s visitor’s stories, held on YouTube. She agreed with me that one leg of the bridge had been built between Finuge and Daun as I travel back to help teach the children in her school about Irish Storymaking techniques. This December I will make my 7th visit there. The dream took root in my heart and I shared it with Jimmy Deenihan, my boss in Finuge and with Cara Trant the exceptional Artistic Director of Listowel Storytelling Festival and Director of the award winning Kerry Writers Museum. Cara suggested we make the ‘bridge’ part of the Listowel Storytelling Festival and I invited Omar Belaarej to work with me to build a bridge between the stories of Ireland and Morocco. This also meant that Kerry Writers Museum and World Storytelling Café cemented their deepening bond around this project. After Omar came to Kerry, a return visit was planned to beautiful Marrakech.
My dream of #Storybridges had taken off!
The story seedling flourishes and begins to build a bridge…
My #StoryBrother Omar and myself brought stories to adult audiences as the Listowel Storytelling Festival in 2025, as well as into Kerry Schools as part of Kerry Writers and Sheehan’s Storytelling Cottage outreach programme. Omar and I were full of joy to see that African stories landed so well with Irish Audiences and we were more than thrilled when Irish stories completed the story bridge in Marrakech.
Marrakech has been a beautiful story home for me, where my storytelling is welcome and my spirit is at rest. During the International Storytelling Festival held there every second year I am privileged to lead the wonderful and popular Irish American Session. It was at this session that I first met Jim Brulé and later joined his online fortnightly spiritual storytelling session. In 2025 we started a joint venture https://www.cork2ny.com where we record stories across the pond, and I thought to myself ‘another #StoryBridge !’ so I asked Jim if he would be interested in joining me in Marrakech and if we could extend the bridge to New York. He immediately invited me to take part in the Woodstock Storytelling Festival and the Bridge continued to grow
It’s amazing when dream time begins to become reality! And wonderful when great people gather around an idea to make it happen.
#StoryBridges continues to grow…
this September, I am so joyful and proud to welcome Jim Brulé and Omar Belaarej home to Kerry, Finuge and Listowel, and to my home town of Cork City in Ireland. The #Storybridges continue to stretch and grow stronger. I feel so supported and delighted by the interest of the Irish Embassy in Morocco and the Moroccan Embassy in Ireland supporting this precious project. In particular to H.E. Dr. Lahcen Mahraoui, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Morocco to Ireland who will be making his second visit to Listowel in support of our project.
Ceist Eolais (Wise Question) – What makes dreams come true?
So here’s the ceist eolais, my Chlann Scéalta (Story Family), how would the world change if we trusted the wisdom and companionship of the old stories?
It feels like this dream of #StoryBridges is an old dream, an ancient one that I borrowed from the dream space. One that landed in my heart but belongs to everyone, like a heartbeat that I heard deep inside the earth, the time outside time, in the great collective consciousness. I cannot give you all the answers, because I don’t have them, each bridge builder brings their own wisdom, I am grateful for the Moroccan and New York Wisdom being added to our Irish story wisdom.
Please God, Inshallah, le cúnamh Dé, the Bridge will keep growing, dissolving borders and differences as we build a storytelling world where we know we are way more the same than we were different.
In stories, all things are possible.
Le Grá,
Maria