Be Wary of Irish Fairies

Some of us are only just getting over the hangovers associated with our abuse of Irish stereotypes on St. Patrick's Day, so it's as good a time as any to get an education in some real Irish culture and folklore from performance storyteller Clare Muireann Murphy. Originally from Dublin, Murphy...

By Shaughnessy Speirs

April 5, 2012

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Some of us are only just getting over the hangovers associated with our abuse of Irish stereotypes on St. Patrick's Day, so it's as good a time as any to get an education in some real Irish culture and folklore from performance storyteller Clare Muireann Murphy. Originally from Dublin, Murphy travels internationally to open the door onto the true mythological heritage of her native Ireland, performing the narratives in the way many of them have been done for centuries.

In her act, Falling Foul of Fairies: The Truth About the Little People, Murphy draws on Irish folk tales in which fairies are not the "kind, benevolent creatures who grant wishes," but truly the stuff of nightmares. Some of her performance is composed of the histories of gods and kings, and some involves yarns about the capricious fairy folk, by turns magical and brutal. One tells of fairies who steal a human child, leaving an impostor -- a "changeling" -- in its place.

Falling Foul of Fairies begins at 7 p.m. in room 1130 of the North Classroom Building on the Auraria campus; tickets are $10 to $15 at the door. For more information, call 303-575-1055 or 303-393-6832.
Fri., April 6, 7 p.m., 2012

Shaughnessy Speirs

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