As a youngster Batt Burns experienced the seanachie( Storyteller) tradition firsthand when he lived with his grandfather in the Hills of County Kerry and heard him tell long, involved stories by the fire during the harsh winter nights. Today Burns helps to preserve that heritage with haunting accounts of ghosts, great adventure stories, tales of heroes, farcical stories and witty jokes.
In his recitations of poetry, he draws on the rich field of Irish poets including Oscar Wilde, W.B.Yeats, Patrick Kavanagh ,Padraic Colum, Brendan Kenneally and Seamus Heaney.
During his early years as an elementary school principal, Burns worked hard to make significant changes in the Irish educational system, putting particular emphasis on storytelling. He is the author of many school textbooks, many of his stories have been published and he has produced tapes and CDs of poetry and storytelling. His new book of Irish Folktales (Sterling Publishing, New York )s is due to be published in February 2009
It was winning the All Ireland Teachers’ Talent Competition in 1983, which started him on the road to his second career. In 1994 Burns left his teaching career behind him and became a full-time entertainer in the USA where he has performed at all of the major storytelling festivals, at several Irish Clubs and at the college campuses of Harvard, Notre Dame and Northwestern.
Maura Burns is a member of the O’Dwyer family of traditional musicians from Ardgroom in the Beara Peninsula, County Cork, Ireland. She was trained by her mother, Ella Mae, who was one of Ireland’s best known concertina players and a great exponent of the West Limerick style. She featured with her mother in a memorable duet on the popular traditional music program “ The Pure Drop” on Irish National TV. With her husband Batt, she has performed all over the USA and both were featured at The Kennedy Center in March 2004.
Description of Show
The show combines the ancient art of the seanachie ( storyteller) of which Batt Burns is master, with poetry from a variety of Irish authors, including 19th century poets like Yeats and Wilde, as well as 20th century masters like Seamus Heaney and Brendan Kenneally. The performance is laced with Irish wit and humor, as Batt brings alive on stage some colorful characters from the Hills of Kerry, where he lived for most of his life, and this is complemented by great traditional Irish music on the concertina by Maura.
This show, which is steeped in Irish tradition, has been presented all over the USA by this talented husband and wife duo.
