Stories That Live And Breathe: Inside Celtic Tales Galway
“I do it every week”, Fulton says, just as he kicks off again for the spring season. Celtic Tales isn't just a one off event, it’s a regular gathering and an ode to the stories for which our Island has become so beloved.
Fulton first came to Galway in 1999, without any long term plan to stay. “I've never had a plan in my life”, he laughs. Originally from Scotland, he had been performing poetry, written in Scots dialect, which was “quite difficult” he admits, “so then I was telling stories just in English”.
He traces the beginnings of his Celtic Tales journey to around 2007, starting in smaller venues before settling into the Crane. “The audience is half the show” Fulton explains, “The show would not be without the people of Galway bringing their own spark in as well.”
The format encourages interaction too. “There's very little distance”, as he positions himself as close to the audience as possible. “The audience is very much part of it, if there's a storm, for example, folk will start doing storm effects… they'll speak and talk and bring their own words too”.
The sessions typically run for around an hour and a half, with a short break in the middle. “You can go to the bar, have a beer, sit down, it’s very welcoming”. The pub setting matters not just for atmosphere but also familiarity. “It's very safe, familiar… people can step into a place of wonder” he adds.
Fulton’s stories draw from Irish and Scottish folk tales, with the occasional urban legend or family story woven in. The inspiration comes from walking, listening and paying attention. “The world is full of stories, both in Scotland and Ireland there are stories everywhere”.
Particularly in the West of Ireland, landscape plays a central role. “When I'm here… I'm physically seeing and engaging with the landscape, the wind, the weather – the scent and smell of all these stories”.
Many of these stories also live beyond the pub walls. Fulton gathered a selection of them in his book Galway Bay Folk Tales, a collection rooted in Galway and its coastlines, “The history and creativity of Galway is just amazing”, he adds.
When he tells local tales, they are often layered with both myth and lived memory. One story he returns to is “the story from the Claddagh, the city beneath the waves”, and how the Claddagh “protected its own rules and laws”, showing times of hardship and food shortages.
“The women from the Claddagh would go into Galway and have riots, you know. I just love these rioting Claddagh women.
“When I'm telling that” he explains, “I'm also bringing in bits of history”.
Even the setting of the sessions feeds into the storytelling.“Just The Crane physically, where you are, matters”. He talks about how goods were once brought down to the area, “the crane for lifting the sacks”, and how “older folk who come to the show that… remember the horses coming down through that part of Galway.”
“Celtic Tales isn’t a one off event; it’s a regular gathering and an ode to the stories for which our island has become so beloved.”
It's these local layers that form part of a “very rich living heritage that I'm blessed to engage with... Celtic Tales couldn't have happened anywhere else”.
What fascinates him most is how stories continue to evolve. Fulton recalls once overhearing a story he had completely made up being retold at a party in Galway.
“I was like, wow, that's my story,” he says. “That's how folk tales suddenly become alive. The story is now out there, doing its own little journey”. It's a moment that captures the heart of Celtic Tales.
Stories don't sit still. They're spoken, shared, altered, and carried forward by the people who hear them. “Stories are constantly engaging with the stories that are there,” Fulton says.
In a city known for conversation, creativity and community, it feels fitting that these stories are still told out loud, week after week, in the heart of Galway.
Celtic Tales storytelling show, €15, runs every Thursday at 7.30pm at The Crane. See @celtictalesgalway for details. The Wicked Woman by Rab Fulton is out now.
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