Stories of Samhain: An Irish Storytelling Event

Niamh O’Brien and Erica O’Reilly with Stories of Samhain: An Irish Storytelling Event

Thursday, November 2, 2023 7:30pm ET | Blackbox Studio, Arts Court (2 Daly Ave) and On Demand

“At the end of October, the doorway to the dark half of the Celtic year swings open. The dying sun is swallowed up by the lengthening nights; the green fields of summer have become brown and sere. In groves of oak and beech, leaves drop to the earth, and animals prepare for the winter sleep. It is Samhain, the season of frost and firelight.” - Mara Freeman, Kindling the Celtic Spirit (2001). 

You are invited to gather for a seasonal and otherworldly storytelling event. Join Niamh O’Brien and Erica O’Reilly, two women of Celtic heritage, on a pathway of discovery as they share their love of Celtic stories, folklore, and Samhain traditions. Samhain, the Halloween season, has roots in Ireland's rich history and landscape. This powerful time of year is when the veil between the worlds comes down. Leaning into the knowledge held within their historical backgrounds and ancestry, Niamh and Erica will tell stories that illuminate the importance, magic, and mysticism of this special time of year.

We will serve light refreshments to begin this Irish event in tradition.

About the Storytellers

Niamh O’Brien was a past board member of the Ottawa StoryTellers, an enthusiastic performer in the tent shows for many years and a performer in the OST show “The Tour” on the Fourth Stage. She enjoys writing and telling Irish folklore to all ages, bringing to life stories of mighty giants and trickster leprechauns. As a board member and performer for the James Joyce Association of Ottawa, Niamh has performed many Joycean scenes and characters, including the climactic Molly Bloom soliloquy. Niamh’s great joy is in bringing characters to life.

Erica O’Reilly As a sacred storyteller, spiritual counsellor, and ordained minister (through the Sacred Stream Foundation; in Berkeley, California), Erica truly believes in the wisdom and healing power of the body and spirit; along with the medicine of sharing stories. As she delves more deeply into her Irish ancestry, Erica’s creative process leans ever more into collaboration with Spirit - inspired by her connection with the physical, spiritual, and celestial realms. She loves sharing mystical and magical stories, especially when paired with hallowed tales of the deep re-membering of women’s sovereignty. Erica’s love for the performing arts has taken her all over the world including Toronto (Bachelors of Arts with Honours, Theatre), New York (The American Academy of Dramatic Arts), and Northern Italy (Associazione Culturale Linguistica Educational), and locally in the nation's capital with 9th Hour Theatre Company (currently Creative Associate) and the Ottawa StoryTellers (Stories in 180, The Spirals We Are In, and Ottawa Children’s Storytelling Festival 2022/2021). This past June, Erica also debuted Into the Circle Theatre (her theatre & storytelling company) at the 2023 Ottawa Fringe Festival with her one-woman show Stars, Stones, and Shadows: A Heroine’s Tale.