On tSeanam Anall

Mici Ban O Beirn was a fiddler, poet and seanchai from the Cill Charthaigh area of Donegal and these folklore stories were taken down from him by Brid Ni Bheirn, a local school mistress, in 1930. Mici Ban grew up in an area rich in culture and folklore with influential local storytellers such as Condai O Laighean. One of seven children, three boys and four girls, Mici was an Albino and his bad eyesight meant he could read only the headlines in the newspapers and had to have the stories read to him. In spite of this difficulty, Mici's extraordinary intellect allowed him to absorb and retain huge amounts of information. He was also a talented musician, and both he and his brother, Proinsias, were renowned throughout the country for their fiddling. Brid Ni Bheirn, a local school mistress, realising that the language and the oral culture were in decline, took down these stories from Mici Ban in 1930. The stories lay idle for some time afterwards until her sister, Mairead, in turn passed them to Micheal Mac Giolla Easbuic that he might edit and compile this publication.