Caiseal Mór's Blog
December 22, 2020
Origins of The Wanderers.
I’m quite an obsessive collector of stories, to put it mildly. In the early 1980’s I travelled around Ireland soaking up traditional tales. At that time young Irish people weren’t generally very interested in their culture so the storytellers I met were very happy to share their gifts with someone like me.
I must have heard hundreds of stories. Some of them twice. A few of them four or five times. Every storyteller had a personal touch and a unique perspective. I collected a lot of stories. Some I wrote down, but most I committed to memory because I ran out of space in my journal fairly early on.
Ten years later I was back in Australia studying at university. I was exhausted from the long hours the degree programme demanded of me. I started experiencing vivid dreams. These dreams were not always random. They often incorporated elements of the stories I’d heard in Ireland and elsewhere.
I’d wake up in the middle of the night and start jotting them down. When I graduated these special dreams tapered off again and became more random and disjointed.
Then I met a literary agent who challenged me to write eight chapters of a novel. Soon after that the dreams started happening all over again. I’d stop typing before I went to bed and sure enough the next part of the story usually started playing in my imagination as I drifted off.
In the middle of the night I’d wake up, make notes, then go back to sleep. In the morning I’d also have a lot more details of the story and characters. That day I’d be busy writing the tale that had been given to me.
So, that’s how The Wanderers Series came to me. I didn’t have to struggle at all. I’ve never experienced any form of creative block at all. The stories just flowed out and I’m very grateful they continue to do so.
I must have heard hundreds of stories. Some of them twice. A few of them four or five times. Every storyteller had a personal touch and a unique perspective. I collected a lot of stories. Some I wrote down, but most I committed to memory because I ran out of space in my journal fairly early on.
Ten years later I was back in Australia studying at university. I was exhausted from the long hours the degree programme demanded of me. I started experiencing vivid dreams. These dreams were not always random. They often incorporated elements of the stories I’d heard in Ireland and elsewhere.
I’d wake up in the middle of the night and start jotting them down. When I graduated these special dreams tapered off again and became more random and disjointed.
Then I met a literary agent who challenged me to write eight chapters of a novel. Soon after that the dreams started happening all over again. I’d stop typing before I went to bed and sure enough the next part of the story usually started playing in my imagination as I drifted off.
In the middle of the night I’d wake up, make notes, then go back to sleep. In the morning I’d also have a lot more details of the story and characters. That day I’d be busy writing the tale that had been given to me.
So, that’s how The Wanderers Series came to me. I didn’t have to struggle at all. I’ve never experienced any form of creative block at all. The stories just flowed out and I’m very grateful they continue to do so.
December 20, 2020
The Circle and The Cross- Some notes on the characters.
Set against the backdrop of early fifth century C.E., The Circle and The Cross begins as the story of a young monk who arrives in Ireland as part of a mission to Christianise the country. The resulting tensions between the old Druidic ways and Roman Christian values, drives the unfolding narrative.
Many readers may not realise that some of the characters in the novel are based on actual historical figures. Palladius the Elder was, reputedly, the first Christian missionary to Ireland, in the ten or twenty years before Saint Patrick. In some stories Palladius was accompanied by Declan, later Saint Declan of Ardmore.
Near Ardmore in 1981 I heard a story about Palladius, Declan and the Druid Cieran, who had converted to the Cross. Later, I went for a walk up to Saint Declan’s holy well and hermitage on the cliffs close by the modern town of Ardmore. I had no idea at the time that all three characters would later be a part of this story but the place spoke to me in a way, if you know what I mean.
High-King Leori is based on a real life High-King of Ireland in the fifth century, Lóegaire mac Néill. The historical King Lóegaire lived under a Geas that stated he would die somewhere between Alba ( Scotland ) and Ériu ( Ireland ). So, he never so much as set foot in a boat his entire life. In the old stories, however, a Geas cannot be avoided.
King Eohan is based on Eoghan Eoghanacht, an ancient King of Mumhan ( Munster ).
Origen of Alexandria is based on tales I’d heard in Kerry about an Egyptian hermit-monk. The stories say he established the Christian hermitage at Skellig-Michael, a tiny island off the south-west coast. Yes, that’s the place where they filmed a Star Wars sequel.
Tathata was based on another story I heard about a Shee woman who had once lived on the Burren. The story went she was under a prohibition that stated she could only find peace if she fulfilled a series of almost impossible tasks.
Tathata and her Geas were cut out of The Circle and The Cross when it was first published in the mid-1990’s because the people who controlled my career at the time thought there were too many female characters. They also thought the concept of the Geas was too complicated for a fantasy novel. I’m overjoyed that she’s now returned to her rightful place in the limelight.
The Morrígan, the Cailleach and Brigid are all drawn from the most ancient cycles of stories. They represent the three aspects of Maiden, Mother and Crone that were sacred to the ancient Irish. While they are separate entities they are also mystically the same person. Some scholars believe tales about them may have been the source of the late Christian idea of the Holy Trinity.
Yes. I’ve done a lot of research but ultimately The Wanderers are fantasy novels. The historical characters I’ve borrowed really bear little relation to their real-life counterparts. That said, I was careful to only adopt historical characters about whom little is known other than their names.
The Circle and The Cross: Book One of The Wanderers Series
Many readers may not realise that some of the characters in the novel are based on actual historical figures. Palladius the Elder was, reputedly, the first Christian missionary to Ireland, in the ten or twenty years before Saint Patrick. In some stories Palladius was accompanied by Declan, later Saint Declan of Ardmore.
Near Ardmore in 1981 I heard a story about Palladius, Declan and the Druid Cieran, who had converted to the Cross. Later, I went for a walk up to Saint Declan’s holy well and hermitage on the cliffs close by the modern town of Ardmore. I had no idea at the time that all three characters would later be a part of this story but the place spoke to me in a way, if you know what I mean.
High-King Leori is based on a real life High-King of Ireland in the fifth century, Lóegaire mac Néill. The historical King Lóegaire lived under a Geas that stated he would die somewhere between Alba ( Scotland ) and Ériu ( Ireland ). So, he never so much as set foot in a boat his entire life. In the old stories, however, a Geas cannot be avoided.
King Eohan is based on Eoghan Eoghanacht, an ancient King of Mumhan ( Munster ).
Origen of Alexandria is based on tales I’d heard in Kerry about an Egyptian hermit-monk. The stories say he established the Christian hermitage at Skellig-Michael, a tiny island off the south-west coast. Yes, that’s the place where they filmed a Star Wars sequel.
Tathata was based on another story I heard about a Shee woman who had once lived on the Burren. The story went she was under a prohibition that stated she could only find peace if she fulfilled a series of almost impossible tasks.
Tathata and her Geas were cut out of The Circle and The Cross when it was first published in the mid-1990’s because the people who controlled my career at the time thought there were too many female characters. They also thought the concept of the Geas was too complicated for a fantasy novel. I’m overjoyed that she’s now returned to her rightful place in the limelight.
The Morrígan, the Cailleach and Brigid are all drawn from the most ancient cycles of stories. They represent the three aspects of Maiden, Mother and Crone that were sacred to the ancient Irish. While they are separate entities they are also mystically the same person. Some scholars believe tales about them may have been the source of the late Christian idea of the Holy Trinity.
Yes. I’ve done a lot of research but ultimately The Wanderers are fantasy novels. The historical characters I’ve borrowed really bear little relation to their real-life counterparts. That said, I was careful to only adopt historical characters about whom little is known other than their names.
The Circle and The Cross: Book One of The Wanderers Series
December 12, 2018
Interview on Bookschatter!
For a bit more of an insight into my writing world and also my latest book, King Of The Blind, head over to https://bookschatter.blogspot.com/201... where you'll find a recent interview i did.
September 30, 2018
King Of The Blind (Carolan's Concerto second edition)
Back in the early 1980’s I travelled around Ireland on my personal pilgrimage. I was very fortunate to meet many fine traditional storytellers. The tradition was still very much alive at that time even if many of the greatest practitioners were in their 80’s.
Young Irish people around my age at that time weren’t interested in these tales so I was welcomed by storytellers with open arms. A number of times I was blessed to spend several days with an old man or woman who rattled off every tale they could remember. I loved it.
Not long after I arrived in Dublin, completely by chance, I met the late great Derek Bell, a master of the Irish harp. Though the meeting was all too brief he inspired me to look for stories about O’Carolan and his relationship to the Otherworldly beings known as the Shee in Ireland.
I’m the first to admit now that he may well have been pulling my leg, but at the time I was very excited by the few snippets of stories he told me. So, I set off on my quest and I collected many stories about Turlough O’Carolan, O’Carolan’s music and his encounters with the Shee-folk.
It never crossed my mind that one day I’d write a novel based on these tales. It was many years later I went back to them to form the foundation for “King of the Blind”. I just enjoyed them for what they were, folk-tales from a bygone age.
On my travels I also heard a version of history I hadn’t encountered before; told from the point of view of the defeated, rather than the victors. This was particularly eye opening for me because I was struggling to understand the on-going conflict between Catholics and Protestants. It seemed irrelevant and petty to me.
I eventually realised that the version of history I’d been taught was only half the story. Seen from the perspective of the ‘losing side’ in the conflict the official history was actually quite fanciful and offensive. Yet this official tale had come to dominate all discussions about the root causes of the conflict.
It was a deeply shocking moment when I realised how powerful stories really are. Whoever controls the narrative, controls the culture. Whoever controls the culture controls the society. And that’s what inspired me to write ‘King of the Blind”. It’s really a story about stories and storytellers.
The great composer Turlough O’Carolan represents only one aspect to this book.
I'm so pleased to announce that King Of The Blind, A toast to music, mirth, storytelling & whiskey, is now available to the world on Amazon Kindle.
Young Irish people around my age at that time weren’t interested in these tales so I was welcomed by storytellers with open arms. A number of times I was blessed to spend several days with an old man or woman who rattled off every tale they could remember. I loved it.
Not long after I arrived in Dublin, completely by chance, I met the late great Derek Bell, a master of the Irish harp. Though the meeting was all too brief he inspired me to look for stories about O’Carolan and his relationship to the Otherworldly beings known as the Shee in Ireland.
I’m the first to admit now that he may well have been pulling my leg, but at the time I was very excited by the few snippets of stories he told me. So, I set off on my quest and I collected many stories about Turlough O’Carolan, O’Carolan’s music and his encounters with the Shee-folk.
It never crossed my mind that one day I’d write a novel based on these tales. It was many years later I went back to them to form the foundation for “King of the Blind”. I just enjoyed them for what they were, folk-tales from a bygone age.
On my travels I also heard a version of history I hadn’t encountered before; told from the point of view of the defeated, rather than the victors. This was particularly eye opening for me because I was struggling to understand the on-going conflict between Catholics and Protestants. It seemed irrelevant and petty to me.
I eventually realised that the version of history I’d been taught was only half the story. Seen from the perspective of the ‘losing side’ in the conflict the official history was actually quite fanciful and offensive. Yet this official tale had come to dominate all discussions about the root causes of the conflict.
It was a deeply shocking moment when I realised how powerful stories really are. Whoever controls the narrative, controls the culture. Whoever controls the culture controls the society. And that’s what inspired me to write ‘King of the Blind”. It’s really a story about stories and storytellers.
The great composer Turlough O’Carolan represents only one aspect to this book.
I'm so pleased to announce that King Of The Blind, A toast to music, mirth, storytelling & whiskey, is now available to the world on Amazon Kindle.
September 12, 2018
Carolyn's Concerto Revised Edition COMING SOON!
Lately I've been spending eight to ten hours a day walking through the 17th century with a blind harper, and having a wonderful time.
The rewrite of my fifth novel, my personal favourite of all the stories I ever had published, is drawing to a close. And I have to say I'm enjoying it much more than I did the first time around 20 years ago.
As I read the original published version I'm embarrassed at my naivete. I really wasn't a very good writer back then. I've been through so much since Random House first put this novel into print as 'Carolan's Concerto". I've learned so much about the world since then.
The new title is a cracker, but I'm not going to share that with you just yet. Sorry. It's a big reveal. ;)
The next step is finding a screenwriter who can translate my tale into a series or a film. It's pushing 200 000 words so I think a mini series might be the best way to go.
It's a whole new book really so I'm going to count it as my 19th published work.
I can hear the music of Turlough O'Carolan when I fall asleep at night and I'm as inspired as ever by his story. Thank you, Turlough, for the gift of your music. I can almost feel you sitting at my shoulder as I work having a bloody good laugh.
I'll be dedicating it to the memory and the music of Toirḋealḃaċ Ó Cearḃalláin ( 1670 – 1738 )
I'll be announcing the Kindle release within the next few days.
The rewrite of my fifth novel, my personal favourite of all the stories I ever had published, is drawing to a close. And I have to say I'm enjoying it much more than I did the first time around 20 years ago.
As I read the original published version I'm embarrassed at my naivete. I really wasn't a very good writer back then. I've been through so much since Random House first put this novel into print as 'Carolan's Concerto". I've learned so much about the world since then.
The new title is a cracker, but I'm not going to share that with you just yet. Sorry. It's a big reveal. ;)
The next step is finding a screenwriter who can translate my tale into a series or a film. It's pushing 200 000 words so I think a mini series might be the best way to go.
It's a whole new book really so I'm going to count it as my 19th published work.
I can hear the music of Turlough O'Carolan when I fall asleep at night and I'm as inspired as ever by his story. Thank you, Turlough, for the gift of your music. I can almost feel you sitting at my shoulder as I work having a bloody good laugh.
I'll be dedicating it to the memory and the music of Toirḋealḃaċ Ó Cearḃalláin ( 1670 – 1738 )
I'll be announcing the Kindle release within the next few days.
August 22, 2018
Carolyn's Concerto Revised Edition COMING SOON!
It's been 20 years since I first began work on "Carolan's Concerto" a novel about the legendary, blind, 17th century Irish harper, Turlough O'Carolan.
It's entirely made up from all the stories and legends I heard about Carolan when I was travelling through Ireland in the early 1980's. Many of those stories had been passed down by word of mouth and never written down before. His encounters with the Sidhe or the Good People ( who the English refer to as the Faeries ) are central to the stories he told about himself and his remarkable abilities at musical composition.
My literary agent at the time didn't like the novel at all mainly because she was an Anglophile who didn't have any time for Irish music or Irish culture. She reckoned no one would be interested in the story of a "disabled" musician either.
I pushed ahead but she pressured me into changing quite a few things to make the novel more "popular" and "mainstream". None of her revisions really worked for me. I guess that's when I decided that one day I'd publish my books the way I wanted them to be done without interference from number-crunchers or petty fashionistas.
So, I've just spent the last little while or so restoring all the stuff that was cut out and reworking the whole story. I've still got a week or so to go before I publish the new book on Kindle. And I'm really enjoying this process. Yes, there's been interest in the film rights but I'm holding out for now until the right producer comes along.
The new novel will be called "Concerto for Harp or King Of The Blind" so as not to confuse it with the first version.
If you've never heard his music a quick google search of his name will yield hundreds of thousands of results.
It's entirely made up from all the stories and legends I heard about Carolan when I was travelling through Ireland in the early 1980's. Many of those stories had been passed down by word of mouth and never written down before. His encounters with the Sidhe or the Good People ( who the English refer to as the Faeries ) are central to the stories he told about himself and his remarkable abilities at musical composition.
My literary agent at the time didn't like the novel at all mainly because she was an Anglophile who didn't have any time for Irish music or Irish culture. She reckoned no one would be interested in the story of a "disabled" musician either.
I pushed ahead but she pressured me into changing quite a few things to make the novel more "popular" and "mainstream". None of her revisions really worked for me. I guess that's when I decided that one day I'd publish my books the way I wanted them to be done without interference from number-crunchers or petty fashionistas.
So, I've just spent the last little while or so restoring all the stuff that was cut out and reworking the whole story. I've still got a week or so to go before I publish the new book on Kindle. And I'm really enjoying this process. Yes, there's been interest in the film rights but I'm holding out for now until the right producer comes along.
The new novel will be called "Concerto for Harp or King Of The Blind" so as not to confuse it with the first version.
If you've never heard his music a quick google search of his name will yield hundreds of thousands of results.
