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Event Series: Summer Storytelling Series 2026

Summer Storytelling Series: Maine Celtic Celebration

July 18 @ 11:00 am - 12:00 pm
Free
The Maine Irish Heritage Center is bringing the cherished Irish tradition of storytelling back to Maine this summer!
In days gone by neighbors would gather at night in the local ceili house, the home of a storyteller. They came for conversation, and to hear stories of their community, its history, old tales handed down by the ancestors, some music. These gatherings helped build community and preserve the culture and values of the Irish people.
This one is a little different: Join us at the Steamboat Stage at the Maine Celtic Celebration in Belfast, ME to hear our featured storytellers share!
Storytelling is central to Irish culture—as it is to so many cultures around the world. These outdoor events are part of MIHC’s mission to share this tradition across Maine while also supporting local businesses and gathering spaces. Let’s build community together, one story at a time.

About the Maine Celtic Celebration:

From sheep-herding demonstrations to Sean-Nós dancing and singing, the Maine Celtic Celebration has promoted Celtic culture since 2007. On the third weekend each July, Traditional Celtic tunes and songs have filled the air from two stages on the beautiful waterfront of Belfast, Maine. Visitors flock to the Celebration each year for a variety of events such as the Celtic Dog Show, Highland Heavy Games, U.S. Championship Cheese Roll Competition, workshops, exhibits, and living history reenactors, in additional to food and merchandise vendors, and a beer tent. Learn more here!

Our Tellers:

Cathy Furness

Although three generations removed from the family farm in County Laois, Cathy felt drawn to Ireland from a very young age. She followed that gravitational pull to Dublin, where she earned a graduate degree in Irish literature and folklore. She also studied traditional music while she was there by attending sessions at O’Donohue’s on Merrion Row nearly every night.

Cathy retired early from her professional life in New York to take a deep dive into storytelling. Since then, she has told stories on two continents to audiences of all ages. She likes to share the layered wisdom of folktales of many cultures, but is especially drawn to the heroes, heroines and stories of her Irish ancestors. Now living in the woods outside Brunswick, Maine, she shares her home with Redmond, Conor, Desmond, and Molly, four very spoiled cats.

 

 

 

 

Robert Breen

Robert Breen, a Boston firefighter first published in The Harvard Summer Review, and the Communion Arts Journal (Australia), Boston Literary Magazine, and The Big Table Publishing Company— three books including his most recent The Light of Civil Day. His poetry will be published in next issue of Lapwing, New Ulster Publications in Northern Ireland.

Awards: Margaret F. Tripp Poetry Award, U.S. House Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition and 2025 Honoree as Irish American Echo Heroes Award.

Seamus Heaney’s poem Helmet in District and Circles immortalized Breen’s heroism and sacrifice. His numerous correspondences with Heaney reside at Emory University’s Rose Library. He lives in Brunswick, Maine, USA.

Julia Lane & Fred Gosbee

Julia Lane, singer, songwriter, and folklorist, has been playing the Celtic harp since 1989. Self-taught, she rapidly became a skilled and exciting player, winning the Senior Professional division at the New Hampshire Scottish Games Harp Competition in 1990 and 1991 and the International Folk Harp Competition at Stonehill College in 1992. Julia has done extensive research in folksong archives throughout New England and is currently transcribing songs from the Flanders Collection at Middleburg College, Vermont. This audio archive has over 3000 songs, 900 collected in Maine.

Fred Gosbee, singer, songwriter, and storyteller, plays classic and 12-string guitar, violin, viola and Irish flute. He learned many traditional songs from his family, who worked as lumbermen in the forests of New Brunswick and Maine. His original songs have been sung and recorded by other artists.Fred has engineered most of Castlebay’s recordings and has also built Julia’s harps and many other instruments.

Click HERE to see other scheduled Summer Storytelling events!

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