Voices in New York

Summary

March is a busy month for Irish storytellers. I spoke with Bairbre McCarthy on the phone about her CD, The Keeper of the Crock of Gold: Irish Leprechaun Tales. Drawn from her book of Irish stories, the CD is a combination of “old retellings”and original stories by McCarthy that “stick up for the rights of Leprechauns.” Throughout the stories, McCarthy weaves in sean-nós singing by her daughter Mary Willems and fiddle playing by Maura McNamara. In our conversation, she tells me about her roots, about her activism for Leprechaun rights, and about becoming a professional storyteller in America: