Pisrógs

Hidden Treasure, Supernatural Bulls and Circus Tigers on this first episode of a brand new season of Pisrógs! Oh and frogs too.Conor Campbell is an artist and architect from Cappamore Co. Limerick. If you don't know him, chances are you know his artwork.Ye Vagabonds, Junior Brother, The Chieftains, Alannah Thornburg, Gareth Quinn Redmond, Lemon Cello and more.Campbell's distinctive style - a unique blend of medieval manuscript, pixel art, nature and psychedelia have become a staple of Irish album artwork.Luke and Conor dive into a whole host of stories from his area of Cappamore, County Limerick, discovering that some of these stories are even closer than either of them would could have THUNK! THINKED! or THOUGHT!

PISRÓGS is back with a little makeover and more guests.In this seven episode season Luke will chat to artists, musicians, elders and more about the folklore close to their area, close to their interests and close to their hearts. Or whatever is funniest.Lets jump in!

Looking for charms to steal your neighbours butter? We got 'em. Looking for ways to keep your pesky neighbours from stealing your butter? We got 'em. Songs to better churn the butter? Got those too. Join Aran and Luke as they dive head first into the world of Irish Butter folklore and superstition. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll call the parish priest, but he can't help you now. Accompanied by the beautiful music of Gareth Quinn Redmond. Be sure to check him out and show him some love x

His name is celebrated as an important figure of parliamentary democracy in the United Kingdom. Cromwell dispatched a tyrannical king, was the first Republican and an advocate for democracy. In Ireland his lasting effect is one of a genocidal tyrant. His consideration of the Irish people as inhuman and was self-professed , and the inhumanity for which he inflicted arguably places him in a position of contempt higher than any royal.In Irish folklore this contempt is plain to be seen, Cromwell is written as the personal assistant of the satan, if not the devil incarnate. 'An cogadh a chriochnaigh Éire' - The war that finished Ireland. This is what a conquest of the country during the War of the Three Kingdoms was dubbed. An ethnic cleansing headed by one man. In 1641 when all was said and done, total excess deaths for the entire period was estimated by Sir William Petty, the 17th-century economist, to be 600,000 out of a total Irish population of 1,400,000 - that is around 42% of the population. 42%

After the Plantation of Ulster in 1606, three McDonnell brothers, dispossessed, made their way south. One of them settled on swampy uncontested land in Dublin, claiming themselves as its monarch.   Welcome to MUD ISLAND. A refuge at the fringes of Dublin Society, Aran and Luke seek to learn of its colourful history of Smugglers, Highwaymen and MORE. From secret passages to the bloody pirate escapades of Art Granger, its hard to believe what is now Ballybough and Fairview was a muddy slobland soundtracked by savage fights between the Mud Islanders and the Revenue Men, and stories of banshees and Collier the Robber.

Unbeknownst to Luke when we started recording this episode, it was going to be dominated by Rat stories. There are Bananas too. Some may say we had too much fun recording this one, I say there's never such a thing. Join us in the fun backed by the beautiful ambient music of Gareth Quinn Redmond

ARAN and Luke turn to the Irish National Folklore Collection's Duchás Database and Irish mythology to read you the most effective bedtime story known to man. FROM spooky bedtime stories about witch's sleep charms, TO the Goddess of Sleep Caer and her lad, Aengus, NOT to mention some folk cures on how to get a good night's rest, IT'S all a dreamy doozy. SPONSOR this week is: DRY-LINE - Boring you to Sleep.

THE black stuff, stout, porter. IT'S synonymous with Ireland, but why? WHAT'S the difference between stout and porter? PISRÓGS barrels into an episode of songs, stories and accounts all about the substance we love to make us silly. MOST importantly we look at GUINNESS. YOU probably know all of the tremendous work that Guinness has done for Ireland, Dublin and it's workers. BUT there's a darker side to the black stuff that will have you saying... "Wait the Guinness family said WHAT during the 80s?" AS with anything involving a feast of pints, this episode will have you loving and hating yourself for drinking. Get it into ya like a good gosson

GAELS - Forest People. THIS episode will follow Irish trees through time from: The temperate rainforest which existed before humanity's arrival on the island, to the 1% of tree cover that remains in our wake. FROM the celts who venerated trees, to the Normans who cut them down liberally and the continued negligence by the Free State all the way to the current practice of forestry in Ireland today. INTERESTINGLY, language can be used to plot the changing relationship between humankind and forests here in Ireland. FROM Ogham, a language based on the natural world around us, to the present day where the word 'forest' can prove harmful in its vaguity. PLUS, learn a possible scientific reason why the hawthorn (or fairy tree) might be such a feared bush.

MERFOLK - Irish Mermaids - The Merrow (Murúch), Selkies & Siren. IN this week's episode the lads travel from our seas, rivers and lakes through GALWAY and LEITRIM to KERRY and ROSCOMMON in search of MERFOLK - half-human half-aquatic beings which litter the mythology of almost every country. THE BOYS are tracing the myth of Merfolk in Ireland from the source of our earliest mythology to the mouth of more recent folk tales. With the anatomy of the mermaid and the means of its aquatic abilities changing with time from story to story.  EXPECT yarns from 11th century monks and recollections from Tommy down the road. MERMAIDS have long been associated with their allure, with tales of men selfishly kidnapping the poor creatures, or even drowning to death in awe of their beauty. This leads to wider discussion of mermaids as a symbol of the expectations of women. THE LEGEND of children born here as the product of mermaid/human relations.  SO, depending on your second name, you too could be just a little bit fishy! (ALSO we have fairy news chock full of cures and ferrets and all sorts) Come dive in! Waters fine.

In this episode, Luke and Aran fill your mug with all the seasonal delights you can gulp down. Join the boys by the toasty fire as they warm you up for a delightfully festive season. If you have any stories you'd like to share please message us @pisrogspodcast on Instagram or email us on pisrogspodcast@gmail.com We would only love to hear any stories or tidbits you have relating to folklore, mythology, traditions, customs and all such matters. Delightful music of Gareth Quinn Redmond featured in part of this episode.

LOCALLY sourced IRISH FOLKLORE, stories, cures and laughs based on the words YOU, the listener, chose via our instagram: @pisrogspodcast (God help us) THE boys titter their way through tales of: GEESE screaming down children's necks, WEASELS jumping down horses ears, GIANTS stealing cows, EELS eating loved ones!  ALL served with piping hot tea and the musical styling of Gareth Quinn Redmond. REVENGE, biscuits, CRYSTAL BALLS, biscuits, THE PÚCA and tea.... TIS ALL in there and it's all sourced directly from the National Folklore Collection's Dúchas Archive.

THE first Irish witch burning, and the first known record of a Coven in the world. PETRONILLA de Meath was tortured, interrogated and eventually burnt at the stake on the 3rd of November 1324, in Kilkenny. HER charge? Witchcraft. "AND though she was indeed herself an adept in this accursed art of theirs, she said she was nothing in comparison with her mistress, from whom she had learned all these things and many more." DE Meath was maidservant to Alice Kyteler, a woman whose Husbands all had the unfortunate habit of dying . . . soon after marrying her. WAS Kyteler: INNOCENT? MONEY-GRABBING? A WITCH? CULTURALLY, Irish witches are more commonly associated with Goddess figures, such as the Cailleach Beara (Learn more in our previous episode) than the iconic and horrific witch burning that plagued Europe and America from the 15th Century. IN FACT, for a superstitious nation, witch burning barely reached double digits in Ireland compared to the hundreds in continental Europe. WHY? The boys attempt to find out just THAT.

Guess what? Aran is back....... And he's broke; shoes, wallet, the whole lot. So no better man to find than that Leprechaun with his fat crock of gold. In this episode Aran and Luke pull together stories from the ages to find the origins of the Leprechaun. How did all the tropes come to be? Hop in and found out with some gorgeous ambient music accompaniment by Gareth Quinn Redmond and plenty of hearthy chuckles. Hup

OH THE BRAIN, the thing piloting your swiping fingers and fidgeting thumbs right now. HE'S a pretty complex boy, BUT would you believe that all the way back in the 7th century a monk by the name of Bricin was poking holes in injured warrior's skulls AND doing a damn good job on it too? LEARN about the: THOUSAND-year-old medical art of trepanation. GOD of medicine in Ireland and the surprisingly terrifying origin of the River Barrow. BRAIN BALLS and the man whose head exploded when he heard of a certain someone's crucificion.

LABIAS and Gonads, the foreplay has ended. It's time for our episode of bollocks on the GENITALS NA HÉIREANN. LEARN ABOUT: Queen Medbh's insatiable sexual appetite, her STALLION lover and the time she carved a new path in the river with the power BETWEEN HER LEGS. IRISH APHRODISIACS such as badger mickey and rabbit skin. EX-PRIESTS who would marry you off at their gaff for the cheap and would tear the certificate up if you had the coin. FILTHY place names and SHEELA NA GIG. PLUS, learn how every standing stone in Ireland is just a big fat member.  LISTEN to this one in a dark room before and after a shower with the picture of the baby Jesus out in the shed. OH BABY.

AN DIABHAL, The Devil, Old Nick, The Old...Boy? WE all know of the devil, he's the red fella with the horns who is likely to be the ruler of our infinite misery if indeed it is true that you should fast on Friday, he also is the mascot for hot sauces and red wine. He's a busy lad. BUT the devil in Irish Folklore is far from the fallen angel of Danté's Inferno, at his best he's like Al Pacino in Devi's Advocate and his worst, like Elma Fud in Looney Tunes. THE rule of thumb? In Irish folkore, the devil is either a simpleton you owe money to (TV License Inspector) or the subject of your night terrors (Your Landlord). LEARN about: LOFTUS HOUSE where the devil played cards with a woman, steeping her in love and driving her insane. MUIRDEACH'S HIGH CROSS and its ornate representations of demons. THE DEVIL IN LANGUAGE and how it reflects satan as the anti-thesis. THE devil as a half-witted slime ball who just cant catch a break.

THE STONE HOUSE OF THE SUN THIS Donegal antiquity has been the quiet sentinel of Ireland, WITNESS to our shared history -  FROM the Tuatha Dé Danann to midnight mass, its a long-time fan of our stuff. A temple for the sun god Baal, THE original home of the O'Neill Clan, the site of Niall of the Nine Hostages conversion to Christianity by Old Man Patrick and the eventual hideaway for Catholics in penal times. ARCHAEOLOGISTS also found a stone phallus there, for you stone-cold lovers out there. IT'S been watching us a while okay so maybe give IT a listen HUH!? Source: Samuel Scott (The National Folklore Collection) Music: Gareth Quinn Redmond. Art: Aisling Larkin Design. 

KILLESHIN, Church of the Glen of Uise,  PLACE of Oisin. TALES from Killeshin, Carlow and its surrounding areas chosen by YEE. SONS of legends, MEN catching rabbits, HIBERNO-ROMAN arches, IRISH acres v ENGLISH acres,  NED of the HILL? IT'S all in our spin around Killeshin! (AS well as a man who kills his goat in drunken anxiety). STRAP into the passenger seat and put Mr. Gareth Quinn Redmond on the AUX baby. Music - @GarethQuinnRedmond Illustration - @AislingLarkinDesign

TALES from local areas submitted by YEE (@pisrogspodcast on Instagram). THIS episode unwinds forgotten yarns from Dromore West SLIGO, Birr Co. OFFALY and Inchicore DUBLIN.  VENGEFUL knights, evil spirits, cursed churches, stolen BUTTER.  A lean mean and captivating spin through the land of IRE.