Niall de Búrca is a scéalaí, a gaelic traditional storyteller, with the ability to connect with audiences of all ages. Raised in the west of Ireland, like many Irish of his generation, Niall migrated at a young age. His adventures led him to the Pacific and New Zealand, where he married into a large Maori family.
After many years, Niall returned to Ireland so he could spend time with his elders. He is now based in Dublin and travels worldwide to perform and facilitate storytelling workshops.
Niall has performed on many occasions at Ireland’s National Museum of Antiquities, the National Folk Life Museum and held workshops at the Irish School of Animation. He has directed “Blackwater Storystream”, a peace and reconciliation project that brought together fifty schools in Northern Ireland.
He has produced CD collections including two Irish students performing traditional rhymes and stories. In 2007, he performed in the European Parliament in Brussels to celebrate Irish becoming an official language of The EU. In 2011, Niall was awarded Children’s Entertainer of the Year by the Association of Irish Festival Events.
A featured performer in theatre, on TV and at festivals on six continents, Niall has shared his unique storytelling style in countries as diverse as Argentina, Russia and Japan.
He has also been the featured international storyteller at the US National Festival. In 2013 and 2015, Niall performed at the Hans Christian Andersen Centre in Odense, Denmark. He has performed voiceovers on abridged digital editions of many classic stories, including CS Lewis’ Narnia. In 2016 and 2017, Niall performed and was MC at the Lighting of the Christmas Tree ceremony at Áras an Uachtarain.
In the winter of 2018-2019, he explored similarities in the Gaelic and Polynesian cultural traditions, with a tour through the Hawaiian Islands, Samoa and Aotearoa (New Zealand).
Museum and art gallery exhibitions are another aspect of his work. These include shows on the vikings, World War One and the works of Max Ernst and kinetic sculptor Len Lye.
Niall’s credo is the proverb: “Níor bhris focal maith fiacail riamh – A good word never broke a tooth.”