Africa Day - A Swallows Tale

“And that was called home because home was where the people were”

The film A Swallow’s Tale captures the spirit and shared connection between Ireland and Africa. With strong traditions of storytelling, music, dance and tales of mythological deities and fantastical creatures, there is a vibrancy and expressiveness to both cultures that is unparallelled. Just as the swallows go and come and come and go from Africa to Ireland bringing birdsong and magic, when we invite the rhythm of our Atlantean neighbours into our hearts, we have the opportunity to create new stories and dance to new songs.

The Storytellers | The Griot and the Seanchaí

The Griot

Zeenie Summers

The Seanchaí

Aindrias De Staic

Zeenie Summers

Zeenie Summers is Yoruba-Irish pop-soul artist, gospel singer and storyteller who uses an eclectic mix of influences from West Africa and beyond.

Aindrias de Staic

Aindrias de Staic is an Irish actor, musician and one of a new generation of Irish storytellers. He performs in both Irish and English.

The Story

The story was specially commissioned for this film, drawing on West African and Irish mythologies.

The story was written collaboratively by Zeenie Summers, Aindrias De Staic and Prof. Kelly Fitzgerald, Head of Irish Folklore and Ethnology, UCD.

The Music

The song that features in A Swallow’s Tale is called The Arrival. It was written especially for the film and features Zeenie Summer’s vocals as she sings “I have gone, I have arrived, I have come, I have arrived, I have come, I have arrived.... Iyemọja '' in Yoruba. The song also samples The Swallow’s Tail jig; marrying the two cultures beautifully

The composition is in a 6/8 time signature, which is quite unique to the traditional music of Ireland and parts of Africa. This has led some to speculate that because of the migratory routes of the swallows and other songbirds, the people who settled in these regions heard the bird song and mimicked its melodic patterns.

The Dance

The dance performed in the film is called the Luhya dance, from the western part of Kenya. It is performed mostly during the period of harvest. The dancers also incorporated some Irish dance in their choreography.

The Dancers

Susan Ngereso McDarby

Anne Waiyhira Burke

The Costumes

The costumes the dancers are wearing are called “shuka” which are tied up as a top and skirt. They added the “lesso” (wrapper ) on the waist to enhance the dance movements. The crowns/ headbands are handmade with elastic band and pearl beads, similar to the ones worn by the Massaai people in East Africa. The colours they wore are to depict the Iyemọja story and the colour of the ocean the deity represents.

The Musicians

Zeenie Summers - vocals and sẹ̀kẹ̀rẹ̀

Aindrias De Staic - fiddle

Gboyega Akerele a.k.a PapaGee - hand congas and percussion

Liam Winnett - uilleann pipes

The Extras

Allan Salf

Margaret Auma Oryang

Christina Carlebur

Kevin Doris

Film Credits

Creative and production - bigO

Directed by - Luna Director Duo (Nathan Fagan & Luke Daly)

Director of photography - Luke Jacobs

Extra camera and drone - Simon O’Neill

Location sound and composition - David Prendergast

Audio mix and sound design - Folding Waves

Assistant cameraman - John Paul Quill

Colour grade - James Bamford / The Mill, London