Seanchaí should not be confused with Saenchai.
A seanchaí (in Irish pronounced as /ˈʃan̪ˠəxiː/ or in Irish pronounced as /ʃan̪ˠəˈxiː/ – plural: ga|seanchaithe in Irish pronounced as /ˈʃan̪ˠəxəhɪ/) is a traditional Gaelic storyteller or historian, serving as an oral repository. In Scottish Gaelic the word is gd|'''seanchaidh'''|label=none|italics=no (in Gaelic; Scottish Gaelic pronounced as /ˈʃɛn̪ˠɛxɪ/; plural: Gaelic; Scottish Gaelic: seanchaidhean). The word is often anglicised as shanachie .
The word ga|seanchaí|label=none, which was spelled ga|seanchaidhe|label=none (plural ga|seanchaidhthe|label=none) before the Irish spelling reform of 1948, means a bearer of "old lore" (ga|seanchas|label=none).[1] In the Gaelic culture, long lyric poems which were recited by bards (ga|[[fili|filí]]; filidhe|label=none in the original pre-1948 spelling) in a tradition echoed by the ga|seanchaithe|label=none.
ga|Seanchaithe|label=none were servants to the heads of the lineages and kept track of important information for them: laws, genealogies, annals, literature, etc. After the destruction of Gaelic civilization in the 1600s as a result of the English colonialism, these more formal roles ceased to exist and the term ga|seanchaí|label=none came to be associated instead with traditional storytellers from the lower classes.[2]
The ga|seanchaithe|label=none made use of a range of storytelling conventions, styles of speech and gestures that were peculiar to the Irish folk tradition and characterized them as practitioners of their art. Although tales from literary sources found their way into the repertoires of the ga|seanchaithe|label=none, a traditional characteristic of their art was the way in which a large corpus of tales was passed from one practitioner to another without ever being written down. ga|Seanchaithe|label=none passed information orally through storytelling from one generation to the next about Irish folklore, myth, history and legend, in medieval times.
The distinctive role and craft of the ga|seanchaí|label=none is particularly associated with the Gaeltacht (the Irish-speaking areas of Ireland), although storytellers recognizable as ga|seanchaithe|label=none were also to be found in rural areas throughout English-speaking Ireland. In their storytelling, some displayed archaic Hiberno-English idioms and vocabulary distinct from the style of ordinary conversation.
Members of the Irish Cultural Revival took a great interest in the art of the ga|seanchaí|label=none, and through them the stories that they told were written down, published, and distributed to a global audience.
At events such as mummers' festival in New Inn, County Galway, and the All-Ireland Fleadh Ceoil storytellers who preserve the stories and oratory style of the ga|seanchaithe|label=none continue to display their art and compete for awards. Eddie Lenihan is one notable modern-day ga|seanchaí|label=none, based in County Clare.[3]
Actor Eamon Kelly was well known for his portrayals of the traditional ga|seanachaí|label=none, and ran several series of one-man shows in Dublin's Abbey Theatre.[4]
The term is also found within Scottish Gaelic and Manx where it is spelt gd|seanchaidh|label=none (in Gaelic; Scottish Gaelic pronounced as /ˈʃɛn̪ˠɛxɪ/) and gv|shennaghee|label=none (in Manx pronounced as /ˈʃɛnaxiː/) respectively. All uses ultimately have their roots in the traditional poets attached to the households of ancient Gaelic nobility. In Scotland, it is commonly anglicised as gd|shen(n)achie|label=none.[5]
The Shanachies are a cricket club playing in the Inner West Harbour grade competition in Sydney.[6]