A long time before I even had the idea for this trip the name of Liz Weir kept crossing my path.
I don’t have any reliable data on this, but I dare say that Liz Weir is internationally among the best interconnected storytellers. One reason for that, surely, is that she is unbelievably hospitable!
When I actually started to plan this adventure
... Liz Weir was the very first to invite me to visit her at Ballyeamon Barn. And this fist invitation – especially at that time – meant a great deal to me and helped me proceeding with this undertaking.
After that I soon stopped counting how often other storyteller referred me to her. It seems...
... her hospitality is as famous as she is herself.
Only when I’ve really hit the road did I realise how lucky I was to get to meet Liz in the beautiful County Antrim. Wherever I went Liz Weir has just been there or was expected there shortly. “Yes, she’ll come here directly from Australia.“, or, „Yes, but she’ll fly on the United Stated right afterwards.”, were only a few of the sentences I kept hearing.
When Liz Weir is actually at home at her lovely Ballyeamon Barn
– which incidentally is also a hostel and absolutely worth the travel – then she takes care of fellow storytellers from all over the world and of course also the regular hostel guests. I shared Liz's hospitallity with the Italian storytller Valentina Zocca and the Scottish storyteller Cara Silversmith. This included driving us around, showing us her favourite spots and organising storytelling evenings with music, of course, on the spot.
The list of Liz’s activities could go on forever. She gave life to so many groups and festivals – in addition to her regular work as a storyteller – that it’s hard to keep track for an outsider.
Speaking of keeping track
The list of foreign languages that Liz Weir speaks is long but traceable. But how many stories might there be in Liz’s head? Ready to be told at any time? I don’t know. I don’t know if even Liz knows. But have a social evening in her kitchen with maybe a few other hostel guests and you start to get an idea that there are very, very many. Probably uncountable. And from all over the world!
