The Annals Talks
& Workshops
Reviving Ireland’s lost chronicles for the modern age. Join filmmaker and cultural curator Colum Stapleton for engaging talks and interactive workshops exploring how Ireland has recorded its story - from the monks and scribes of the past to the chroniclers of the present.
The Annals of Ireland are a collection of historical records documenting events in Ireland from ancient times through the medieval period. They record both the grand and the ordinary - kings and chieftains alongside everyday happenings - sometimes blending historical fact with legend.
Our revival of the Annals seeks to bridge the gap of lost knowledge from 1591 to the present, documenting the hidden history of Ireland and her diaspora around the world. At times tongue in cheek and often poetic, our modern Irish Annals are a living, collaborative project.
Within this work, Colum Stapleton offers dynamic, interactive talks and workshops that blend local history with hands-on storytelling, inviting audiences to help shape the annals of the future. His presentations explore how history and story have been recorded in Ireland - from the ancient chroniclers to the ongoing living chronicle of today.
Recent highlights include An Evening Inside the Unfolding Irish Annals for Culture Night, which offered audiences an engaging and immersive insight into the Irish Annals and their contemporary revival.
Talks, Workshops, and Creative Add-Ons
Colum’s talks can stand alone or be developed into more immersive experiences through optional additions that highlight the craft and creativity behind The Irish Annals Project.
Add-on options:
- A session with our illustrator, who guides audiences through her artistic process and how the visual language of the Annals is created.
- A calligraphy workshop with our head scribe, offering participants the chance to try traditional writing techniques used in the creation of the Book of Moytura.
- An ink-making workshop, introducing the natural materials and methods behind the pigments used in our manuscripts.
Each talk or workshop can be tailored for different settings - from cultural events and festivals to schools, community organisations, and academic groups.
Prospective hosts can book Colum for a talk alone, or include any combination of the above additions for a more in-depth, participatory experience.
To enquire about pricing or discuss what format might best suit your event, please get in touch directly.
Colum Stapleton
Creative Director
For over four decades, Colum has hunted down unique facts and unheard stories - fragments of history, myth, and memory - and brought them vividly to life. With a career spanning documentary filmmaking, sustainable design, writing, and heritage curation, Colum blends creativity, leadership, and cultural preservation. As the founder of SMIRSH Films, The Gyreum Ecolodge, and Brú Moytura, he has directed award-winning documentaries, interviewed world leaders, including president Hugo Chávez and His Holiness The Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso and pioneered eco design, long before it was fashionable. His work has taken him across the globe - researching, speaking, curating exhibitions (in renowned locations such as CERN, Switzerland), and creating live re-enactments. His latest, and most personal undertaking, is The Irish Annals project, through it, he is crafting a living chronicle of modern Ireland in the cadence of the old scribes, inviting audiences to reconnect with the power of shared memory, immortalised in ink.