S2 #22 / David Keohan, Irish Stones of Strength

Today we welcome Indiana Stones himself, the one and only David Keohan. Hailing from Ireland, David is a Stone lifter, a kettlebell world champion, an artist and a musician. He’s been on a mission to recover Ireland's lost stone lifting culture and has done so through our literature and folklore.

We spoke all about his stone lifting journey from his lifting of the fianna stone in Scotland which inspired his own search in Ireland. Culminating in the rediscovery of the stone described by the famous Galway writer Liam O'Flaherty in his short story ‘The Stone’. He has rediscovered 30 testing stones, a remarkable act of reclamation and celebration of this lost tradition. Through this act David has created a remarkable and unique magical act of healing of the multi-generational trauma of Ireland's colonisation. These great testing stones, now rediscovered form a chain back into our ancient past, before colonisation, before christianity and in lifting these stones once more the chain is renewed, in a feat of strength and deep ancestral healing.

His work is a brilliant and inspiring intersection of folklore, magic, mythology, and strength.

In the Plus show we get into ancestral work, and animism. We talk about Peig Sayers and Ghosts leading us to tell their stories. The death stone of Cú Chulainn, the Irish Hercules and to close out the show I read Liam O'Flaherty’s short story ‘The Stone’.

Show notes:
David’s Instagram https://www.instagram.com/_indiana_stones_/?hl=en-gb
David’s YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkCFb0Iol6aKsqiuEDuBqzA
Duchas.ie https://www.duchas.ie/en
Liam O'Flaherty https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liam_O%27Flaherty
David’s article on the Stone of Inishmore THE QUEST FOR THE STONE OF INISHMORE - Ireland https://www.oldmanofthestones.com/blog/the-quest-for-the-stone-of-inishmore
The Stone by Liam O’Flaherty https://archive.org/.../shortstoriesof.../page/n447/mode/1up
The Aran Islands Aran_Islands
The Aran Islands drone footage https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cL39-4-BCE
Caher Island https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caher_Island
Pre famine Irish tallest in Europe
https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/health-family/second-opinion-physical-activity-guidelines-need-to-be-more-realistic-1.1521373
Peig Sayers https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peig_Sayers
Cú Chulainn https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C%C3%BA_Chulainn
Feature on my grandfathers book https://roaringwaterjournal.com/2023/03/19/masons-islands-of-ireland/
My grandfather's book
https://www.abebooks.co.uk/book-search/title/the-islands-of-ireland/author/mason-thomas/
And here's the photos of the Kusthi wrestlers I mentioned. https://www.darraghmason.com/index/G0000GfXkTgiFkjg

Keep in touch?
https://linktr.ee/darraghmason
Music by Obliqka https://soundcloud.com/obliqka