1. Social Change and the Storytelling Tradition. Modernization and Economic Change. Factors Effecting the Decline of Traditional Storytelling. Technological Innovations. Dance Halls and Public Houses. The Introduction of the Automobile. The Modernization of Homes. Education, Literacy, and the Decline of the Language. The "Death" of the Tradition 2. Folklore Collectors and the Irish Storytelling Tradition. The Pivotal Role of the Collectors. Collecting in the Past. Folklore Collecting Today. Self-Consciousness and the Storytelling Tradition. County Clare: A Symbiosis of Music and Storytelling.The Influence of Eamon Kelly. Limitations in the Documentation of the Tradition 3. The Current Status of the Two Language Traditions. Developments in the Study of Traditional Narrative. Aesthetic Considerations in Traditional Storytelling. The Preeminence of the Irish Language Tradition. The English Language Tradition: Narrating and Narrators of Scealaiocht. The English Language Tradition: Narrating and Narrators of Seanchas. Final Considerations and Portents of Change App. I: QuestionnaireApp. II: Ar Cuairt and Related TermsApp. III: Glossary of Gaelic TermsApp. IV: Selected Tales The Quarryman's SonThe Mac a hAon FionnAbove and Beyond the End of the EarthThe Gentlemen's Agreement.