By Scott D. Johnston

Irish storyteller David McDonnell makes his third Grays Harbor appearance next Tuesday through Sunday, Oct. 18-23, at the 13th Annual Celtic Music Feis, or Festival, in Ocean Shores. An award-winning author, he will do seven storytelling sessions and two workshops at Galway Bay Irish Pub and the Ocean Shores Convention Center. He appears, along with more than 30 musical groups and artists and two dance groups, at the event that has become the largest Irish music festival on the West Coast.

McDonnell performs “An Hour of Irish Storytelling,” during which he shares some humorous, adventurous and occasionally touching stories, mixed in with a bit of Irish history. He is uniquely qualified to discuss that subject, having extensively researched and authored a 900-page non-fiction book, “ClanDonnell: A Storied History of Ireland.” The book has been praised as “a life’s work” and described as a “personal journey through Irish history” written in an inviting and entertaining style that is much more oral history than dry academic reporting.

The affable Irish-American was born in Detroit and has lived almost his entire life in Michigan. While enjoying a 30-year career as an attorney, he also pursued a passion for history, and began collecting stories of his family, the McDonnells.

“I’ve always felt a connection to history… what it is about our past that makes us who and what we are now,” McDonnell explained. “How did people live and what did they believe? How did these facts shape how we live and think today? On a more personal and specific level, why was I born an American and how did I end up with the last name ‘McDonnell’? These questions led me on a crusade to learn more about Ireland and the history of the Irish people.”

Over time and much research, he began to see the ever-growing collection of stories as a book; initially as a group of interesting tales, but eventually as the vehicle for a unique approach to telling the history of Ireland. “In assembling the stories, I discovered that the McDonnells have been in Ireland for a long, long time. I also realized that few histories of Ireland are written in a form that is enjoyable for the non-historian. … And so the stories of individual McDonnells became the stories of the McDonnell clans, and the stories of the McDonnell clans became the story of Ireland.”

McDonnell spent three years immersed in researching “ClanDonnell.” He was greatly aided by Trinity College in Dublin, which has a large collection of digitized Irish historical documents and records available online. He completed his research with a six-week trip to the Emerald Isle.

In 2013, his book was published. The next year it received three national book awards, along with many glowing reviews.

From there, the leap to becoming a touring, performing storyteller was a simple extension of the format of the book itself: just tell the stories.

“I did the traditional book tour stuff,” McDonnell explained. Then he thought Irish music festivals might be a setting where he would find some people interested enough in Irish heritage to buy a 900-page book. He started out trading storytelling sessions in a festival’s “cultural tent” for booth space from which he could sell his book. People liked the stories of ClanDonnell. “Pretty soon they started paying me; not big money but enough to cover travel and expenses. It’s been a fun way to see the country.” Since the book’s publication three years ago, he has averaged 2-3 storytelling events per month, some with several sessions, such as the Ocean Shores festival.

McDonnell first contacted festival organizer Bill “Liam” Gibbons about appearing here in 2011. “He’d never tried anything like this and didn’t know what to expect,” but agreed to try it. “The audience really got into it, and Liam invited me back last year and again this year,” he said.

“It’s an old, old art form, but not something people are used to today,” he explained. “We’re in an era where you’ve got to get to the point in 30 seconds or less. But it turns out there’s quite a demand for it.” So much so that last November, McDonnell brought his Irish storytelling experiences full circle as an American telling Irish stories at the Sneem Storytelling Festival In County Kerry, Ireland.

McDonnell finds the links between storytelling and Celtic music easy and natural.

“First, there’s a historical connection: ancient Celts were very hard working, worked together as clans, forming tight knit communities that shared burdens and benefits,” he said. Often these efforts were projects that ended with celebratory festivals, which featured musicians, dancers and storytellers. “Today, in North America, people come to these Irish festivals because it’s a fun time to enjoy part of your heritage through music and dance. But people also are searching for that link and wanting to learn a little more about Irish heritage and history. Festivals that have a cultural aspect do very well.”

McDonnell will share the first of seven sessions of “An Hour of Irish Storytelling” beginning at 8:30 p.m. Tuesday at Galway Bay.