Se谩n Fitzgerald is a Dublin tour guide like no other. He's the local you always hope to meet - the one with stories and smiles and who knows all the secrets about a place you won't find on the internet. He details Dublin鈥檚 hidden histories through ballads and storytelling.

Se谩n Fitzgerald calls himself a 鈥渟inging tour guide,鈥� for his part in sharing the somber songs that singers 200 years his senior made famous 鈥� songs such as 鈥淲ild Geese On the Ocean,鈥� 鈥淲hiskey I Adore鈥� and 鈥淏iddy Mulligan the Pride of the Coombe.鈥� He's in the city on a Saturday morning to take visitors through the secrets of lesser-known Dublin, through music many will never have heard before.

He chooses his songs 鈥� ones even a typical Irish person might not know 鈥� to communicate the very core of the Gaelic spirit, using information you won鈥檛 find in books. Today he has his mandolin 鈥� he likes bringing it on tours because it鈥檚 鈥渟illy and cheerful鈥� 鈥� which he tunes as we walk. He started playing it during lockdown and now brings it on tours in the colder weather. 鈥淰iolins don鈥檛 like the cold,鈥� he explains with a wry smile.

We begin on Grattan Bridge, which separates Capel Street on Dublin鈥檚 Northside 鈥� home to some of the city鈥檚 best Korean restaurants and gay bars 鈥� from the quintessentially tourist haunt of Temple Bar. This part of the city is familiar territory for Se谩n: in addition to leading visitors through the streets that characters like Leopold Bloom and Molly Malone called home, his band regularly plays in the Northside bar . He begins his first tune 鈥� 鈥淭he Waxies鈥� Dargle鈥� 鈥� something he prefaces as linking the two cornerstones of Irish identity: 鈥渁lcoholism and starvation.鈥�

He cracks a smile.

Tours rarely, if ever, go the same way twice. 鈥淚f I do the same songs I鈥檒l forget what bits I鈥檝e said or left out,鈥� he says. 鈥淵ou get into a flow when you鈥檙e performing, and that usually happens to me when I鈥檓 about two or three stops deep. 罢丑补迟鈥檚 when I come alive.鈥�

A family of balladeers

As a boy, Se谩n鈥檚 mother sang him to sleep. 鈥淭he best performer I鈥檝e ever seen is still her,鈥� he says. His parents hail from Gaeltacht (or entirely Irish language鈥搒peaking) areas West Kerry and Connemara, and met in London (鈥渢hey bonded over this woman on the train with them whose sandwiches stank鈥�), eventually returning to Ireland. Their passion was always writing 鈥� stories and poems 鈥� something they passed onto their son, who worked day jobs in construction and laboring 鈥渁s well as other things I wasn鈥檛 good at,鈥� and pursuing music at night.

The idea for the ballad tour came when he began to research forgotten ballads that told the tales of everyday life in Dublin, something he decided told the story of the city in a way no one else was.

Today Se谩n's powerful and brooding voice can be heard from some distance as he weaves in and out of winding streets, stopping off to share hidden secrets of inner Dublin, and lingering with groups far longer than the allotted time.

Of bells and barmen

Situated along Dublin鈥檚 Southside quays, Smock Alley Theatre is the next stop. A facility older than Shakespeare's Globe theatre in London, it was founded in 1662, four years before the Great London Fire. Stories of Oscar Wilde and Joseph Grimaldi and The Importance of Being Earnest flow easily. Here, he takes a small gold bell from the front pocket of his mandolin case. 鈥淒o ye want to hear the story of the bell?鈥� he asks with a smile.

How could we not? According to Se谩n, Dublin was a center of bell production for most of Europe before hydraulics revolutionized pub culture in the 1800s. Prior to tubing and piping, alcohol was served via a pulley system, and brought to the barman鈥檚 attention with bells 鈥� the majority of which were made on Dublin's Church Street. Clocks, he says, were also big business. 鈥淪o there you go, bells and clocks 鈥� will we head on?鈥�

A five-minute walk south across cobblestones, Marsh鈥檚 Library and St Patrick鈥檚 Cathedral call us next. This is Se谩n鈥檚 favorite part of the city, he tells us. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the place that feels most like a gateway to the past,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t feels very unaltered鈥 love the idea that eccentric characters like Jonathan Swift used to be there in their wigs and dresses. You can almost feel like you鈥檙e with them. You can almost see the whole thing played out.鈥� It is here we enact the one physical element of the tour: 鈥淭he D鈥橭llicker Song,鈥� an old tune from Luke Cheevers鈥� collection that tells of an infamous pig murderer from the area. We break into twos and swing elbow in elbow as Se谩n bellows the lyrics, and amused passersby look on.

Many of his songs are so old they are not familiar to a local ear, so why does he choose these in lieu of more recognized Irish ballads?

鈥淚t鈥檚 more about broadening the tradition,鈥� he explains. 鈥淚 will sing a song that people know if they ask 鈥� but it鈥檚 more about shedding light and showing how vast the tradition is... The whole goal is to try and encourage people to create their own songs, and sing and dance.

鈥淚 want to try and 鈥� not demystify the process because it鈥檚 beautiful 鈥� but make it more accessible and show it can be done by everyone... If you can speak, you can sing. I think the X Factor鈥搃fication of singing and dancing has robbed people of their confidence and ownership of it. And the tour is all about claiming that back.鈥�

Learning from the locals

Dublin Castle is the next stop. Constructed in the early 13th century on the site of a Viking settlement, it served as the seat of British rule in Ireland from 1204 until 1922. Se谩n points out original features as well as newer additions, much of which he鈥檚 learned about by talking with people in pubs and punters on the street. 鈥淚 strike up conversations with strangers all the time,鈥� he says. 鈥淚鈥檝e learned so much.鈥�

Such is the essence of Fitzgerald鈥檚 city knowledge. Animated by the wisdom of everyday Dubliners, he is offering a bold new take on folk ballads, extending their lifetime well past their mid-century golden age, and their influence well beyond the borders of the greater Dublin area.

鈥淎s far as I鈥檓 aware I鈥檓 the only one doing this sort of thing,鈥� he says as the tour draws to a close. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not that it鈥檚 hugely lucrative or anything, it just seems to me that these songs and people would just be forgotten about if we didn鈥檛 keep talking about them.

鈥淎nd I just really don鈥檛 want to let that happen.鈥�

Ballad Tours Dublin can be booked via , or by email (balladtoursdublin@gmail.com).