What is "seanchai"

A seanchaí ( or - plural: seanchaithe ) is a traditional Irish storyteller/historian. A commonly encountered English spelling of the Irish word is shanachie.

The word seanchaí, which was spelled seanchaidhe (plural seanchaidhthe) before the Irish-language spelling reform of 1948, means a bearer of "old lore" (seanchas). In the ancient Celtic culture, the history and laws of the people were not written down but memorized in long lyric poems which were recited by bards ( filí), in a tradition echoed by the seanchaithe.