The Books

Scroll down to find links to more information on each of these books
[GLOSSARY]

-----------------------------------

Irish Fairy Tales by Jeremiah Curtin - The 30 stories in this book were gathered during Curtin's travels through Ireland in the late 1870s. While staying at a farmhouse in the countryside, he eagerly sought out the elderly of the community and asked them to tell him the local fairy and ghost stories. He documented these stories as they were told and later assembled them into this book. In his introduction, Curtin states: "These stories will show how vivid the belief of the people yet, and will prove that fairies are not for all men personages of the past, but are as real for some persons as any other fact in life...."

 

Little People by Ron Quinn - This book is a treasury of information regarding little known encounters with what appears to be some type of unknown life form or race in a region located in upstate New York. These mysterious folk appear to have been with us for decades or even centuries. Are they a hidden native species, or perhaps descendants of the old country's wee folk?  Nobody knows for sure at this point. This book is an interesting review of a selection of these cases.

 

Traditional Irish Fairy Tales by James Stephens - Time-honored Irish fairy stories. James Stephens' fun and lively tales are memorable classics. 
   

 Darby O'Gill & the Crocks of Gold and Other Irish Tales - Old as Ireland itself, the whimsical folktales in this wonderful book bring you the jumble and tumble of men and magical creatures who walk the lanes of the Emerald Isle by day and wander its fields by night. Henpecked husbands scheme to get rich; ghosts roam the land seeking rest. There are fortune-tellers and fairies, leprechauns and laggards, and priests — wise old Irish priests — straining their wits to contain the strange tumult of it all and to bring to their charmed land a measure of order and peace. Haunted abbeys, mournful ghosts, enchanted gold, deadly brigands, and a host of fairies and leprechauns. Add to them Darby O’Gill and his wife Bridget, and you wind up with this hilarious collection of strange and exciting adventures that’s sure to delight children and grown-ups alike!

 

Fairy Legends and Traditions of South Ireland by Thomas Croker - ... 

Myths & Folk Lore of Ireland by Jeremiah Curtin - The myth tales in the volume were collected in the West of Ireland in the year 1887. All these tales were taken down from the mouths of men who, with one or two exceptions, spoke only Gaelic, or but little English, and that imperfectly. These men belong to a group of persons, all of whom are well advanced in years, and some very old; with them will pass away the majority of the story-tellers of Ireland, unless new interests in the ancient language and lore of the country is roused. 

Hero Tales of Ireland by Jeremiah Curtin - Compiled by a 19th-century ethnographer from the Smithsonian Institution, this volume brims with 24 authentic tales of the legendary figure Fin MacCool. Each exciting story centers around superhuman heroes battling dragons and giants, outwitting sorcerers, and even overcoming death itself. An extraordinary collection of classic tales.

Popular Tales of the West Highlands by Campbell of Islay - Scottish folklore. Campbell, who was fluent in Gaelic, spent years in the field eliciting these stories from people in all walks of life. This was a salvage project, as the stories and the storytellers were rapidly dying out under the impact of the dominant British culture and the inroads of the industrial revolution. It is because of Campbell's pioneering effort that we have a comprehensive record of this rich vein of folklore.

 

 

A Celtic Christmas by Mairtin O'Griofa - ... 

Coming Soon - ... 

Return to Home Page