Though the Emerald Isle is no stranger to tales of the fantastic (everything from the Hound Cuchlain to Darby O'Gill and his leprachaun friends), most of the fantasy works dealing with Ireland have limited themselves to either ancient history/Celtic legends and lore, sentimental tales of wee folk, or ghostly tales of hauntings in old deserted castles. Needless to say, there is more to the history and culture of Ireland than the sort of entertainment fare popularized each year around March 17th.

Fantastic Irish Tales will present the entire cavalcade of Eire from its earliest beginnings right up to the current climate that has begotten such popular phenomenons as the rock band U2 and the novels of Roddy Doyle as the backdrop for a collection of all new stories of the fantastic.

Given the huge success of such books as How the Irish Saved Civilization, and Irish themed novels by such authors as Leon Uris, Roddy Doyle, and Thomas Flanagan, there is no doubt to the widespread appeal of this book.

Ideal to any fan of Irish books and perfectly timed for the Saint Patrick's Day season, Fantastic Irish Tales will be a collection to be treasured and enjoyed.

"A sheer delight of grand storytelling."

A native of Chicago, Reverend Andrew M. Greeley, is a priest, distinguished sociologist and bestselling author. He is professor of social sciences at the University of Chicago and the University of Arizona, as well as Research Associate at the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago. His current sociological research focuses on current issues facing the Catholic Church--including celibacy of priests, ordination of women, religious imagination, and sexual behavior of Catholics.

Father Greeley received the S.T.L. in 1954 from St. Mary of Lake Seminary. His graduate work was done at the University of Chicago, where he received the M.A. Degree in 1961 and the Ph.D. in 1962.

Father Greeley has written scores of books and hundreds of popular and scholarly articles on a variety of issues in sociology, education and religion. His column on political, church and social issues is carried by the carried by the Chicago Sun Times and may other newspapers. He stimulates discussion of neglected issues and often anticipates sociological trends. He is the author of more than thirty bestselling novels and an autobiography, Furthermore!: Confessions of a Parish Priest.