Synopses & Reviews
Few countries can boast such a plentitude of traditional folktales as Ireland. In 1935, the creation of The Irish Folklore Commission set in motion the first organized efforts of collecting and studying a multitude of folktales, both written as well as those of the Irish oral tradition. The Commission has collected well over a million pages of manuscripts.
Folktales of Ireland offers chief archivist Sean O'Sullivan's representation of this awe-inspiring collection. These tales represent the first English language collection of Gaelic folktales.
"Without doubt the finest group of Irish tales that has yet been published in English."—The Guardian
"O'Sullivan writes out of an intimacy with his subject and an instinctive grasp of the language of the originals. He tells us that his archives contain more than a million and a half pages of manuscript. If Mr. O'Sullivan translates them, I'll read them."—Seamus Heaney, New Statesman
"The stories have an authentic folktale flavor and will satisfy both the student of folklore and the general reader."—Booklist
Synopsis
Few countries can boast such a plentitude of traditional folktales as Ireland. In 1935, the creation of The Irish Folklore Commission set in motion the first organized efforts of collecting and studying a multitude of folktales, both written as well as those of the Irish oral tradition. The Commission has collected well over a million pages of manuscripts. Folktales of Ireland offers chief archivist Sean O'Sullivan's representation of this awe-inspiring collection. These tales represent the first English language collection of Gaelic folktales."Without doubt the finest group of Irish tales that has yet been published in English."—The Guardian"O'Sullivan writes out of an intimacy with his subject and an instinctive grasp of the language of the originals. He tells us that his archives contain more than a million and a half pages of manuscript. If Mr. O'Sullivan translates them, I'll read them."—Seamus Heaney, New Statesman"The stories have an authentic folktale flavor and will satisfy both the student of folklore and the general reader."—Booklist
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. [293]-297) and index.
Table of Contents
I. Animals and Birds1. The Fox and the Heron
2. The Fox and the Eagle
3. The Fox in Inishkea
4. The Magpie and the Fox
5. Two Women or Twelve Men
6. The Grateful Weasel
7. The Man Who Swallowed the Mouse
8. The Cat and the Dog
9. The Sow and Her Banbb
10. The Old Crow Teaches the Young Crow
11. The Cold May Night
II. Kings and Warriors
12. The King Who Could Not Sleep
13. Céatach
14. Fionn in Search of His Youth
15. The Coming of Oscar
16. Cúchulainn and the Smith's Wife
17. Young Conall of Howth
18. Art, King of Leinster
19. The Speckled Bull
III. Saints and Sinners
20. The Boy Who Became Pope
21. The Man Who Struck His Father
22. The Friar on Errigal
23. How God's Wheel Turns
24. The Man Who Was Rescued from Hell
25. The Hour of Death
IV. People of the Otherworld
26. The Fairy Frog
27. The Fairy Wife
28. Fairy Money
29. The Children of the Dead Woman
30. The Three Laughs of the Leipreachán
31. The Man Who Had No Story
32. Doctor Lee and Little Aran
33. The Child from the Sea
34. The Big Cat and the Big Rat
35. The March Cock and the Coffin
36. Seán na Bánóige
37. The Queen of the Planets
38. Seán Palmer's Voyage to America with the Fairies
V. Magicians and Witches
39. The Sailor and the Rat
40. The Girl and the Sailor
41. The Four-leafed Shamrock and the Cock
42. The Black Art
VI. Historical Characters
43. Daniel O'Connell and the Trickster
44. O'Connell Wears His Hat in Parliament
45. The Smell of Money for the Smell of Food
46. The Heather Beer
47. The Man Who Lost His Shadow
48. Cromwell and the Friar
49. Damer's Gold
VII. The Wise, the Foolish, and the Strong
50. Secret Tokens Prove Ownership
51. The Cow That Ate the Piper
52. Seán na Scuab
53. The Great Liar
54. The Uglier Foot
55. The Blacksmith and the Horseman
Notes to the Tables
Glossary
Bibliography
Index of Motifs
Index of Tale Types
General Index