Irish Folk and Fairy Tales

By Michael Scott,

Book cover of Irish Folk and Fairy Tales

Book description

Here, collected in one volume, are tales and legends that range from the misty dawn of Gaelic history and the triumph of St Patrick to the Ireland of the present day - tales as beautiful, mystical, and enchanting as the ancient land itself.

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Why read it?

2 authors picked Irish Folk and Fairy Tales as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

This is a huge compendium containing both well-known and rare stories, that have been updated into modern English for easy reading.

While it’s very readable it also maintains a high level of continuity with the source material from which the stories come from, with only minor changes and all the key elements intact. This makes an excellent introduction to Irish mythology and a handy reference book for myths on particular areas of folklore that are widely covered.

From Luke's list on Celtic Mythology and Folkore.

When I was researching my own book, a local librarian found a copy of this title for me. The book was out of print but contained some wonderful retellings of fairy tales from Ireland. What I loved about the book was that some of the tales were new to me and I haven’t come across many of them since. Even at that early stage of his writing life, Scott wrote expertly. It’s no wonder he went on to have a very successful career as an author. His Tuatha Dé Danann stories inspired my own tale, "Nuada of the Silver Arm"…

From Kieran's list on Irish fairytales, myths, and legends.

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