This is a second volume of Irish tales, so rich are the story-mining seams taken from just the few Irish collections I have in my possession at the moment. Across the two volumes we have around one hundred and forty tales taken from pretty well every tradition, including classic tales of Irish legend, fairy and folk beliefs, and tales in the vernacular, oral tradition.
For the most part these tales are as collected by my Victorian and Edwardian counterparts, but there are one or two tales where I have amended the original to suit modern language tastes and norms.
There are also a few stories that clearly share a common root, and appear similar at first reading, but there always seem to be sufficient and interesting differences to keep the reader’s attention.
I hope you enjoy this ever-growing collection from a grand Irish heritage. These Irish tales have taken a lot of work to collect and sift and prepare, but as ever, I’ve loved putting this collection together.
Jadual kandungan
BECUMA OF THE WHITE SKIN
BILLY DUFFY AND THE DEVIL
CONAL AND DONAL AND TAIG
CONNLA AND THE FAIRY MAIDEN
CUCHULAIN, THE CHAMPION OF IRELAND
DANIEL O’ROURKE
DREAMING TIM JARVIS
FERGUS O’MARA AND THE AIR-DEMONS
FLORY CANTILLON’S FUNERAL
GRACE CONNOR
HANLON’S MILL
JACK AND HIS COMRADES
JAMIE FREEL AND THE YOUNG LADY
LAY OF OISIN ON THE LAND OF YOUTH
MONGAN’S FRENZY
MURTOUGH AND THE WITCH WOMAN
OISIN’S MOTHER
SEANCHAN THE BARD AND THE KING OF THE CATS
TEIGUE OF THE LEE
THE ADVENTURES OF GILLA NA CHRECK
THE BEE, THE HARP, THE MOUSE, AND THE BUM-CLOCK
THE BOYHOOD OF CUCHULAIN
THE BRACKET BULL
THE CARL OF THE DRAB COAT
THE CONFESSIONS OF TOM BOURKE
THE CROOKENED BACK
THE ENCHANTED LAKE
THE FAIRY NURSE
THE FESTIVITIES AT THE HOUSE OF CONAN OF CEANN SLEIBHE
THE GIANT’S STAIRS
THE GRATEFUL BEASTS
THE HIGH DEEDS OF FINN
THE HISTORY OF KING CORMAC
THE KNIGHTING OF CUCHULAIN
THE LADY OF GOLLERUS
THE LEGEND OF KNOCKGRAFTON
THE LEGEND OF LOUGH GUR
THE LITTLE BRAWL AT ALLEN
THE MAN WHO NEVER KNEW FEAR
THE OLD HAG’S LONG LEATHER BAG
THE PRIEST’S SUPPER
THE QUARE GANDER
THE RIVAL KEMPERS
THE SEA-MAIDEN
THE SHEE AN GANNON AND THE GRUAGACH GAIRE
THE SOUL CAGES
THE STORY OF CONN-EDA
THE STORY OF ETAIN AND MIDIR
THE STORY OF TUAN MAC CAIRILL
THE TWELVE WILD GEESE
THE WHITE TROUT
THE YOUNG PIPER
HISTORICAL NOTES
ABOUT THE EDITOR
Mengenai Pengarang
I was born in 1962 into a predominantly sporting household – Dad being a good footballer, playing senior amateur and lower league professional football in England, as well as running a series of private businesses in partnership with mum, herself an accomplished and medal winning dancer.
I obtained a degree in History from Leeds University before wandering rather haphazardly into the emerging world of business computing in the late nineteen-eighties.
A little like my sporting father, I followed a succession of amateur writing paths alongside my career in technology, including working as a freelance journalist and book reviewer, my one claim to fame being a by-line in a national newspaper in the UK, The Sunday People.
I also spent 10 years treading the boards, appearing all over the south of the UK in pantos and plays, in village halls and occasionally on the stage of a professional theatre or two.
Following the sporting theme, and a while after I hung up my own boots, I worked on live TV broadcasts for the BBC, ITV, TVNZ, Euro Sport and others as a rugby ‘Stato’, covering Heineken Cups, Six Nations, IRB World Sevens and IRB World Cups in the late ’90’s and early ’00’s.
I try to combine my love of storytelling with a passion for information technology, and am currently Vice President – Technology with a major UK Fin Tech company.
You can find out more about Clive’s work and contact me at: https://www.boyonabench.com