Irish Lore and Legends

by S.M.W. Dunnit

from dust cover "The hallmark of the stories...is an exquisitely crafted mix of lyrical fantasy and magical realism, which is what distinguishes Irish folktales from all other tales." (17 stories)

Genres: Mythology

151 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1993

Reviews

[Darcey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this up for free somewhere, and was expecting it to be garbage, but honestly, it was surprisingly good. Lots of very archetypal-seeming folktales and fairy tales, and it gave me a bit more understanding of the role that the fairies and giants play in Irish lore. Caveat that I've never read any Irish mythology before, so I'm sure these stories are told much better somewhere else, but I felt that this was a good introduction to the genre. The world feels a little more enchanted now that I've read it.

[Traci]

DNF'd because I didnt love any of the stories from the first half of the book

[Lara · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this quite a bit, but I felt like these stories could have really used some context. There isn't anything to indicate why these particular tales were chosen, or what the history behind them might be, or why they're important, or...anything at all, really. I just feel like this collection really needed that. I think I'll look for something that goes a little more into the hows and whys and wheres of things.

[gremlinkitten · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read this off and on for the last year and finally finished it today. The tales are wonderful and I enjoyed most of them thoroughly. I love reading myths, legends, and the like and haven't read too many from Ireland, so it was really entertaining to me. I highly recommend this small selection of tales!

[Crystal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Silly, short & sweet. Curious, how long have these fairytales been around?

[Joanne G. · Rating 3 out of 5]

The stories are taken from different collections of Irish stories, so there is a great disparity in styles and quality. The well-told stories, like most anthologies, make up for the mediocre ones.