IRISH FOLK TALES Paperback – Deckle Edge, 1 March 1997

I cannot understand why folks would unfairly criticize this volume. Having delved deeply into the likes of Yeats and Graves, I can attest that the sampling of tales and legends in Glassie is _precisely_ representative of the Irish folk literature. If a reader finds the preponderance of "bar tales" (funny, I couldn't find many, but I don't frequent bars) offensive, perhaps he should choose a less alcohol-infatuated culture than the Irish: I doubt the merest mention of alcohol would grace Inea Bushnaq's collection of Arabic folktales, which is also published by Pantheon. If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen! Meanwhile, if you _truly_ want to be bored and offended, try reading Rolleston's archaic rendering of the myths of the Tuatha de Danann: I can't remember how many times I fell asleep despite being quite the devotee of the mythologies of world's cultures.

I loved the tales.

This is a fascinating collection of folk tales told by a variety of Irish people from the late 19th to mid 20th centuries. The stories are recorded in the individuals' own words, providing insight into Irish history as far back as the early Irish kings, culture, folklore, superstitions, and even speech patterns. Some of the stories are very amusing, as well.

A wonderful collection of fairy tales from Ireland. Some are short. Some are very long and some are hard to understand while others are super simple.

I have yet to encounter one of the Pantheon folklore series that was not a good read. This is no exception. My regret is that they have not published more and that some of their folklore books seem out of print. I enjoyed this book and I am happy to recommend it. Since my major interest is Celtic folklore, this volume was both welcome and entertaining.