Ireland's Animals: Myths, Legends & Folklore

by Niall Mac Coitir, Gordon D'Arcy (Illustrator)

Ancient Ireland was such a healthy place no poisonous plant could grow and cattle had to be restrained from over-eating in case they burst! In early Irish legend it wasn't St. Patrick who expelled the snakes from Ireland, but Moses! A frog foretold the victory of the Normans in Ireland; the last wolf in Ireland was killed in Carlow in 1786; a cure for burns was to be licked by a person who had licked a lizard. This compilation of folklore, legends, and history relating to animals in Ireland includes description of their relations with people and being hunted for food, fur, sport, or as vermin, and their position today. ""A nice blend of natural history mythology and Irish folklore, Ireland's Animals is hard to put down. This is in great part due to MacCoitir's fluid, down-to-earth writing style.""Irish America Magazine

Genres: Nonfiction, Ireland, Folklore, Animals, Nature

262 pages, Hardcover

First published December 28, 2010

Reviews

[Tina]

DNF at 100 pages
Fairly dry, with way too many poems and songs for my liking. I don't think this is meant to be read so much cover to cover, but to have on the shelf and used as reference for a particular animal when the curiosity strikes. Most of the Irish cultural references went over my head.

[Laura McCarter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining and fascinating for an American recently moved to Ireland. I loved the mix of folklore and natural history. The moralistic ending was stupid and really is the reason it lost a star from me; it is fascinating enough stuff without trying to apply it as a sermon.

[Holly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely lovely book, the cover and even the quality of the paper, not to mention the wonderful animal watercolors and charming folklore/history. I'm in love with the old Irish relationships to animals...never speak to a horse as if he is not a Christian, if you meet a weasel on the road take care to greet him politely, always inform bees of their masters death...oh, and on Christmas Eve be sure to give the cows in the barn an extra treat since at midnight they acquire the gift of speech in honor of the special role they played being present at Christ's birth. These are few examples from this book, also included are the ways these animals were included in the myth of other cultures as well as a historical perspective when necessary. Many notes and nice bibliography too.

[Grace Tierney · Rating 4 out of 5]

I rarely read folklore books, despite being interested in such things. I find them a little heavy going as there's so much folklore and authors try to cram it all in. This book doesn't struggle with that quite so much and I loved the illustrations of the various animals of Ireland. Lovely to see everything from the humble field mouse and bee up to the majestic stag included.

I'll be keeping this one as a reference book for my own writing about etymologies and histories of words. I was primarily reading this one for weather lore research.

The final chapter threw me a bit though - a series of suggestions on how you could channel the strengths of the various animals in your own internal life. Very New Age and somewhat unexpected. But hey, it's bound to help some readers.

[Zoe · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved reading this book. The information is good, but the writing style is accessible and non-academic (which is a nice break for someone like me). An easy but educational read that made me want to read the other books in this series.

[Minna Mäkinen · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fantastic read! Perfect mix of myths and folklore, facts and history. Wonderfully illustrated and well researched book, providing great insight into old traditions and beliefs. That inauguration ceremony of the Kings of Ulster will certainly stay with me for a while...