The O'Brien Book of Irish Fairy Tales and Legends

by Una Leavy, Susan Field (Illustrator)

The magical adventures of leprechauns, giants, and fairies passed down through centuries of Irish folklore spring to life again in this collection of classic fairy tales and legends. These stories introduce a new generation of readers to age-old Celtic favorites including "The Magic Shoes," "The Pot of Gold," and the great love story "Tír Na N'Óg." Included with each story are lively illustrations, background notes, motifs from the Celtic tradition, and a pronunciation guide.

Author Biography: Una Leavy is the author of Harry's Stormy Night and Goodbye Pappa. Susan Field is a television set designer and the illustrator of The Sun, the Moon and the Silver Baboon and The Smallest Whale.

Genres: Ireland, Fantasy, Irish Literature, Fairy Tales, Childrens, Mythology, Fiction

96 pages, Paperback

First published October 9, 1996

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Haila Bay · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book felt like the fairy tales I grew up with. As I read, even though the names and culture of the book were different, the experience I got from the stories were fairly similar. One thing that stood out to me was that the kings in the book did not live in castles, like the ones I read about growing up, but rather in forts. I enjoyed reading the different tales and how, many of them, had twists to the story at the end. I did not like how the different fairy tales were not linked together. They felt like very separate tales, that could all be their own smaller book. Overall, it was interesting to explore the different fairy tales of Irish culture.

[Jenny Clark · Rating 3 out of 5]

This retells ten Irish legends. I was expecting more leprechauns and fairies to be honest, but these were fun and the characters were mostly pretty resourceful. There were several very sad ones as well, as is to be expected from legends. A nice introduction to some of the more popular legends from Ireland.

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[Kätlin Kaldmaa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ooh, what a joy it is to read these stories! Give me an Irish story every day. And an Icelandic :)

[Jade · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eens zien of mavo 3 dit ook leuk gaat vinden (vast niet)

[Letitia · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love children's books, but I was somewhat disappointed by this one. The myths themselves are wonderful, but Leavy can't really take credit for that. The Irish are the original fairytale tellers.Now my thirst for Irish legends is whetted and I want more. You'll find many shades of familiar stories such as Lancelot and Guinevere, a gender-bent Beauty and the Beast, Beowulf, etc.

The writing is dry and unskilled, though. Epic stories dwindle to weird little anecdotes. And I have to comment on the illustration, even though art is subjective and so I can't really say they are not good. But I did not like them. With all the richness of these tales, with pre-historic epics and all the fey at your fingertips, you went with a mush-faced parody of human form and two-dimensional sketching. No hint of Gaelic art or Druidic symbology. The illustrations don't seem to match the reading level, and the writing itself just does nothing for these stories. Would love to see someone do this book properly and spend the time on illustrating it that it deserves.

[Dominick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Aimed at younger readers, this is a mostly delightful retelling of several famous Irish tales .My preference is for the more tragic ones--Deirdre, the children of Lir, Naimh and Oisin, for instance, all done well here. But there are several lighter ones, including an account of the (apparent) first encounter between humans and Leprechauns, which was completely unfamiliar to me. Susan Field's illustrations are lovely, too, so that's a bonus.

[James Cooper · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this collection of ten Irish myth / fairy tale stories and would certainly recommend giving it a read. The book is aimed at children but can undoubtedly be enjoyed by anyone, with Leavy doing a great job at making them accessible and concise. It’s a shame the stories felt they were a little rushed or at least are short because I wished each one was longer and could easily read a novella or novel length version. The only story I knew was The Children of Lir after reading Deirdre Sullivan’s retelling Savage Her Reply and really liked that. The story of Tir na n-Óg was definitely my favourite of the collection and omfg how I would eat up a full novel on this, I really enjoyed the plot and characters but it was just too short sadly. I will for sure be doing more research into Irish myths and legends and might give this a reread in the future too. The audio narration by Aoife McMahon was perfect and I’d really recommend consuming these stories via the audiobook.

Below is my individual ratings:

- How Cúchulainn got his name - 3.5
- The magic shoes - 3.5
- Deirdre and the sons of Uisneach - 3.5
- The King's Secret - 3
- The Children of Lir - 3.5
- The Giant's Causeway - 3
- The Bodach of the Grey Coat - 3
- The Pot of Gold - 3
- Tir na n-Óg - 4.5 (I NEED a full novel on this and I NEED it now!)
- The White Gander - 3.25

Averages out to 3.375 but taking the whole collection into account think it’s better the the sum of its parts and that’s why I give this 3.75 stars rounded up.

[Jennifer Cicchetto · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good introduction, or even a teaser, into Celtic Mythology.
I pre-read this to make sure it was safe to gift to a young Nephew and Niece.
Each story is under 10 pages, which should make for an easy introduction for them. There is a Celtic/Gaelic pronunciation table in the back to aid with the names of the ancient characters and places, that will be helpful to them. I enjoyed the epilogue explaining the approximate age of each fable, and other names by which fables may be known. The illustrations are lovely as well.

[Briynne · Rating 4 out of 5]

My kids and I loved this. My only complaint was that it was too short. I think they would have happily listened to 10 more stories. This one was a winner. Very accessible retellings, with an extremely useful pronunciation guide at the end. It was a nice mix of stories, with a smattering of stories about the Tuatha Dé Danann, a few taken from the Fianna Cycle, and some more modern stories. The book also had lovely illustrations.

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nicely illustrated collection of classic Irish and Proto-Celtic folklore, comes complete with a handy Gaelic pronunciation guide and a short compendium of references.

"I have sad news. Your four children are drowned in the lake. But don't fret - I will take care of you. Now we are alone at last..." - THE CHILDREN OF LIR (A 2 thousand year old tale of a wicked step-mother.)

[Svetla Dobreva · Rating 4 out of 5]

Прекрасни приказки от ирландския фолклор. Произношението на келтските думи никак не е лесно, но пък имам подръка чист ирландец, който ми обяснява кое как се произнася.
Интересното е, че ирландските приказки, за разлика от нашите, рядко завършват с някаква поука, не това е основната им цел.
Някои истории са си откровено тъжни и нямат хепи ендинг.
Но героите и историите са чудни!

[Rhea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed reading this book with my daughter. There’s a strong theme of men who should have listened to women! We enjoyed each story, and the beautiful illustrations. The pronunciation guide really helped with the Irish words, too.

[Grace Cox · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a wonderful book and especially for the month of the Irish. Beautifully illustrated. Each story filled with Celtic Lore and Classic Irish Legends. Hard to pick a fav amongst this collection. The stand out ones were, Deirdre, and The White Gander

[Katerina · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic child-friendly retelling of some of the best and most famous Irish legends and fairy tales out there! A wonderful book that I can't wait to share with my kids.

[Ryan M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolutely wonderful read-aloud with my 7-year-Old and my 5-year-Old.

[DrCalvin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute retelling of stories, myths and legends from different times and sources. I like how the images clearly put things in different times without being too in-your-face about it.

[Arkrayder · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book was enjoyable. Nice to read again the stories I grew up with.

[Jbondandrews · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lovely collection of Fairy Tales.

[Yasmin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The illustrations are wonderful and the stories are fun and enjoyable to read.

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars rounded up!!

[Rosemary Orme · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautifully illustrated for children. Enchanting.

[Erin Field · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thinking Day Ireland 2024

[Tori · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful illustrations! There’s always time for a good fairy tale, and these are that!

[Chris Evans · Rating 4 out of 5]

Irish Fairy Tales and Legends by author Una Leavy is an excellent collection of folk-tale or if you prefer fairy tale.I could not find that this book had won any awards. I would suggest that it is appropriate for all ages starting with early childhood. It even tells you how to pronounce the culturally specific words included in the book. Some of these tales I have heard in the past and others I have not. I found it interesting comparing the similarity of tales from different cultures and countries. Some stories while being of a more serious tone still entertain as much as their funny counterparts do. I love studying history and stories like these are sometimes all we can know about the very early histories of cultures whose only was of passing down history was through oral recitation. I would use this book in my classroom for most elementary ages. I most enjoy books with historical and cultural significance and books that teach lessons instead of only entertaining.

[Jodi McIsaac · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a true gem. It's so refreshing to read Irish folkore that hasn't been Disney-fied or over-simplified. The stories are well-written and authentic - they refer to "forts" instead of "castles" and use Irish names instead of the anglicized versions. They're just the right length for a bedtime story, but long enough to give the reader a sense of satisfaction that they've heard the story in full. My 7-year-old in particular loves this book, and the illustrations are frequent enough to even capture the attention of my 5-year-old. (And the illustrations are gorgeous!) And thank goodness for the pronunciation guide in the back! I'd highly recommend this book as an introduction to some of the most popular stories in Irish folklore and mythology for readers of all ages.

[Lenny Husen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book. Gorgeous illustrations and unique tales to Ireland (although with recognizable elements), very well told. One to read to children. HIghly recommend.

By the Way, I bought another Irish Fairy Tale Legend book which isn't listed in Good Reads so I couldn't rate it) which wasn't nearly as good, writing only very fair (to the point that I'd rather tell the story in my own words than read theirs and illustrations only very average.

THIS book is a gem. Una Leavy did a fabulous (pun intended) job.

[Jordan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book because I didn't know most of the stories in it. All of them were new to me except one, The Children of Lir. It's the same story as The Six Swans story in Household Stories by the Brothers Grimm. I think this book would be good in a heritage unit for kids, they could all read stories from the places their families came from. Then as a class we could talk about similar stories across the world. I also liked that this book had a Celtic to English dictionary in the back with pronunciation.

[Joy Gerbode · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book on my first reading! Several of the stories are versions of stories I've read in other books, but there are also some I've not read anywhere before. The illustrations are lovely, and the book is altogether a collection of fun stories from Ireland. I especially enjoyed The Giant's Causeway, knowing that's a real place that exists, and loving the lore that tells how it came to be. Great addition to my Irish collection.

[Amanda B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great collection of stories adapted for a young audience. Several good adaptations for telling. One of my favorite versions of "The Children of Lir." Recommended audience: 6 and up. Contains a pronunciation guide in back. Reread in 2013.

[Vayda Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection was pretty good. It is interesting to see how the roles of women and the personalities that are portrayed for them differ from culture to culture. I like the Irish much more than the French.