Irish Legends

by Iain Zaczek

This book includes over 100 illustrations of ancient artefacts from the Celtic world and contains special features on Celtic myth and culture, such as the Sidhe, the fairy dwellings of the ancient gods, rituals and festivals, and the role of magic.

Genres: History, Mythology

128 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1998

Reviews

[SA · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite good, and probably a better introduction to the story of Irish myth and legend that many others. Frankly, there should have been captions for each of the images and illustrations inset into the pages -- they aren't even numbered to correlate with the single-page non-indented illustration reference in the back of the book. I find that hugely frustrating. Also, while Zaczek did a fine job synthesizing the several versions of a given myth into one coherent story, I would have appreciated references or footnotes to where a certain idea was drawn from, not simply a list of original sources in the back of the book.

That said, a fine volume, accessible to at least 6th graders and a treat for adults.

[Catherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

*3.5 stars*

[Ross Lampert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Covers most of the major legends, gods, and heroes, and provides historical context as well.

[Sylvia · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely collection of Irish legends. Richly illustrated and combined with facts about the Celts.
Maybe there are more scholarly works about the myths and legends of the Celts in Ireland, but this is a nice reading.
I'm fascinated by the Celtic way of illustrating, like in the book of Kells. Ireland never was part of the Roman Empire and kept its own identity long after the Romans in Britain had left.
With the coming of Christianity the old legends - past on by oral story telling - were written down by monks. That's how they became known to us.

[Joy Gerbode · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved every book I read about Irish legends. This one was moderate reading skill ... not exactly for children, but easy enough reading, not extreme details, but a little more information than some of the children's books I read. It was very good reading, and good research for my paper.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think “Irish Legends” does a fine job at explaining Celtic mythology –by the way, did I mention it has pictures!