Irish Folk Tales

by Henry Glassie (Editor)

Robust and funny, sorrowful and heroic, this collection of 125 lively tales tells the story of Ireland. Spanning the centuries from the first wars of the ancient Irish kings through the Celtic Renaissance of Yeats to our own time, they are set in cities, villages, fields and forestsfrom the wild Gaelic western coast to the modern streets of Dublin and Belfast.

Part of the Pantheon Fairy Tale and Folklore Library

Genres: Folklore, Ireland, Mythology, Fiction, Short Stories, Fantasy, Fairy Tales

368 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1985

Reviews

[Helen Power · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an engaging and well-put-together collection of Irish folktales! I'm fond of stories involving fairies, changelings, etc., and unfortunately this collection doesn't have many of these types of stories. A lot of the folktales are also new(er) - published in the 1960s and 1970s. Being half Irish, it was interesting to explore my roots, but I'm not sure if this was my favourite collection of folktales.

[Kathleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

“In the old times people had no envy, and they would be writing down the stories and the songs for one another. But they are too venomous now to do that. And as to the people in the towns, they don’t care for such things now, they are too corrupted with drink.”

This was not what I had hoped.

The introduction was interesting to me, with its history of Irish storytelling and the individuals who worked hard to bring us these stories, such as Lady Augusta Gregory who wrote retellings from Irish mythology and Douglas Hyde, the first President of Ireland. This volume even includes some tales brought to us by the research of William Butler Yeats.

Too bad they just weren’t that good! I only liked a small handful of the 125 stories included. They would start so promising, like

“When I was a little fellow, there was an old man, he lived here in this townland and was—oh, he was a powerful man for telling ghost stories.”

But then they would fizzle, or end in a punch line that just didn’t seem funny.

There were fairies, and morals, and a bit of history and whimsy, so it wasn’t all bad. But I have to say, I wish I had my father back, so he could read these and then re-tell them to me with his own special storytelling flair.

Until I meet one of the “wee folk” who can grant me this wish, I’ll be on the lookout for another collection.

[Jason · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good collection of interesting tales made less by the inclusion of stories gathered in person by the editor, Henry Glassie, whose sources told meandering, dull or incomplete stories. Or, perhaps Glassie's insistence on his own awkward and stuttering, purist transcription methods is to blame. If the reader skips every story attributed to Hugh Nolan in this collection, she will have wasted less time and lost less enjoyment.

[Nigel · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a basic guide to Irish folklore, you could do a lot worse than this. The introduction gives a nice overview of the history of folklore collection and its development from the early days of good old T Crofton Croker to the current folklore collection in UCD. Then a marvelous selection of stories big and small, from all over the country, from the many collectors and of many varieties. If you're reading this kind of thing, you have to make allowances for the repetitions that arise from oral telling which translates poorly to the written form, but enough of the stories come perfectly formed, whether through the work of the collector or the skill of the teller, to arouse nothing but respect and admiration. There's a long version of the the old King Of The Cats story that is perfect despite the familiarity. There is a flabbergasting epic about a wicked blacksmith who makes a deal with the devil that must have kept entire communities snowed in for months crowded eagerly round the storyteller to hear what happened next. A useful and enjoyable handbook.

[Maya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Please check out my full review at my website: Irish Folktales

[Donna · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was interesting to read this compilation of folk tales, which were nicely divided into sections. I picked up the book at my library to get a better idea of the Fenian tales and most enjoyed that section. But it also was interesting to read the range of other tales, including faith stories, wit (often outwitting a priest or a rich person), ghost stories, fairy stories, and some from old history. It was interesting to see a Cinderella-like story in there as well. The stories were collected over a long period of time and many retain the wording of the original story tellers, giving the reader a sense of some of the colloquialisms. Often several stories in a row were about the same general topic, making it a little bit dull, but also a place of easy comparison. The stories were all short, most less than a page or two pages, so it was easy to read a few, set it down and then pick it up again later, sometimes much later. It took me several months to finish, but I felt I got a good taste of this type of story telling and of Irish culture.

[Mikey · Rating 3 out of 5]

FINISHED: January 27, 2024

Irish Folk Tales by Henry Glassie is an anthology drawn from forty books and the Irish journals: Béaloideas and Ulster Folklife. The stories date back to 1825 and include diverse authors from novelists, poets, playwrights, travel accounts, to professional folklorists.

This collection of folklore is intentionally drawn from Northern Ireland’s dominant English-speaker population to reflect the “contours of Irish conscious” that maintain an “enduring significance.” The collectors self-professed hope is that Irish Folk Tales serve as an appendage to the “Ancient Lore” of Sean O’Sullivan’s Folktales of Ireland (not included in Glassie’s collection). O’Sullivan’s stories comparatively were recorded between 1930 and 1948 from six of the Irish-speaking counties of Western Ireland.

It was my naive thought these stories would be good bed time reading with the kids. The “contours of Irish Consciousness” however is maintained by an enduring fear of changelings: the deformed human substitute left by child-abducting fairies. These Northern stories likewise replace Leprechauns with the lesser known Clurichaun: (supposedly) separate beings whose only distinguishing difference from Leprechauns are that they’re mind-numbingly drunk.

This was my fourth book from
the Pantheon Fairy Tale and Folklore Library.
01/27/2024 - Irish Folktales
07/05/2021 - Gods and Heroes of Ancient Greece
12/13/2018 - Legends and Tales of the American West
06/24/2018 - Latin American Folktales

[Alger Smythe-Hopkins · Rating 2 out of 5]

A book to read episodically. There is no reason to read the introduction, which is boring and contrived, and there is no reason to read any one story that you find dull. Instead, this is a volume you can flip open while having the car's oil changed, and spend a half hour or so traipsing about in that fictional Ireland of which Walt Disney made movies.

[Abby · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fun collection of short tales told in the oral tradition, recorded by a folklorist (I think maybe that is my calling). Arranged in sections such as faith, wit, legend. A good intro into Irish storytelling and myth.

[Ginny · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think every Irish folktale ever told is included in this book! Collected by the likes of Yeats and Lady Gregory, this collection lovingly records folktales exactly in the words of their narrators. I loved it and recommend it as a great starting point for anyone interested in Irish storytelling.

[Jay Wright · Rating 4 out of 5]

This a compilation of folk tales collected over the last 2oo years. It is a good selection for those of us who like folk tales. The past comes alive and this is fun for those of us from an Irish heritage.

[Neil Farren · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have a copy of this in my house, and I have read a handful of stories. I consider myself as ethnically Irish (My father being an immigrant from there and my Mother having some Irish DNA). And I enjoyed reading these stories from my homeland.

[Bridgett · Rating 5 out of 5]

A variety of different types of tales from Ireland. Some were similar to stories I heard as a child from the Irish side of my family. I liked the stories about fairies best.

[Sheena · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book to pick up and read whenever. The book is broken up into sections and is filled with great stories. Its a great book to gain insight on the Irish culture and their way of thinking.

[Courtney]

Used for research - an interesting collection of oral storytelling from Ireland, gathered over a century or more.

[David Allan · Rating 4 out of 5]

What can I say, Glassie is the GOAT. Well researched, interesting tales and a wonderful introduction.

[Dan Wilson · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's not that this volume has no worth, or that I hated it, but rather that I walked away with only a couple of tales that I found remotely engaging. The book is mostly academic; a recording of stories, attempting to recreate the experience of hearing them in native dialect, and sometimes placing two functionally identical tales side by side so that one might see how a tradition is expanded upon in one region while stripped to its bones in another. This would be a useful book for a folklorist or a historian, but for someone who was hoping to hear some interesting folk tales ... it was a disappointment.

[Michelle Huelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the stories, but I wanted more in the way of an explanation for most of them. Some were so strange that I wanted to know the significance. Why was this story included?
Overall, it is a great collection, though.

[Jill · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very detailed and well written to evoke the dialects and storytelling styles. Could have been edited for less repetition but I guess that shows how differently the stories were told at different times and places.

[Megan]

DNS 7/16/2021

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book had me looking over my shoulder at everything, waiting to have some spiteful sprite cast a spell on me that would mean my family and I would never prosper. Don't you just LOVE the ways early thinking makes explanations for all the mishaps and extraoridnaries or life!!!

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Delightful, engaging and very readable selection of Irish Folktales. I would love to have this book on hand to use in telling tales to the grandchildren. Scholarly background to folktale collection provided in the Introduction.

[V.A. Herring-Trice · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love this little book of Irish folk stories. It provides stories told in various ways over the years and puts them together in one quick condensed collection. I really enjoy reading the stories over and over.

[Patamus Prime · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short witty tales, good for a chuckle...thought provoking (favle-like) stories

[Sally]

I'm not really finished with the book but I'm finished with it for now. I'll rate it when I've read the rest of the folk tales.

[Maria Rode · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loved the Fenian tales towards the end.