Irish Tales and Sagas

by Ulick O'Connor, Pauline Bewick (Illustrator)

O'Connor evokes the glory days of Ireland past, when the Celtic King Conor ruled Ulster and the 12 Knights of the Red Branch, the most famous of whom was Cuchulain, sat at his court. These tales belong to the magical world of fairy tales: Cuchulain's mother is transformed into a beautiful bird by the god Lu, and flies away to Fairyland. Cuchulain was the ideal hero, handsome and wise and brave. The first of these seven tales relates the life and death of Cuchulain (betrayed to his enemies by means of a magic spell). Other stories tell of the Tuatha de Danaan, who lived in Ireland before the Gaels; of the beautiful Deirdre and the tragedy wrought by her beauty; of druids and St. Patrick. Bewick's enchanting illustrations echo the magical, far-away time of these lovely tales.

Genres: Mythology

96 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1981

About the author

Ulick O'Connor was an Irish writer, historian and critic.

Reviews

[Graham · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Very charming and pretty Illustrations that accompany very readable retellings of Irish myths from across the country.

[Jason Flynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is gorgeous - not merely for the author's prose but for the lavish, striking illustrations by Pauline Bewick - what a pity there isn't a picture on here, to demonstrate her unique and distinctive style.

[Sinead · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully illustrated, but very religious retellings of the stories.

[Oz Paszkiewicz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great little book! There's only a hand full of stories, but the illustrations are beautiful, and I think it's a good place to start if you don't know anything about Irish folklore (which I don't). It's very short, so plan on doing more reading in the future, but very fun!

[Jason Donoghue · Rating 1 out of 5]

I found the book boring and far to religious. now it is a book of old stories and they are going to be out there. but i disliked all the stories and found them to far fetched.

[Jandro · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am very familiar with Irish myths and legends, but this book was a fine refresher. The author did a fair job of rectifying the Isle's pagan and Christian past.

[Mollie Connelly-MacNeill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful tales told well. Strange and wonderful illustrations.

[Rinoa Heartilly · Rating 4 out of 5]

So the most tragic and beautiful tale of love had been written by the Irish hundreds of years before Romeo and Juliet came out. Big surprise.

Oh, every other story in here is also lovely. My favourites are (of course) Deirdre and the Sons of Usna, The Countess Cathleen O'Shea and Cuchulain and the Knights of the Red Branch.

[David Edmonds · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ulick O'Connor's Irish Tales and Sagas is a re-telling of Irish legends and lore. In my eyes, the stories seem to be somewhat simplified, but they are still interesting all the same. Anyone interested in Irish legend and lore would probably enjoy this book.