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The Boyhood of Fionn is one of the stories from Irish Fairy Tales by James Stephens ... Read more

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Wonderful tale from James Stephens "Irish Fairy Tales." ... Read more

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Irish College is a unique rite of passage for Irish adolescents. It is where they first experience the great crack of ceilis, homesickness, the friendships they may keep for life, first love and the value of money. This collection, which spans the years 1936 to 1995, includes several letters in Irish by former Taoiseach Garret FitzGerland from Ring in County Waterford, and dozens more from people of all walks of Irish life. ... Read more

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This volume is from 1900.

From the book's Introduction:

Who the authors of these tales were is unknown.
It is generally accepted that what we now possess
is the growth of family or tribal histories, which,
from being transmitted down, from generation to
generation, give us fair accounts of actual events.
The tales that are here given are only a few out
of very many hundreds embedded in the vast
quantity of Old Gaelic manuscripts hidden away
in the libraries of nearly all the countries of
Europe, as well as those that are treasured in the
Royal Irish Academy and Trinity College, Dublin.
An idea of the extent of these manuscripts may be
gained by the statement of one, who perhaps had
the fullest knowledge of them — the late Professor
O'Curry, — in which he says that the portion of them
(so far as they have been examined) relating to His-
torical Tales would extend to upwards of 4000 pages
of large size.This great mass is nearly all untrans-
lated, but all the tales that are given in this volume
have already appeared in English, either in The
Publications of the Society for the Preservation
of the Irish Language.

These translations or compositions, however, are,
besides being lengthy, suited rather for mature
minds; the present telling of the tales is intended
to reach the level of children, in the hope that a
more lively interest may be taken by these readers
in the historic events and places of Ireland.With
this view the tales, drawn from different sources,
have been placed in something of chronological order,
and an English dress has been given to the Irish
names.The deterrent effect of the appearance of
Irish words on purely English readers is well
known, even without the strangeness of the Celtic
element, which is referred to by Dr. Douglas Hyde
in his Sketch of Early Gaelic Literature, where he
says: "The moment the English reader embarks
on the sea of native Irish literature he finds himself
in absolutely unknown waters.Its allusions are to
things and times and events and cycles and dynas-
ties, strange and unknown to him, and he thus finds
himself suddenly launched into a new world, whose
existence was by him perfectly unsuspected." And,
in estimating the value of these tales, Dr. Hyde may
be again quoted: "We find in our most ancient
tales a genuine picture of pagan life in Europe
for which we look in vain elsewhere, and, through
this early Irish peep-hole, we get a vivid picture
of the life and manners of the (Celtic) race in one
of its strongholds, from which we may conjecture,
and even assume, a good deal with regard to the
others".

The earlier stories, such as those of the " Sons of
Turenn" and " Children of Lir", belong to the class
of "Imaginative Tales", and must be regarded
mainly as mythological.The tales of this class
are numerous, and were all composed before the
year 1000.They contain, in the originals, references
to places mentioned in history, and the descriptions
are so minute that the situations of towns, forts,
and burial-places, which might otherwise be un-
certain, can be easily identified.Even in the
wildest of them there will almost always be found
something made use of that is drawn from the
mode of life that was passing around the author,
or from accounts with which he was familiar by
tradition from his forefathers, and hence they are
of advantage in getting a slight acquaintance with
early Irish life.

A sufficient warranty may therefore be claimed
for bringing a selection from these Historic and
Imaginative Tales before young readers. ... Read more

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CONTENTS

THE STORY OF TUAN MAC CAIRILL

THE BOYHOOD OF FIONN

THE BIRTH OF BRAN

OISI'N'S MOTHER

THE WOOING OF BECFOLA

THE LITTLE BRAWL AT ALLEN

THE CARL OF THE DRAB COAT

THE ENCHANTED CAVE OF CESH CORRAN

BECUMA OF THE WHITE SKIN

MONGAN'S FRENZY ... Read more

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Irish Fairy Tales by James Stephens
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from the PREFACE:

The Gaelic Literature of Ireland is vast in extent and rich in quality. The inedited manuscript materials, if published, would occupy several hundred large volumes. Of this mass only a small portion has as yet been explored by scholars. Nevertheless three saga-cycles stand out from the rest, distinguished for their compass, age and literary worth, those, namely, of the gods, of the demigod Cuchulain, and of Finn son of Cumhall. The Cuchulain cycle, also called the Ulster cycle--from the home of its hero in the North of Ireland--forms the core of this great mass of epic material. It is also known as the cycle of Conchobar, the king round whom the Ulster warriors mustered, and, finally, it has been called the Red Branch Cycle from the name of the banqueting hall at Emain Macha in Ulster.

Customer Reviews (1)

Does not include any original Irish ("Gaelic")text
I'm sure this is an excellent translation, but I much prefer those versions of old literature that have translations alongside the original language, such as so-called "parallel text" or "dual-language" editions. ... Read more

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The Irish Texts Society was formed in 1898 for the purpose of rescuing and preserving the great mass of Irish literature of the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries, and making it accessible in print for those wanting to study modern and middle Irish texts."That those who speak and read Irish, as well as those that are interested in the tongue and history of Ireland, should have trustworthy and handy texts of the standard literature of that tongue placed within their reach, is surely a laudable and moderate object." - F. York Powell, Chairman, Irish Texts Society, 1899.Volume VI, The Irish, Aeneid, is a late medieval translation of Vergil's Aeneid, by Solomon O'Droma, an esteemed copyist of the 14th century. This book contains the edited manuscript in Gaelic on the verso and in English on the recto, prepared by the erudite Scots minister George Calder, with a column of Vergilian references down the right margin of every page. ... Read more