Field Guide to Irish Fairies

Our very own Leprechaun sent us this book and my sons loved learning about ALL the fey of Ireland. Twas especially handy for writing a toast for a St. Pat's Gala! (for which I won the prize, thanks to the wee folk) Great book, lots of illustrations and tons of Irish lore to fascinate young and olde.

This book introduces several types of Irish fairies: what they look like, their character, where they are located and how to avoid or deal with them should you encounter them. I have enjoyed reading it and have learned a lot, and so have my two sons (ages 6 and 12) and their friends. We used this book as a reference for a craft at the Eugene Irish Festival where people learned about fairies and those who participated loved it. Highly recommended to anyone at the beginning level of learning about Irish Fairies. Great artwork, too.

This is a beautiful little book. It has the great authority on celtic mythology Bob Curran sharing his knowledge of Fairy lore from Ireland. Not in a whimsical as is usual manner with faires but in a knowledgeable yet informative manner. There are also the excellent illustrations by Andrew Whitson. On a personal note upon reading this book mention was made of a great Uncle of mine Frank Craig. My mother filled us with stories about Frank as we grew up. Besides being one of the last native Irish speakers on Rathlin Island he had a great head filled with folklore, some of it he told to scare my mother and her siblings witless when they were small children. He would also tell them that there were no fairies now. He had heard them leave long ago and travel west to beyond the sunset. Sadly he died in 1973 but it was so good to read something about his stories in this book.So on a personal and on a general level I highly recommend this book.

This little book gets right to the meat of Irish folklore and the various sorts of fey. Includes the mythological variance between tales from differing counties and tries to reconcile the countless spelling/name variations and the differing significance attached to various elementals. The accounts and tales are both fanciful and straightforward and carry none of that phony, fadish, fluffy bunny fru fru that poisons serious examination and/or gentle celebration of our Good Neighbours.