Category=FNM
Category=JBGB
druid
eq_bestseller
eq_fiction
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_myths-legends
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_society-politics
folklore
forthcoming
hero
Ireland
legends
mythology
nature
storytelling
Product details
- ISBN 9780712369510
- Publication Date: 15 Oct 2026
- Publisher: British Library Publishing
- Publication City/Country: GB
- Product Form: Hardback
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Irish mythology comprises a rich and diverse body of stories accumulated over thousands of years in a variety of oral and literary forms. The stories reach back into pre-history, telling of the island’s ‘original’ inhabitants and their relations with a series of invading races throughout what is assumed to be the neolithic, bronze and iron age periods. Preserved in memory by professional castes of druids and bards, the stories survived in oral form until they began to be written down towards the end of the first millennium by monkish clerics keen to establish a narrative of Irish history culminating in Christian hegemony.
This new collection rewrites stories from the canon as simply and as accessibly as possible to win a new audience for this wonderful tradition. Such stories will include Deirdre and the Sons of Ulster from the Ulster Cycle and Finn mac Cool and the Salmon of Knowledge from the Fenian Cycle, as well as The Children of Lir and The Coming of Patrick. These stories will be accompanied by commentaries which introduce readers to some of the historical and literary issues attending the survival of the stories, all beautifully illustrated with images from the printed collections of the British Library.
Gerry Smith is originally from Dublin but is now resident of Hoylake in the northwest of England, acting as a Professor of Irish Cultural History at Liverpool John Moores University. He has published widely on various aspects of Irish music and literature. This is his third publication with the British Library following Serpent, Siren, Maelstrom & Myth: Sea Stories and Folktales from Around the World in 2023 and Sailor Song: Shanties and Ballads of the High Seas in 2021. Gerry is also a playwright, actor, composer, and musician, and has performed at numerous events across Europe.
