I had such a good time creating a “Christmas Countdown” this past December, I figured I’d give St. Paddy’s Day the same treatment!
At Christmas, I focused on holiday mythology, particularly Iceland’s Yule Lads’ legend—the highly entertaining Icelandic trolls who create mischief and mayhem in the 13 nights before Christmas.
Ireland, land of fairies and leprechauns, has an entire world of mythology! There’s all those ancient Irish gods and goddesses; as for other supernatural beings, I never knew just how many there were until I read Irish Folk and Fairy Tales by the famed Irish poet W.B. Yeats.
Actually, I more like devoured this book, it was so fascinating, and you really got the feeling of being present in ye olde sod—fairies and pookas and banshees abounding everywhere.
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| Fairy-lovers will like these! |
Irish Cures, Mystic Charms and Superstitions is my other top pick for discovering Irish myths. It has a famous connection too—author Lady Wilde was Oscar Wilde’s mother!
Now, if you’ve visited this blog now and then, you’ll know I’m a book person. So in honor of St. Patrick’s Day, I pulled my collection of Irish books together and was kinda surprised, with how many I had—like, enough for a little library.
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| Susan’s Little Irish Library |
I have read all of these several times, and dipped into many of them over and over, doing research for my Irish Village of Ballydara series. I recommend all of them!
Well, almost all—I haven’t made it through Teach Yourself Irish. I’ve taken a stab at it several times, but it’s missing the accompanying set of cassette tapes, so kind of a lost cause. I’m forever hopeful that I might dip into it someday, so I keep it around.
The little blue book, Focloir Poca is an Irish-English dictionary, and while I think of myself as a book person, I can’t see myself reading a dictionary all the way through! Still, like Teach Yourself Irish, you never know when you’re going to need that perfect word in the Irish Gaelic language!
For a deep-dive, go for that thick number on the left next to the red book, QPB Book of Irish Literature. It contains some true supernatural gems, like an Irish vampire novella that predates Dracula (which was also written by an Irish person!). I found so many unforgettable stories in here I wholehearted recommend this too.
Time being of the essence, with March 17 this weekend, hopefully you can find some of these works in ebook. And for freebies, if you find one of these titles in ebook format, you can probably download it at your local library!
You’ll find a list of wonderful Irish books (that I don’t own) in “Irish Fun” on my website…
In other Irish book news, I created a new cover for my latest Irish novel, The Fairy Cottage of Ballydara!
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| Book 7 of the Village of Ballydara series |
This new cover, I think, captures the otherworldly quality of the setting of the book: the quaint little village of Ballydara, in the misty hills of County Galway. And the gardener in me loves the flowers!
This weekend, you’ll find The Fairy Cottage of Ballydara on sale, as part of a box set! Kobo eBooks selected both my Village of Ballydara box sets for their March 25% off Boxset Sale!
Here’s the link: Just scroll down to “Find a New Favorite”…
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| Ballydara Novels #1-4 |
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| Ballydara Novels #5-7 plus two short stories |
Coupon code MARBOX25. I hope you’ll take a look!
I also hope you’ll get a chance to dip your toe into a bit of Irish reading, especially the supernatural and magical stuff, in the next couple of days…
Next up: Irish Food!
