A Treasury of Irish Fairy and Folk Tales by Various

A Treasury of Irish Fairy and Folk Tales Reviews

• 
  Virginia Ronan ♥ Herondale ♥

  Thank you soo much Santa!!! <33
  I love everything that's Irish and has to do with fairies!!!
  Best gift ever!!! XD
  
  Now I'd only need a glass of Bushmills 16 Three Wood Single Malt Whiskey and I'd be perfectly content and fine. *LOL*
• 
  Ruth Dahl

  It's a seven hundred page book of Irish Fairy & Folk tales.
  
  After having read this I offer these few pieces of advice: Don't gate-crash faerie parties, don't go walking home alone at night in the dark when drunk (or ever), communicate with your spouse on supernatural happenings, don't ever share your butter with the neighbours, and if you're a priest who's gone apostate, your only hope for salvation is to have a small child stab you to death with a butter knife (really).
  
  Also, under no circumstances should you willingly go into a haunted building, Just don't do it.
  
  
  Read more here:
  https://ruthdahl.blogspot.com/2017/10...
• 
  Sarah

  FINALLY finished this big boy 😭😭😭😭 my head hurts but a truly beautiful collection
• 
  Lauren

  If someone had given me several of these stories out of context, I would have labeled them as offensive stereotypes about the Irish. Mostly because a lot of the tales revolve around blaming drunken stupors on fairies and other magical creatures.
  
  Apparently these tales are, however, actual folk tales told in Ireland. Some are even transcribed in the actual dialect, which is a bit like trying to read Chaucer in old English.
  
  Having read both the Grimm Brothers and Hans Christian Anderson, I was interested to see how this collection of Irish tales compared, given the difference in geography. It was a decidedly mixed bag. Some of the tales in this collection have their own motifs and draw from a totally different cultural language than Grimm and Anderson. But some, however, are remarkably similar versions of tales seen in either Grim, Anderson, or both.
  
  I would still label Grimm as my favorite of the three, but this one is worth a read. Recommended.
• 
  Rikke

  Ogres and giants, princesses and witches, fairies and ghosts and far-off realms of unearthly beauty.
  
  This anthology certainly has a lot to offer and dives deep into the traditional Irish folk tales and their mythic creatures.
  
  Of course, it was never intended to be read as I've read it; in one go, only broken by a few pauses for breath. But reading it in the course of a few weeks allowed me to compare and contrast the many tales; to realize that Irish witches apparently has a thing for butter churning and that fairies apparently are very territorial.
  
  In many cases, Irish fairy tales differ greatly from other fairy tale traditions, creating new patterns and enforcing their own characters and arch types. Yet there were tales I almost knew; slighty distorted versions of the Brothers Grimm's tales with their geese princes and rose-red princesses.
• 
  Jan Christophersen

  As with all collections of old fairy tales and legends, the quality sometimes fluctuates somewhat. Some stories are very good, while other are quiet awfull. And to boot, some of them are written as spoken with a thick irish accent. Not exactly an easy read those times.
  But all in all some fine entertainment.
• 
  Molly

  This treasury of Irish stories has proven to me how resolute the Irish myth is and the importance of stories that lie in the country's history. It's an enjoyable collection teaching you about the Irish culture and faiths, even if it splits up the different variety of tales into chunks that can grow a bit repetitive.
  
  There are also some stories that may have benefitted from the oral tradition, rather than being written down, which is the nature of all Fairy and Folk Tales. The writing is also a bit too standard to really stick out.
  
  It's still an enjoyable book, great for those who want to delve into old, Irish culture.
• 
  Mary Stenvall

  This one was more folk than fairy.
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  Carson Volk

  This was an extremely fascinating read. It is dense and is one of those books that a reader may enjoy more by reading bits and pieces here and there. Over the last few months, when I've been itching for something fantastical. I've cracked open this tome. I was so intrigued by the fairy hierarchies and the mythical histories of Ireland. Certainly a worthy read.
• 
  Lex

  The stories themselves were ok. My only issue was with the editing. There were a lot of grammatical typos and at one point a character was referred to as "]ack" for a few lines. Also, at least four stories were repeated.
• 
  Mark Slauter

  Some really good reading here. It's a bit difficult if you want to plow through it. This is the type of book you pick up and read a few stories at a time.
• 
  Michelle Spencer

  I took my time to savor my journey through this book over the past six months. I loved my daily dive into my favorite folklore on the planet - I can't get enough of it, especially when interwoven with snippets of the Irish language and wrapped up in the beautiful leatherbound, gilt-edged trappings Barnes & Noble put on this collection. I know stories like these are passed down orally from generation to generation, and they honestly read like that. That could make it fun and easy to imagine some wonderful Irish storyteller sitting down across from me and telling them to me firsthand.
  
  However, some oral storytellers have a tendency to wander down many a rabbit trail before spitting out the story itself. And a good portion of these did that. Which is likely how real Irish storytellers speak. But, written form made it way easier for my mind to wander and forget what the initial story was about.
  
  I still thoroughly enjoyed my time with this book and will definitely make my way through my favorites again in the future.
• 
  Paul Groos

  Some chapters were better than others and especially the final few chapters had the worst stories. But the first half of the book (and quite a bit more) was great. Very, very Irish. Lots of whiskey, mischievous elves and a host of other creatures. Some stories were written down in a phonetically spelled dialect. They were a bit hard to read, except when read aloud.
  The production values of this book are great: a luxurious green-gold binding, gilt edged pages. Too bad there are quite a few slip-ups in the text: clear errors in spelling, especially. But these are minor gripes. All in all a great book with many a story to tell by the fireside.
• 
  Melissa

  PopSugar Challenge 2020: "An anthology."
  
  This collection of stories was not a fast read - I had to stop sometimes and process what I had read, as well as "get through" the writing style. Many of the stories were written in a near-phonetic spelling from the storyteller's perspective.
  
  These stories are worth a read, at least once, and I would recommend many of them to parents for their children. There were a few stories that were repeated (in different sections) but I was surprised to find how many I recognized from the fairy tale books I had read as a child, such as "The Twelve Geese."
• 
  Alexis

  I feel like I've been reading this for ages, but for the most part, it's been nice. Some of the stories get a bit repetitive after a while, particularly the ones with faeries. It's fun to read about different figures like witches, banshees, and leprechauns and see how they've been interpreted over time. I probably enjoyed the section on the devil the most, but there were good stories throughout. I'm relieved to be done with it.
• 
  Avalon Roselin

  A fine collection of stories and poems in a beautifully bound copy. My one complaint, which is major enough to knock the rating to 3.5 stars, is that many of the stories are written in a way that isn't very accessible to younger readers. I would love any recommendations anyone could offer me on Irish Folk Tale collections that are written in a way children can also enjoy!
• 
  Ryan Beuttel

  It’s an essential piece for anyone looking to immerse themselves in Irish culture, or for anyone who adores stories of fairies and elves. It’s a literal treasure trove of insight into Irish culture and values.
• 
  Echo

  S0-so collection. Not going to lie, I mainly bought this because it was a pretty book.
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  Charly Troff (JustaReadingMama)

  This was a great collection of stories, I learned a lot and thoroughly enjoyed myself in the process!
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  Katie (BooksRUs)

  it was neat to read a bunch of different fairy tales. I marked it down a star because there were some repeat stories and multiple grammatical errors.
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  Isaiah Le Istya

  There is so much variety, passion and lore in this collection that I could scarce but fall in love with it.
• 
  Sam

  This collection needs an Editor, it's uncomfortable to read. I understand its direct translation but still they could have done some editing to make it easier to read and immerse myself
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  Kathrin

  I absolutely loved this fairy tale collection because it encompasses a lot of different Irish mythology figures and I liked how it was divided by different aspects and figures of the mytholgoy.
• 
  K Grant

  Nothing very memorable. I'd heard the tales before or some version of them.
• 
  Rory Saunders

  A great selection and variety of stories, but none of them were more than 10 pages. I wish they had included some long form content in an almost 800 page book.
• 
  Corinne Fowler

  Very cute stories. And I love the legends that each story has. A must-read if you want to learn more about Irish folklore.