by Ella Young
First published 1999
Young sits by flickering turf fires in remote Irish villages, listening as local storytellers recite ancient poems of the Fianna. Born in County Antrim in 1867, she grew up hearing fragments of ghost stories, banshee tales, and ballads from haunted castles. But only when she reaches Dublin and meets scholars like Standish O'Grady and A.E. does she grasp the true scope of Celtic literary tradition waiting to be discovered. She learns Irish and travels deep into Gaelic communities where oral tradition still thrives. There she encounters people who claim to have heard faery music and danced in faery circles themselves. These storytellers carry forward poems and tales passed down through generations, preserving a world where sprites play tricks, spirits roam ancient strongholds, and the boundary between earthly and supernatural remains thin. Young must navigate between her scholarly training and the living folklore she discovers, finding ways to honor both the academic rigor of her Dublin mentors and the authentic voices of rural Ireland's tradition keepers.
Genres: irish-literature, historical-fiction, 20th-century, folklore, 19th-century, academia
Vibes: atmospheric, intimate, lyrical, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, scholarly-pursuit
Setting: County Antrim, Dublin, Gaelic Communities, Ireland
Period: 19th Century, 20th Century
186 pages · Paperback · Dufour Editions