Section

Myths and Legends

16 articles

The Fir Bolg: The Men of Bags

A group of Fir Bolg settlers with spears, shields, baskets, and supplies stand on a rocky hillside above a ringfort at dawn.

Slaves who carried soil up Greek hillsides in leather bags, then came home to rule Ireland. The Fir Bolg, the last people to hold Ireland before the gods.

The Fomorians: Ireland’s Enemies from the Sea

A group of dark-clad Fomorian warriors stand on a rocky Atlantic coast beneath heavy storm clouds.

One-armed monsters, goat-headed raiders, and a golden-haired king in a silver boat. The Fomorians, the enemies the Irish gods fought, feared, and married.

Balor of the Evil Eye

Balor stands on a stormy coastal hillside with a single large eye, dark clothing, and waves crashing against cliffs behind him.

Four men lift the lid of a giant’s eye, and an army falls helpless. Balor of the Evil Eye, the Fomorian king who could not escape his grandson.

Fionn mac Cumhaill: Leader of the Fianna

Fionn mac Cumhaill standing with a spear and hound on a rocky hill above a misty Irish landscape.

A boy raised in hiding, a thumb burned on a magic salmon, and a hero who let the water slip through his fingers. The life and legends of Ireland’s great leader of the Fianna.

The Children of Lir: Ireland’s Legend of the Swan Children

Four white swans swimming on a misty Irish lake beneath ruined stone buildings and a round tower.

Four children, a jealous stepmother, and nine hundred years on the water as swans. The saddest of Ireland’s great legends, and the bell that set them free.

The Salmon of Knowledge: How Fionn mac Cumhaill Gained His Wisdom

The young Fionn mac Cumhaill beside the poet Finnegas as they hold the Salmon of Knowledge by a rushing river.

A poet waits seven years for a fish, and loses its wisdom to a boy who burns his thumb. The story of the Salmon of Knowledge, and how Fionn got his name.

Saint Patrick in Irish Legend: The Man, the Myths, and the Shamrock

Saint Patrick standing with a staff and book in a misty Irish landscape beside early Christian ruins.

A slave who came back as a bishop, a fire on the Hill of Slane, and a shamrock nobody mentioned for 1,200 years. The real Patrick and the legend that grew around him.

Did Saint Patrick Really Banish the Snakes from Ireland?

Saint Patrick standing on a rocky Irish coast as snakes retreat across the ground.

Ireland has no snakes, and Patrick has the credit. But the island was snake-free long before he arrived, and the story wasn’t written down for 700 years.

Cú Chulainn: The Hound of Ulster

Cú Chulainn standing with a spear and round shield on a rocky Irish hillside at dusk.

He killed a smith’s hound at six, held back an army at seventeen, and died tied to a standing stone. The life and legend of Ireland’s greatest hero.

Irish Folklore: The Beliefs, Customs and Tales of Ireland

An ancient stone dolmen overlooking a misty Irish landscape with a round tower in the distance.

What people in Ireland believed, did and told one another, and how nearly all of it came to be written down.