The Four Cycles of Irish Mythology
The Mythological, Ulster, Fenian and Kings cycles, the tales that belong to each, and why medieval Irish writers sorted their stories a different way.
Myths and Legends
Myths and Legends
Balor of the Evil Eye
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.
The Otherworld in Irish Mythology: Tír na nÓg, Mag Mell, and Beyond
A woman in a boat of glass, an apple that never shrinks, and a land where nobody grows old. The Irish Otherworld, and why those who went there rarely came home.
The Fomorians: Ireland’s Enemies from the Sea
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.
The Irish Creation Myth: How Ireland Was Settled in the Book of Invasions
A flood survivor who lived as a salmon, a tower of monsters on Tory Island, and gods driven into the hills. How Irish tradition told the beginning of Ireland.
The Fir Bolg: The Men of Bags
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.
Irish Mythology: A Complete Guide to the Gods, Heroes and Otherworld
The gods, heroes and otherworld tales of early Ireland, how they were written down, and how to read them.
Irish Folklore: The Beliefs, Customs and Tales of Ireland
What people in Ireland believed, did and told one another, and how nearly all of it came to be written down.
Cú Chulainn: The Hound of Ulster
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.
Did Saint Patrick Really Banish the Snakes from Ireland?
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.