| Orientation:
When I teach Irish Studies I always come to class with my black
file box of cards of verse.
I take a moment in each class to pass them out to my students. Each
student gets a card and
reads the short line or short story from it. Then the students
are instructed to pair up with
one another selecting someone in the class that they do not know. Then,
each tells the story or
reads the verse to the other. In this way after each class period each
student has two new sayings or stories. After exchanging the tales I ask
students to select the strangest of the lot. Undoubtedly this process
focuses upon elements of the Celtic or Traditional Irish aesthetic.
One might also find this technique useful at family gatherings and
party’s. It is a good way to infuse the traditional into the contemporary
and to avoid the arguments which come up at family events when there
is a cultural void.
Take a moment to raise up these stories from the printed page and place
them back into
our culture where they might take on real life. I have included both
the very short and the
moderate length tales. This gives the reader a choice.
Some do not do as well reading
the longer as the shorter. Additionally I have tried to provide
a variety of styles. This “stew”
aids in identifying the Irish or perhaps Celtic aesthetic
which runs through the storytelling
tradition as a constant through time. I have purposely not categorized
these stories. The intent
is for the reader to browse through the stories so as to experience
a wide a range of the variety of the tradition as possible. Those
wishing to search for a specific topic are reminded that they can use their
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Sources
Many of the stories appear in several of the sources listed below.
A Celtic Miscellany., Kenneth Hurlstone Jackson, Penguin Books,
1975
Folktales of Ireland., Sean O’ Sullivan, The University
of Chicago Press, 1966.
Irish Folk-Tales., Ed. Henry Glassie, Penguin,1985.
The Kiltartan Books., Lady Agusta Gregory, Oxford University
Press, 1971
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Irish Myths and Legends., Lady Gregory,Running Press, 1998. Irish
Folk Stories for Children.,T.Crofton Croker.,Mercier,1983. Irish Fairy
Tales.,Jeremiah Curtin.,Barnes & Noble. 1993. Fairy and Folk Tales of
Ireland., Ed. W.B. Yeats., Macmillan,1983.
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