Irish folklore ( ga, béaloideas) refers to the folktales, balladry, music, dance, and so forth, ultimately, all of folk culture. Irish folklore, when mentioned to many people, conjures up images of

banshees A banshee ( ; Modern Irish , from sga, ben síde , "woman of the fairy mound" or "fairy woman") is a female spirit in Irish folklore who heralds the death of a family member, usually by screaming, wailing, shrieking, or keening. Her name is c ...

, fairies,

leprechauns A leprechaun ( ga, leipreachán/luchorpán) is a diminutive supernatural being in Irish folklore, classed by some as a type of solitary fairy. They are usually depicted as little bearded men, wearing a coat and hat, who partake in mischief. I ...

and people gathering around, sharing stories. Many tales and legends were passed from generation to generation, so were the dances and song in the observing of important occasions such as

weddings A wedding is a ceremony where two people are united in marriage. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnic groups, religions, countries, and social classes. Most wedding ceremonies involve an exchange of marriage vo ...

, wakes, birthdays and holidays or, handcraft traditions. All of the above can be considered as a part of folklore, as it is the study and appreciation of how people lived.

Definition

What constitutes Irish folklore may be rather fuzzy to those unfamiliar with Irish literature. Diarmuid Ó Giolláin, for one, declared that folklore was elusive to define clearly.

Bo Almqvist Bo Gunnar Almqvist (5 May 1931 – 9 November 2013) was a Swedish academic and folklorist. Early life Bo Gunnar Almqvist was born on 5 May 1931 in Edsgatan, a small community in Alster, a farming district in the province of Varmland, Sweden, a ...

(c. 1977) gave an all-encompassing definition that folklore covered "the totality of folk culture, spiritual and material", and included anything mentioned in

Seán Ó Súilleabháin Seán Ó Súilleabháin (30 November 1903 – 13 December 1996) was a teacher and folklorist with the Irish Folklore Commission. He was a native Irish speaker from County Kerry. Educated at St. Brendan's, College, Killarney, he trained from 1 ...

's ''A Handbook of Irish Folklore'' (1942). It was not until 1846 that the word "folklore" was coined, by English writer

William Thoms William John Thoms (16 November 1803 – 15 August 1885) was a British writer credited with coining the term "folklore" in 1846. Thoms's investigation of folklore and myth led to a later career of debunking longevity myths, and he was a pioneer ...

, to designate "the manners, customs, observances,

superstitions A superstition is any belief or practice considered by non-practitioners to be irrational or supernatural, attributed to fate or magic, perceived supernatural influence, or fear of that which is unknown. It is commonly applied to beliefs and ...

ballads A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

proverbs A proverb (from la, proverbium) is a simple and insightful, traditional saying that expresses a perceived truth based on common sense or experience. Proverbs are often metaphorical and use formulaic speech, formulaic language. A proverbial phra ...

, &c of the olden time". The term was first translated into Irish as ''béaloideas'' (lit. 'oral instruction') in 1927.

Folktales and songs

Tales have been traditionally recounted in fireside gatherings, such social gatherings, in which traditional Irish music and dance are also performed, are labeled by some as the ''

cèilidh A cèilidh ( , ) or céilí () is a traditional Scottish or Irish social gathering. In its most basic form, it simply means a social visit. In contemporary usage, it usually involves dancing and playing Gaelic folk music, either at a house p ...

'', though this is a term borrowed from

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic ( gd, Gàidhlig ), also known as Scots Gaelic and Gaelic, is a Goidelic language (in the Celtic branch of the Indo-European language family) native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a Goidelic language, Scottish Gaelic, as well as ...

. The story-telling, songs and dance were also part of how special occasions were commemorated, on such days as Christmas, Halloween (''Oíche Shamhna'', eve of

Samhain Samhain ( , , , ; gv, Sauin ) is a Gaelic festival on 1 NovemberÓ hÓgáin, Dáithí. ''Myth Legend and Romance: An Encyclopaedia of the Irish Folk Tradition''. Prentice Hall Press, 1991. p. 402. Quote: "The basic Irish division of the year ...

Beltane Beltane () is the Gaelic May Day festival. Commonly observed on the first of May, the festival falls midway between the spring equinox and summer solstice in the northern hemisphere. The festival name is synonymous with the month marking the ...

, held on the first day of May, or St. Patrick's Day. Irish folklore is closely tied with the pipe and

fiddle A fiddle is a bowed string musical instrument, most often a violin. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including classical music. Although in many cases violins and fiddles are essentially synonymous, th ...

, the traditional Irish music and folk dance. The

keening Keening (Irish: Caointeoireacht) is a traditional form of vocal lament for the dead in the Gaelic Celtic tradition, known to have taken place in Ireland and Scotland. Keening, which can be seen as a form of sean-nós singing, was performed in th ...

Caoineadh Airt Uí Laoghaire Caoineadh Airt Uí Laoghaire or the ''Lament for Art Ó Laoghaire'' is an Irish keen composed in the main by his wife Eibhlín Dubh Ní Chonaill, a member of the Gaelic gentry of County Kerry in the 18th century. It has been described as the great ...

'' composed by Eileen Dubh Ní Chonaill in her husband's wake is a piece of poetry passed down by folk tradition. Other than folktales and legends, the folkloristic genres is complemented by memorates, beliefs, and belief statements.

Handcraft and herb lore

Also part of Irish folklore are the handed-down skills, such as basket-weaving or St. Bridget's crosses. As an example, shallow wicker baskets called ''skeeoges'' as

strainers A sieve, fine mesh strainer, or sift, is a device for separating wanted elements from unwanted material or for controlling the particle size distribution of a sample, using a screen such as a woven mesh or net or perforated sheet material. T ...

(to empty the boiled potatoes and hot water on, to drain the liquid) were recorded in the

Co. Wexford County Wexford ( ga, Contae Loch Garman) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the Southern Region. Named after the town of Wexford, it was based on the historic Gaelic territory of Hy Kinsella (''Uí Ceinns ...

area by Patrick Kennedy in the 19th century. A later folklore collector was unable to ascertain whether this practice was carried out in the locality during the field work in the 1950s (or in the revisit in 1970's). This basket's name ''skeeoge'' supposedly derived from the Gaelic word for "shield" ( ga, sciath). The

Irish Folklore Commission The Irish Folklore Commission (''Coimisiún Béaloideasa Éireann'' in Irish) was set up in 1935 by the Irish Government to study and collect information on the folklore and traditions of Ireland. History Séamus Ó Duilearga (James Hamilton Dela ...

has accumulated a collection of crosses made on St. Bridget's Day (1 February), and various craft objects made of plaited straw, etc., gathered from across the county. Folklore can also include knowledge and skills such as , or to treat an illness, i.e.,

herb lore Herbal medicine (also herbalism) is the study of pharmacognosy and the use of medicinal plants, which are a basis of traditional medicine. With worldwide research into pharmacology, some herbal medicines have been translated into modern remed ...

Common themes

There are certain stock motifs, often stereotypes, in Irish folklore.

Fairies

One commentator attributes to

Andrew Lang Andrew Lang (31 March 1844 – 20 July 1912) was a Scottish poet, novelist, literary critic, and contributor to the field of anthropology. He is best known as a collector of folk and fairy tales. The Andrew Lang lectures at the University ...

the sweeping definition that Irish folklore is all about fairies. The belief in fairies (''sidhe'') has been widespread. Some, such as Irish poet W. B.

Yeats William Butler Yeats (13 June 186528 January 1939) was an Irish poet, dramatist, writer and one of the foremost figures of 20th-century literature. He was a driving force behind the Irish Literary Revival and became a pillar of the Irish litera ...

, have divided the fairies into multiple categories and/or species (see

Classifications of fairies Fairies, particularly those of Irish, English, Scottish and Welsh folklore, have been classified in a variety of ways. Classifications – which most often come from scholarly analysis, and may not always accurately reflect local traditions � ...

). However, Irish fairies are typically divided into two main categories: the fairy race and the solitary fairies. The race of fairy people (

Aos Sí ' (; older form: ) is the Irish name for a supernatural race in Celtic mythology – spelled ''sìth'' by the Scots, but pronounced the same – comparable to fairies or elves. They are said to descend from either fallen angels or the Tuat ...

) were thought to be descendants of the

Tuatha Dé Danann The Tuath(a) Dé Danann (, meaning "the folk of the goddess Danu (Irish goddess), Danu"), also known by the earlier name Tuath Dé ("tribe of the gods"), are a supernatural race in Irish mythology. Many of them are thought to represent deity, ...

, a godlike race who came to Ireland and conquered the people there. They are described as human sized, beautiful, powerful, and in tune with nature, similar to the modern day fantasy race of Elves. Fairy Trees near Greenan - geograph

The solitary fairies are what they sound like—solitary. Instead of living together like the elite fairy race, solitary fairies are secretive and isolated, often staying away from humans and coming out at night. The solitary fairies include a wide range of magical creatures in Irish folklore. One type of Irish fairy is the female ''banshee'', the death-messenger with her

, or baleful crying over someone's death, and known by many different names. Another well-recognized Irish fairy is the

leprechaun A leprechaun ( ga, leipreachán/luchorpán) is a diminutive supernatural being in Irish folklore, classed by some as a type of solitary fairy. They are usually depicted as little bearded men, wearing a coat and hat, who partake in mischief. I ...

, which many have identified as the maker of shoes. The cluricaune is a sprite many treat as synonymous to the leprechaun, and Yeats muses on whether these and the

far darrig A far darrig or fear dearg is a faerie of Irish mythology. The name ''far darrig'' is an Anglophone pronunciation of the Irish words ''fear dearg'', meaning ''Red Man'', as the far darrig is said to wear a red coat and cap. They are also sometime ...

(fear dearg, "red man") are the one and the same. Mackillop says these three are the three kinds

solitary fairies Fairies, particularly those of Irish, English, Scottish and Welsh folklore, have been classified in a variety of ways. Classifications – which most often come from scholarly analysis, and may not always accurately reflect local traditions � ...

, but Yeats goes on to say "there are other solitary fairies", naming the

Dullahan The Dullahan (Irish: Dubhlachan ; dúlachán, ), also called Gan Ceann (meaning "without a head" in Irish), is a type of mythological creature in Irish folklore. He is depicted as a headless rider, on a black horse, who carries his own head h ...

(headless horsemen),

Púca The púca (Irish for ''spirit/ghost''; plural púcaí), puca (Old English for ''goblin''; plural pucel) pwca, pooka, phouka, puck is a creature of Celtic, English, and Channel Islands folklore. Considered to be bringers both of good and bad f ...

, and so forth. The

changeling A changeling, also historically referred to as an auf or oaf, is a human-like creature found in folklore throughout Europe. A changeling was believed to be a fairy that had been left in place of a human (typically a child) stolen by other fairi ...

is often ascribed to being perpetrated by fairies. The theme is assigned its own migratory legend type, "The Changeling" (ML 5085).

Fairy land

Fairies are also connected with the Irish traditional belief in the

Otherworld The concept of an otherworld in historical Indo-European religion is reconstructed in comparative mythology. Its name is a calque of ''orbis alius'' (Latin for "other Earth/world"), a term used by Lucan in his description of the Celtic Otherworld ...

(''An Saol Eile)''. Fairy forts and

hawthorn Hawthorn or Hawthorns may refer to: Plants * '' Crataegus'' (hawthorn), a large genus of shrubs and trees in the family Rosaceae * ''Rhaphiolepis'' (hawthorn), a genus of about 15 species of evergreen shrubs and small trees in the family Rosace ...

trees, also known as fairy trees, are places where fairies are thought to reside. Thus, to tamper with these sites is seen as hugely disrespectful to the fairies.

Hawthorn tree

There are several trees sacred to Ireland, but the lone hawthorn (aka the "may" tree) is particularly considered a fairy haunt, and patches underneath where the grass have worn down are reputed to be due to fairies dancing. Though literary fiction more than folklore, two consecutive poems by

Samuel Ferguson Sir Samuel Ferguson (10 March 1810 – 9 August 1886) was an Irish poet, barrister, antiquarian, artist and public servant. He was an acclaimed 19th-century Irish poet, and his interest in Irish mythology and early Irish history can be seen ...

, "The Fairy Thorn" and "The Fairy Well of Lagnanay" describes the lone Fairy Hawthorn (The Whitethorn).

Fairy mounds

The notion that Irish fairies live in fairy mounds (fairy forts, fairy hills) give rise to the names ''

aos sí ' (; older form: ) is the Irish name for a supernatural race in Celtic mythology – spelled ''sìth'' by the Scots, but pronounced the same – comparable to fairies or elves. They are said to descend from either fallen angels or the Tuat ...

'' or ''daoine sídhe'' ('people of the ''sidhe''

airy mound Airy may refer to: * Sir George Biddell Airy (1801–1892), British Astronomer Royal from 1835 to 1881, for whom the following features, phenomena, and theories are named: ** Airy (lunar crater) ** Airy (Martian crater) ** Airy-0, a smaller cra ...

'). In the instance of " The Legend of Knockgrafton" (name of a hill), the protagonist named Lusmore is carried inside the fairy "

moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that is dug and surrounds a castle, fortification, building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive ...

" or rath by the fairy wind ( ga, sidhe gaoithe).

Heroic sagas

Other classic themes in Irish folktale literature include

Cú Chulainn Cú Chulainn ( ), called the Hound of Ulster (Irish: ''Cú Uladh''), is a warrior hero and demigod in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology, as well as in Scottish and Manx folklore. He is believed to be an incarnation of the Irish god Lugh, ...

Children of Lir The ''Children of Lir'' ( ga, Oidheadh chloinne Lir) is a legend from Irish mythology. It is a tale from the post-Christianisation period that mixes magical elements such as druidic wands and spells with a Christian message of Christian faith ...

Finn MacCool Fionn mac Cumhaill ( ; Old and mga, Find or ''mac Cumail'' or ''mac Umaill''), often anglicized Finn McCool or MacCool, is a hero in Irish mythology, as well as in later Scottish and Manx folklore. He is leader of the ''Fianna'' bands of y ...

, from medieval heroic and tragic sagas. Folklore material in the 'Pre-Croker period', according to

's reckoning, do tentatively include various Medieval written texts (the heroic tales in the

Ulster Cycle The Ulster Cycle ( ga, an Rúraíocht), formerly known as the Red Branch Cycle, is a body of medieval Irish heroic legends and sagas of the Ulaid. It is set far in the past, in what is now eastern Ulster and northern Leinster, particularly coun ...

Finn Cycle The Fenian Cycle (), Fianna Cycle or Finn Cycle ( ga, an Fhiannaíocht) is a body of early Irish literature focusing on the exploits of the mythical hero Finn or Fionn mac Cumhaill and his warrior band the Fianna. Sometimes called the Ossian ...

, the

Cycle of the Kings The Cycles of the Kings or Kings' Cycles, sometimes called the Historical Cycle, are a body of Old and Middle Irish literature. They comprise legends about historical and semi-historical kings of Ireland (such as ''Buile Shuibhne'', "The Madness ...

, and the

hagiography A hagiography (; ) is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader, as well as, by extension, an adulatory and idealized biography of a founder, saint, monk, nun or icon in any of the world's religions. Early Christian hagiographies migh ...

St. Patrick ST, St, or St. may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Stanza, in poetry * Suicidal Tendencies, an American heavy metal/hardcore punk band * Star Trek, a science-fiction media franchise * Summa Theologica, a compendium of Catholic philosophy an ...

and other saints, etc.), with the proviso that these works can no longer be considered intact folk legends, given the accrued literary layers of the "fanciful and fantastic". However they are an excellent well-source of comparative study, as collected folktales are sometimes traceable to these medieval sagas. An example is the tale of

's horse remnant in the legend type of "The Waterhorse as Workhorse" (MLSIT 4086), or so argued by C. W. von Sydow. In the 20th century, the

collected a large corpus of such romantic heroic sagas, particularly the stories of

Fionn Mac Cumhail Fionn mac Cumhaill ( ; Old and mga, Find or ''mac Cumail'' or ''mac Umaill''), often anglicized Finn McCool or MacCool, is a hero in Irish mythology, as well as in later Scottish and Manx folklore. He is leader of the ''Fianna'' bands of ...

and the

Fianna ''Fianna'' ( , ; singular ''Fian''; gd, Fèinne ) were small warrior-hunter bands in Gaelic Ireland during the Iron Age and early Middle Ages. A ''fian'' was made up of freeborn young males, often aristocrats, "who had left fosterage but had n ...

History of collecting

Early collectors

For most of the 19th century, collection of Irish folklore was undertaken by English-speakers, and the material collected were recorded only in English.

Thomas Crofton Croker Thomas Crofton Croker (15 January 1798 – 8 August 1854) was an Irish antiquary, best known for his ''Fairy Legends and Traditions of the South of Ireland'' (1825–1828), and who also showed considerable interest in Irish song and music. ...

who compiled ''Fairy Legends and Traditions of the South of Ireland'' (1825–28) is considered one of the earliest collectors. Croker is the first among the significant "antiquary-folklorists" (the label applied by

Richard Dorson Richard Mercer Dorson (March 12, 1916 – September 11, 1981) was an American folklorist, professor, and director of the Folklore Institute at Indiana University. Dorson has been called the "father of American folklore"Nichols, Amber M.Richard M. ...

) to emerge from mere

antiquarian An antiquarian or antiquary () is an fan (person), aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artifact (archaeology), artifac ...

Tales in the Irish language

The Irish-speaking West, the ''

Gaeltacht ( , , ) are the districts of Ireland, individually or collectively, where the Irish government recognises that the Irish language is the predominant vernacular, or language of the home. The ''Gaeltacht'' districts were first officially recog ...

'' included for example the

Aran Islands The Aran Islands ( ; gle, Oileáin Árann, ) or The Arans (''na hÁrainneacha'' ) are a group of three islands at the mouth of Galway Bay, off the west coast of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, with a total area around . They constitute the histo ...

, where some folklore-collecting was performed by Danish linguist Holger Pedersen back in 1896, though the resulting collection was never published until a century later. The playwright

J. M. Synge Edmund John Millington Synge (; 16 April 1871 – 24 March 1909) was an Irish playwright, poet, writer, collector of folklore, and a key figure in the Irish Literary Revival. His best known play ''The Playboy of the Western World'' was poorly r ...

also included a couple of folktales in his ''The Aran Islands'' (1907).

Irish Folklore Commission

Séamus Ó Duilearga Séamus Ó Duilearga (born James Hamilton Delargy; 26 May 1899 – 25 June 1980) was an Irish folklorist, professor of folklore at University College Dublin and Director of the Irish Folklore Commission. Born in Cushendall, Co Antrim, he was one ...

(James Hamilton Delargy), who founded the Folklore of Ireland Society and its ''Béaloideas'' magazine in 1927, was later appointed to head the

(IFC) in established by the Irish government in 1935.

was the archivist for the IFC since its inception. After having undergone 3 month tutelage in

Uppsala Uppsala (, or all ending in , ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the county seat of Uppsala County and the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inha ...

, Sweden under C. W. von Sydow on the methods of folklore archiving, the archivist became instrumental in establishing collecting policies for the IFC. One of Ó Súilleabháin's projects was the Schools' Scheme for primary school children to collect folklore (1937-1938). IFC established a network of 200 or 300 correspondents all over Ireland to whom long questionnaires were sent out to task them with particular areas of folklore collecting. Ó Súilleabháin soon compiled a how-tow guidebook for folklore-collecting fieldwork, entitled ''Láimh-Leabhar Béaloideasa'' (1937) in Irish, later expanded and published in English as ''A Handbook of Irish Folklore'' (1942). The methodology was based on the Uppsala system he studied, and the books became the standard bible for any Irish folklore collector.

Folktale classification

An effort to catalogue all the known international folk tales in Ireland, either in print or in oral circulation (as of 1956) was mounted by Seán Ó Súilleabháin and

Reidar Thoralf Christiansen Reidar Thoralf Christiansen (27 January 1886 – 22 July 1971) was a Norwegian folklorist, archivist of the Norwegian Folklore Collection (NFS) and professor of folkloristics at the University of Oslo. Biography Christiansen studied theology du ...

, culminating in ''The Types of the Irish Folktale'' (1963), a compilation of some 43,000 versions under 700 international tales. Christiansen was the creator of the index of Norwegian migratory legends (ML index), and Bo Almqvist adapted this for Irish legends, calling it MLSIT (for Migratory Legend Suggested Irish Type). Although ''The Types of the Irish Folktale'' purportedly deals with folktale but not folk legend, there are found to be some intersections between these comparative study apparatuses.

Sociological trends

Folklore is a part of national identity, and its meaning has evolved through time.

Irish identity

In Ireland the word Folk Lore has deep meaning to its people and brings societies together, it is a word that has ideological significance in this country. To put it succinctly, folklore is an important part of the national identity.

Effects of Christianity on Irish folklore

When Christianity was first brought in Ireland during the 5th century by missionaries, they were not able to totally wipe out the pre-existing folklore and beliefs in God-like fairies. But folklore did not remain untouched, and the myths and

Christian beliefs Christianity is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism, monotheistic religion based on the Life of Jesus in the New Testament, life and Teachings of Jesus, teachings of Jesus, Jesus of Nazareth. It is the Major religious groups, world's ...

were combined such that Irish folklore would “enforce Christian ideals but still remain as a concession to early fairy belief systems”.

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

altered the importance of some beliefs and define a new place for them in folklore. For example, fairies, who were previously perceived as God, became merely magical, and of much lesser importance. Along with it, a fusion of folklore legends and Christianity was witnessed. One of the major example of this is the existence of legends featuring both

Saint Patrick Saint Patrick ( la, Patricius; ga, Pádraig ; cy, Padrig) was a fifth-century Romano-British Christian missionary and bishop in Ireland. Known as the "Apostle of Ireland", he is the primary patron saint of Ireland, the other patron saints be ...

, a central figure in the Irish church, and

fairies A fairy (also fay, fae, fey, fair folk, or faerie) is a type of mythical being or legendary creature found in the folklore of multiple European cultures (including Celtic, Slavic, Germanic, English, and French folklore), a form of spirit, o ...

(for example, “The Colloquy of the Ancients” is a dialogue between

and the ghost of Caeilte of the Fianna, an ancient clan of Celtic warriors). All in all, the current Irish folklore shows a strong absorption of Christianity, including its lesson of morality and spiritual beliefs, creating a “singular brand of fairy tale tradition”.

English colonization

During the 16th century, the English conquest overthrew the traditional political and religious autonomy of the country.

Great Famine

The Great famine of the 1840s, and the deaths and emigration it brought, weakened a still powerful Gaelic culture, especially within the rural

proletariat The proletariat (; ) is the social class of wage-earners, those members of a society whose only possession of significant economic value is their labour power (their capacity to work). A member of such a class is a proletarian. Marxist philo ...

, which was at the time the most traditional social grouping. At the time, intellectuals such as Sir William Wilde expressed concerns on the decay of traditional beliefs:

Modern society

Moreover, in the last decades, capitalism has helped overcoming special spatial barriers making it easier for cultures to merge into one another (such as the amalgam between

and

Halloween Halloween or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve) is a celebration observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Saints' Day. It begins the observanc ...

). All those events have led to a massive decline of native learned Gaelic traditions and

Irish language Irish ( Standard Irish: ), also known as Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, which is a part of the Indo-European language family. Irish is indigenous to the island of Ireland and was ...

, and with Irish tradition being mainly an oral tradition, this has led to a loss of identity and historical continuity, in a similar nature to Durkheim's

anomie In sociology, anomie () is a social condition defined by an uprooting or breakdown of any moral values, standards or guidance for individuals to follow. Anomie is believed to possibly evolve from conflict of belief systems and causes breakdown ...

Folk History

Irish folklore is replete with oral traditions that pertain to historical subjects. This was recognised in Seán Ó Súilleabháin's A ''Handbook of Irish Folklore'', which includes a chapter specifically dedicated to collecting "Historical Tradition". Irish folk history was commonly known by the name ''seanchas'', a term defined by Séamus Ó Duilearga as “orally preserved social-historical tradition.” When conducting fieldwork in county Fermanagh, the American folklorist

Henry Glassie Henry Glassie (born 24 March 1941) College Professor Emeritus at Indiana University Bloomington, has done fieldwork on five continents and written books on the full range of folkloristic interest, from drama, song, and story to craft, art, and archi ...

, a pioneer in the study of folk history, observed that in Irish storytelling “history is a topic for conversation”. In his prize-winning works on the memory of the

Irish Rebellion of 1798 The Irish Rebellion of 1798 ( ga, Éirí Amach 1798; Ulster-Scots: ''The Hurries'') was a major uprising against British rule in Ireland. The main organising force was the Society of United Irishmen, a republican revolutionary group influence ...

, the Israeli historian

Guy Beiner Guy Beiner (born in 1968 in Jerusalem) is an Israeli historian of the late-modern period. He was formerly a full professor at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Beer Sheva, Israel. In September 2021, he was named the Sullivan Chair in Irish ...

has written in-depth case studies of folk history, powerfully demonstrating the value of folklore for the study of social and cultural history. Beiner has advocated for use of the term "vernacular historiography", which he argues "consciously steers clear of the artificial divides between oral and literary cultures that lie at the heart of conceptualizations of oral tradition" and also allows for the inclusion of folklife sources found in ethnological studies of material and visual culture.

In popular culture

Finnish folklorist

Lauri Honko Lauri Olavi Honko (born in Hanko 6 March 1932, died in Turku 15 July 2002) was a Finnish professor of folklore studies and comparative religion. Life and work Honko was a disciple of Martti Haavio. His 1959 doctoral dissertation at the Universi ...

has referred to the re-contexted exploitation of folklore as its “second life”. Irish folklore material is now being used in marketing (with strategies suggesting tradition and authenticity for goods), movies and TV shows (''

The Secret of Kells ''The Secret of Kells'' is a 2009 animated fantasy film about the making of the Book of Kells, an illuminated manuscript from the 9th Century. The film is an Irish-French-Belgian co-production animated by Cartoon Saloon, which premiered on 8 Fe ...

'', mention of the

Banshee A banshee ( ; Modern Irish , from sga, ben síde , "woman of the fairy mound" or "fairy woman") is a female spirit in Irish folklore who heralds the death of a family member, usually by screaming, wailing, shrieking, or keening. Her name is c ...

are found in TV shows such as ''

Supernatural Supernatural refers to phenomena or entities that are beyond the laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin (above, beyond, or outside of) + (nature) Though the corollary term "nature", has had multiple meanings si ...

'', ''

Teen Wolf ''Teen Wolf'' is a 1985 American coming-of-age romantic fantasy comedy film directed by Rod Daniel and written by Jeph Loeb and Matthew Weisman. Michael J. Fox stars as the title character, a high school student whose ordinary life is changed ...

'' or ''

Charmed ''Charmed'' is an American fantasy drama television series created by Constance M. Burge and produced by Aaron Spelling and his production company Spelling Television, with Brad Kern serving as showrunner. The series was originally broadcast ...

''), books (the book series ''

The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel ''The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel'' is a series of six fantasy novels written by Irish author Michael Scott, completed in 2012. The first book in the series, '' The Alchemyst'', was released in 2007, and the sequels were released ...

,'' the novel ''

American Gods ''American Gods'' (2001) is a fantasy novel by British author Neil Gaiman. The novel is a blend of Americana, fantasy, and various strands of ancient and modern mythology, all centering on the mysterious and taciturn Shadow. The book was pub ...

''...), contributing to the creation of a new body of Irish folklore.

Explanatory notes

References

Citations

Primary sources

Early modern sources

* '' Annala na gCeithre Mháistrí'' (''The Annals of the Four Masters'') * Keating, Geoffrey (1866) ''Foras Feasa ar Éirinn: The History of Ireland'' O'Mahony John (Trans) New York. James B. Kirker Retrieved from Boston College Libraries via Archive.or
12 October 2017
also republished as Keating, Geoffrey (1902–14) ''Foras Feasa ar Éirinn: The History of Ireland'' Comyn, David and Dinneen, Patrick S. (eds.) 4 vols. London David Nutt for the

Irish Texts Society The Irish Texts Society ( ga, Cumann na Scríbheann nGaedhilge) was founded in 1898 to promote the study of Irish literature. It is a text publication society, issuing annotated editions of texts in Irish with English translations and related co ...

. Retrieved via Archive.or
12 October 2017

Folktales

* Croker, Thomas Crofton (1825).''Fairy Legends and Traditions of the South of Ireland vol. 1'' London: John Murray, Retrieved from Oxford University Library via Archive.or
6 November 2017
* Croker, Thomas Crofton (1828).''Fairy Legends and Traditions of the South of Ireland vol. 2'' London: John Murray, Retrieved from Oxford University Library via Archive.or
6 November 2017
* Croker, Thomas Crofton (1828).''Fairy Legends and Traditions of the South of Ireland vol. 3'' London: John Murray, Retrieved from Oxford University Library via Archive.or
6 November 2017
* Curtin, Jeremiah (1890). ''Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland'' London: Sampson Low, Marston, Searle, & Rivington Retrieved via Archive.or
8 November 2017
* Curtin, Jeremiah (1894). ''Hero-Tales of Ireland''. London: MacMillan and Company Retrieved via Archive.or
8 November 2017
* Curtin, Jeremiah (1895). ''Tales of the Fairies and of the Ghost World: Collected from Oral Tradition in South-West Munster''. Boston: Little Brown Company Retrieved via Archive.or
8 November 2017
* Hyde, Douglas (1890). ''Beside the Fire: A Collection of Irish Gaelic Folk Stories''. London: David Nutt Retrieved via Archive.or
9 November 2017
* Hyde, Douglas (1896). ''Five Irish Stories: Translated from the Irish of the "Sgeuluidhe Gaodhalach"''. Dublin: Gill & Son Retrieved from University of California Library via Archive.or
9 November 2017
* Hyde, Douglas (1915). ''Legends of Saints and Sinners'' (Every Irishman's Library). London: T. Fisher Unwin Retrieved via Archive.or
9 November 2017
*
Retrieved from Wikisource 17 October 2017
*
Retrieved from Wikisource 07 May 2021
* Keightley, Thomas. (1892) ''Fairy Mythology''. London: George Bell & Sons, Retrieved from Project Gutenber
15 October 2017
*
text
via IA. * Lover, Samuel (1831).''Legends and Stories of Ireland vol. 1'' Dublin: W.F. Wakeman, Retrieved via Archive.or
6 November 2017
* Lover, Samuel (1831).''Legends and Stories of Ireland vol. 2'' London: Baldwin and Cradock, Retrieved via Archive.or
7 November 2017
* MacManus, Seumas. (1899).''In the Chimney Corners: Merry Tales of Irish Folk Lore'' New York: Doubleday and McClure Company, Retrieved via Archive.or
24 November 2017
* MacManus, Seumas (1900). ''Donegal Fairy Stories'' New York: Doubleday, Page & and Company, Retrieved via Archive.or
22 November 2017
* Wilde, Lady Francesca Speranza (1888).''Ancient Legends, Mystic Charms, and Superstitions of Ireland'' London: Ward and Downey, Retrieved via Archive.or
5 November 2017
*; Retrieved via Archive.or
20 November 2017
* Yeats, William Butler. (1888).''Irish Fairy Tales'' London: T. Fisher Unwin, Retrieved via Archive.or
20 November 2017

Secondary sources

* * * * * * and ''Studia Fennica Foloristica'' 17 urn:ISBN 9517469470.