Irish Fairy Tales

By: James Stephens - editor

Narrated by: Kevin Stillwell

Length: 7 hrs and 30 mins

Publisher's summary

This collection of 10 time-honored tales brims with enchantment, whimsy, and sly humor. Assembled by a renowned poet and student of Gaelic language and culture, this edition includes "The Birth of Bran", "The Little Brawl at Allen", "The Enchanted Cave of Cesh Corran", "Becuma of the White Skin", "Mongan's Frenzy", and other stories.

Public Domain (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

Woeful narration.

Seriously, Audible, with the embarrassment of Irish vocal talent out there, you go for this guy?
Lumpen, inarticulate pronunciation of Irish names and words makes it sound like I'm being recounted the stories from my own country by a tourist. You have got to do better than this- it's not as if Irish Mythology is getting much representation here to start with.
Save your Credit and just read the Kindle Edition- it's free.

Beautiful poetic stories, authentic narration

Very enjoyable listen. Had no previous knowledge of Irish myth, and this book has everything I was hoping for. Beautiful prose, interesting stories, and reader's accent brought it all together to be a book I'll come back to just to enjoy a story and the telling that borders on poetry, an unexpected bonus (not really a poetry guy, didn't think so at least).

Great Celtic stories

this is a great work, it is a longer and a different tales style from many of the stories you have heard if you are a Lister to Irish tales. I would recommend it

Non-native with deep Scottish rites

You probably know what you’re getting into, classic Irish Tales of Faerie and The Fae. Not a lot I can say about the stories. Other than the last one gets a bit dense as it is a story within a story within a story within a story. So it takes a second at one point to work through all that. However, it’s not a big deal as you don’t jump much back and forth between all the various story levels.

I believe that for you to understand my review you must first understand a bit about me asthe author. I’m familiar with many aspects of Celtic culture but I felt this was a key area of knowledge I didn’t have. Being several American generations removed from my Scottish ancestry, though having been born in Scotland due to my father’s US Navy posting. This created in me an love of Scotland and the culture. I’ve even attempted to learn Scots Gaelic years ago, but if you don’t use it you lose it.

About the story: I enjoyed the stories immensely. Not having heard them before I don’t really have any basis of reference, but I thought they were enjoyable as an adult though a bit dated in language for a modern child to really understand. An older child with that sort of predilection may enjoy it as well.

Part of my reason for getting this title was because of my pursuit of religious wisdom. I have been studying all major religions of the world including Buddhism, Daoism, multiple Native American, Christianity, Islam, and I’ve already have The Torah in my library. I have done a fair bit of study into Wicca and Druidism as well but I believe a lot of beliefs and wisdom are hidden in the stories parents used to tell their children. As they say “legends have their basis in fact” (or something like that). If you account for the inevitable oral tradition modifications, variation in language since writing the stories, as well as translation variant, it is possible to gain a deeper understanding and appreciation for the stories. That said I appreciated the narrator’s pronunciation of proper nouns. It sounded great to me, though I’m no expert.

Superb!--And Perhaps Not What You Expect!

I ordered this a year or two ago, but didn't get around to listening till now. And what a shock! While I expected from the write-up more of what I generally consider somewhat boring hero-tales, with Finn doing the usual super-hero violent stuff, this book is, instead, a MESMERIZING book of Celtic tales, told in such a way that all of their mythological/mystical magic is retained. Yes, Finn appears, but it took me an hour to even recognize him--He is here a real hero, with mystical roots and filled with so much true wonder. Here, he has not been simply reduced to the political hero of a down-trodden race, but sings to us of his original power. The narrator, Kevin Stillwell, is a true bard. My gosh, he is fantastic. He is never over-blown, but the tiniest innuendos in his reading open up whole chapters in characterization. In this book, you will recognize the skeletons of some of the best Celtic books you've ever read. And if more fantasy authors listen to Stillwell's reading, I predict a generation of new fantasy novels. In Stillwell's rendition, the book reminds me VERY strongly of Tolkien's "Silmarillion", and some of his other more esoteric writing. (Any chance, Audible, that you could get this narrator to do some new Tolkien readings?) TOP LISTENING for anyone interested in mythology, especially Celtic. Fabulous! Thank you!

I'd buy 20 more stories

Needs more Diarmuid of the Gay Face, one of Irelands most underrated characters, with stories of witches, demons and magic spears; but the selected stories were awesome.

Kevin Stillwell does an incredible job of performing the stories, adding a sense of mysticism and wonder to all, paired with perfect pronunciation made this one of the most enjoyable anthologies I've heard.

If they teamed up to release another compilation, it would be an insta-buy for me.

Atrocious

heavily contaminated with Christian mythology intent on dragging other cultures through the mud. Nothing worthwhile

Probably how this ought to be read—aloud

Loved listening to this gem! Probably not for kids, but a great window into Irish folklore.

This should be in the religion section

No thank you. Why are all the free books trash? This is christian lies. Skip it.

I love it

The stories are so charming and beautifully written. The narration equally lovely. I’ve listened to the whole thing about five times.

mispronunciation of all names

the book is so good, however, all names and places are pronounced so poorly that it is a big disappointment