Celtic Wonder Tales

First published in 1910 at the height of the Celtic Revival movement, this beautiful collection features fourteen tales based on Celtic legend. The stories encompass the Tuatha Dé Danann (Gaelic deities), the magical land of Tir-na-Moe, feisty heroes, shape-shifting gods, fearsome villains, fairies, magic cows and blacksmiths with supernatural powers. It opens with a creation myth centred on fire-goddess Brigit’s green cloak which becomes the island of Ireland itself.Adorned with exquisite illustrations by Maud Gonne, and featuring a new introduction by Mark Williams, this evocative volume is a fascinating series of tales exploring Gaelic mythology, magic and wonder.

ELLA YOUNG was an Irish poet, writer for children and mythologist who was educated at Trinity College Dublin. She later emigrated to the USA and held an academic post at the University of California. She was a friend of Patrick Pearse and supported the Republican movement.MAUD GONNE was an artist, actress, suffragette and activist in the Republican movement. She was a muse and inspiration for many works by W.B. Yeats, who proposed to her several times.MARK WILLIAMS is Fellow and Tutor in English at St Edmund Hall, Oxford. He is a specialist in medieval Irish and Welsh language and literature, and is the author of Ireland’s Immortals: A History of the Gods of Irish Myth (Princeton University Press, 2016), and The Celtic Myths That Shape the Way We Think (Thames & Hudson, 2021).