Irish Fairy Tales

Usheen’s Return to Ireland: And when he saw it he had such a wish and feeling for it that he forgot what he was told and got off the horse (Gregory, 257). This line confirms the power of one’s feelings about traditions, culture and “home.” Usheen was given a gift of longevity with one simple rule, “don’t touch the ground,” yet when we returned home he was transformed from young man to old man. Usheen was lost without his family and cultural landscape – he realized this by forgetting his “fortune” and moving toward his heritage.

Again, we see the value of one’s heritage in Dreams of Gold. While Anthony Hynes is searching for gold, a cobbler delivers an important message of finding riches within one’s own garden. I took this to mean the importance of individuality and that cultural beliefs and traditions are often sought after in other places. In reality, riches are very near but too many don’t think this…they typically daydream far away.

The Birth of Finn MacCumhail: A traditional tale of attempted murder and trickery. The grandmother realizes her grandson’s fate and saves him by entering the deep, dark forest. How many times have I read this at the start of a fairy tale? A lot. Several traditional components…the giant, the fish, the close calls with the king, exist throughout this tale as well as the repetitious scenes.

The giant called out, “Where are you?”
“On Finn’s finger,” cried the ring. That instant the giant sprang at Finn and almost came down on his head, thinking in this way to crush him to bits. Finn sprang to a distance. Again the giant asked, “Where are you?”
“On Finn’s finger,” answered the ring. (Curtin, 241)

The Man Who Had No Story was my favorite tale. There are several Irish traditional components – the hostility toward the English, the power of music and dance, the church, storytelling. With this, storytelling, we see one man who has limited skill or no desire to tell a tale that he finds himself involved in many situations. The situations are far fetch but, in the end, help Brian appreciate the gift of storytelling.

Regarding space and time, within many of these tales, space and time was often exaggerated. While perception indicated a small amount of time had passed, the tale told of years that passed. The same occurred with space. Space was unlimited and did not hinder movement from place to place.