Irish Fairy Forts
Portals to the Past
Jo Kerrigan author Richard Mills illustrator
Format:Hardback
Publisher:O'Brien Press Ltd
Published:14th Apr '25
Should be back in stock very soon
Far more than just a faint echo of the past, Ireland’s fairy forts are still vibrantly alive.
The traditions connected to them are so powerful that, even today, people rarely interfere with Irish fairy forts or fairy trees. They aren’t built on; roads curve around them; farmers don’t plough over them
The most numerous ancient remains in Ireland today, numbering up to 50,000 or more, these enigmatic mounds and grassy banks seem to call out to us from an earlier time. So, what are they, who built them and what were they for? And how have so many survived for so long?
With evocative photographs by Richard Mills, master folklorist Jo Kerrigan explores the origins of these mysterious circular structures: the stories and legends, the history and archaeology, the living traditions and practices connected to them. And reminds us of the dangers of disturbing the ancient spirits dwelling beneath.
a wonderful and magical publication
-- The Echoa fabulous, really lovely book to even just flick through
-- Limerick’s Live Limerick TodayRichard Mills is a first-class photographer. The book proved to be handsomely put together, and the photographs are, as anticipated, extraordinary. I was also keen to read about fairylore through the lens of the tens of thousands of raths that still ornament the Irish countryside. Here is a neglected aspect of Irish folklore, as the rath tends to be incidental in the work of the collectors of the last 200 years ... the authors, who pop up a lot on the journey, are pleasant, even restful company and the prose is consistently smooth. The real genius of the book is the authors’ ability to track down modern testimonies from such random strangers as the village postman and “Con, the bat expert”. I can’t think of a better collection of Irish experiences (as opposed to folk tales) since Diarmuid MacManus and the 1950s
-- Simon Young, Fortean TISBN: 9781788495011
Dimensions: 216mm x 135mm x 24mm
Weight: 488g
256 pages