From the Children of Lir to Díarmuid and Gráinne to the Salmon of Knowledge and Oisín in Tír na nÓg, Padraic O'Farrell reintroduces the classic stories of the Celtic past.

The ghost story holds a special place in Ireland. It provided the raw material for evenings of storytelling that were a common feature of country life up to the 1950s (and frequently beyond). Unexplained psychic phenomena fascinate people from all walks of life. Many are afraid, ashamed and embarrassed to come forward for fear of not being taken seriously. Of course, we can't prove that ghosts exist, we are in a different realm of consciousness when we talk about ghosts. But however strange or unusual the feelings that people experience, the experiences themselves are nonetheless real.

Seventeen ninety-eight saw French and American revolutionary ideals converge with popular rebellion in Ireland. The rebellion ended in bloody failure, but 1798 was kept alive in folk memory by a nascent literature added to by succeeding generations of nationalists and cultural revivalists.