The myth tales included in this volume were collected personally by the author, during 1887, in the west of Ireland,--in Kerry, Galway, and Donegal,--and taken down from the mouths of men who, with one or two exceptions, spoke only Gaelic, or but little English and that imperfectly. To this is due the fact that the stories are so well preserved, and not blurred and rendered indistinct, as is the case in places where the ancient Gaelic language, in which they were originally told, has perished. CONTENTS. Introduction. The Son of the King of Erin and the Giant of Loch Léin. The Three Daughters of King O'Hara. The Weaver's Son and the Giant of the White Hill. Fair, Brown, and Trembling. The King of Erin and the Queen of the Lonesome Island. The Shee an Gannon and the Gruagach Gaire. The Three Daughters of the King of the East and the Son of a King in Erin. The Fisherman's Son and the Gruagach. The Thirteenth Son of the King of Erin. Kil Arthur. Shaking-Head. Birth of Fin MacCumhail. Fin MacCumhail and the Fenians of Erin in the Castle of Fear Dubh. Fin MacCumhail and the Knight of the Full Axe. Gilla na Grakin and Fin MacCumhail. Fin MacCumhail, the Seven Brothers, and the King of France. Black, Brown, and Gray. Fin MacCumhail. Cucúlin. Oisin in Tir na n-og. [Decoration] NOTICES. Mr. Curtin is the first to give to the public a volume of Irish popular tales which _may justly be ranked with the best recent collections of popular tales in Germany, France, and Italy.... A delightful book alike for the scholar and general reader_.--_The Nation._ I have now read the whole of your "Irish Myths," with perhaps one exception, and I compliment you most heartily upon the book. _It is wonderfully fresh and suggestive, and in the mere capacity of a lot of fairy stories it ought to have a big circulation._ Fin MacCool and the Fenians of Erin were great fellows anyway.--_Charles A. Dana._ A contribution to the literature of the subject which is of the very first importance.... The stories are wonderfully fresh and distinct, and they are pervaded with a most rare and delicious humor.--_The Beacon._ A more thoroughly delightful book has not come to hand for many a long day. Its tales have, in the first place, the genuine ring of original myths, the true ring of folk-lore, that indescribable naïveté which is as charming as it is inimitable.--_Boston Courier._ No more interesting or more valuable contribution to the literature of this subject has ever been made.... The tales in this book are very charming. They cover a wide range, and to adults as well as to children of tender years they are simply fascinating.--_Quebec Chronicle._ The work of the collector is not only performed faithfully, but with such intelligence that the stories have a value in literature worthy of being added to the Norse sagas and other tales of wild adventure and myths.--_Boston Journal._