New to the celtic world

Paul Ludwig

New Member
I have just learned through DNA analysis that I am actually of Irish decent. I would like to explore Irish history and folklore - focusing on pre-Christianity. If anyone could point me toward a starting point (i.e., website, podcasts, online websites - as well as books/magazines) I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks.
 

Lost Egg

New Member
Hi Paul, I've been meaning to reply, sorry its taken so long.

There are two books I'd recommend as a basic intro to Irish Gaelic / Celtic myth...

Teach Yourself Celtic Myths - A good entry level book
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Celtic-Myths-Teach-Yourself-Steve/dp/0340789212/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1464888034&sr=8-1&keywords=teach+yourself+celtic+myths

Mammoth Book of Celtic Myths - A heavier book but worth a read. It includes a selection of myths from across the Celtic World (some are Irish) and I'd say its worth reading them all, even the non-Irish ones.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mammoth-Celtic-Myths-Legends-Books-x/dp/1841192481/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1464888052&sr=8-1&keywords=mammoth+book+of+celtic+myth
 

The Misfit

New Member
In 2015 I visited the Giants Causeway in Ireland. There was a visitors center with a very nice book store. As I am not familiar with Celtic mythology I wanted to buy a book about it. I know much about Norse mythology as I have read the Eddas. The Eddas are the two books that are the earliest/best sources for Norse mythology. I wanted to buy a sort of Celtic equivalent of the Eddas. I tried to explain what I was looking for to the guy working at the store, but as he was unfamiliar with the Eddas, he really couldn't steer me towards quite what I was looking for. He recommended the book A Treasury of Irish Myth, Legend & Folklore by Isabella Augusta Gregory and William Butler Yeats. While it's not the sort of early source material I was looking for, it looks like a good jumping off point. As I have not read it yet (I read all the time but there are so many books to read!), I don't know if I could recommend it, but it does have a lot of extremely positive reviews on amazon.
 

Shinks

New Member
I haven't read the book A Treasury of Irish Myth, Legend & Folklore that Misfit mentioned, but have done what I consider to be a fair amount of research via the internet. As far as I am aware, the majority of what we know about Celtic myth came from oral tradition, rather than early source material like the Eddas (which I have yet to finish). If there are any early sources, I would be happy to hear about them
 
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