Fermanagh Folk Tales

Fermanagh's culture, heritage, characters and stories set it apart from the rest of the world. Every mountain, tree, lake, stream, rock, stone and character tells a tale. There are the strange stories of mythical creatures, such as the Shining Folk that lurk under the surface of Lough Erne, and the fairies that taught the unruly wee Meg Barnileg a lesson. There are spooky tales of the Cooneen poltergeist that haunted the Murphy family and the ghost of Belleek Pottery. And there are the 'pants', or tall tales, that the locals love to retell, such as the stories about 'educated' Irish pigs who understood three languages, talking horses or the pike who went 'fishing' for squirrels. All these stories and more are featured in this unique collection which will take you deep into the heart of this historic county.

DOREEN McBRIDE is a retired biology teacher with an interest in the environment, folklore, local history and storytelling. She spent a year seconded to the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum to develop materials for schools using the grounds from a scientific point of view. The museum published those materials and asked her to write a guide for children, which was published by Longmans in 1988. She had a career change in 1991 and became an international, award-winning professional storyteller. She served for 12 years on the then Southern Education and Library Board and was President of Association of Northern Ireland Education and Library Boards (2004-2005). She is a prolific author of local history books, including seven for The History Press and contributes to local periodicals. She has had three plays broadcast on Radio Ulster and she lives in Banbridge, Co. Down.