An illustration from Irish Gothic by James Patrick Ryan . ... and a series of ornate borders that pay tribute to the plates of the great master of fairy illustration Arthur Rackham.

The origins of the Fairy King in old Celtic lore. Stories of fairies are prominent in Irish folklore, and the belief in a fairy hierarchy, or fairy royalty, has been a popular notion for centuries.

When the Irish talk about fairy forts, they’re referring to the remains of stones set out in a circular arrangement and surrounded by one or many ditches or banks.

McCarthy’s illustrations elevate this story, making it a genuine work of art filled with familiar Irish iconography that readers will adore. (7+) At Home in a Book by Lauren O’Hara (Puffin) ...

Irish folklore, like the island itself, is littered with tales of earth mounds known as fairy forts. The ancient ringforts date back to the Iron Age and have long been entwined with tales of the ...

Yeats’ Irish folklore in a proper context spoke to me. I learned there was a whole language called Irish. I learned a leprechaun (or, per Yeats, lepracaun or even leith bhrogan) was a fairy ...

Though Irish fairy folk don’t hold that esteem, it wasn’t a stretch for St. Patrick to oblige the ancient Celtic beliefs in an effort to convert the island to a monotheistic religion.