Irish Folklore
INTRODUCTION & HISTORY
WARS AND HEROES
FAIRIES
POPULAR CHARMS, WAYS AND TRADITIONS
Irish culture is centered upon the folklore and myths that have been a significant part of Irish traditions and history. When it comes to folklore and Gaelic culture, the Irish are proud of their history and often distinguish themselves from the rest of the European culture. This paper will explore traditional Irish folklore and its significance on contemporary Irish culture customs and beliefs. It will also outline factors that have contributed to the development and reservation of the Irish folklore.
INTRODUCTION & HISTORY
In order to understand how Irish folklore has shaped the cultural beliefs, traditions and customs of the Irish people, it is important to understand how Ireland is culturally unique from the rest of Europe and how it differs in geography, history and tradition. The Irish people are known as some of the best storytellers in the world and their folklore is considered to be the strongest reflection of the Irish culture. In Sean O'Sullivan's work, The Folklore of Ireland, he describes Irish folklore as "the oldest vernacular literature in Western Europe" (11). From O'Sullivan, we learn that the Irish are extremely protective of their folklore and the literature associated with it and that the written records of these tales date back to the 12th Century. O'Sullivan outlines three reasons why Irish folklore differs from that of other ethnic folklore in Europe. Firstly, the geographical placement of Ireland in relation to the rest of Europe allowed the Irish to draw on ideas from other countries while their isolation created an environment where their own stories and traditions could be preserved and kept as their own.
The second reason, as outlined by O'Sullivan is that was able to maintain no occupation from Rome and therefore never had the merging of cultures that occurred in many other Western European nations, therefore allowing the Irish to maintain their own folklore without the Roman influence. It was also said that the Irish "shook all empires but founded none ... They were not capable of making Celtia into an empire, but they had enough feeling for wide organization and social culture to recognize these in the Roman Empire and to give that empire their support" (Colum 44).
And Finally, the Irish people and government have been very active in preserving not only the written literature but also the oral traditions of its folklore (O'Sullivan, 12). The Department of Folklore at the University of Dublin has a recorded over one million pages of written folklore in its collection. A significant part of this preservation is also through the oral tradition of the Irish which has been a cultural trait for centuries. These three factors have contributed greatly to the development and preservation of Irish folklore.
Irish folklore holds many characteristics absent from traditional folklore of other European cultures. Curtain explains Irish folklore details the names and places of the characters as well as their living conditions and how they acted. Characters in Irish folklore also transcend time barriers as "the heroes and their fields of action are brought to us with as much definitiveness as if they were persons of to-day or yesterday. This characteristic is much less frequently met in the middle and Eastern Europe" (11). As Curtain points out, this characteristic allows for the involvement of not only the character in the folklore but also Ireland as a whole, including a description of the "the whole region which it belongs: the hills, rivers, mountains, plains, villages, trees, rocks, springs, and plants are all made sacred. The country of the mythology becomes, in the fullest sense, a 'holy land'" (12). This individuality and national pride is reflected in the folklore and is largely responsible for it's current cultural traditions.
WARS AND HEROES
The role of the hero has a strong presence in Irish folklore and literature. The tales of Irish heroes have influenced the perception of the Irish people throughout the world as they are often referred to as the "fighting Irish." When reading the tales of Irish heroes in folklore, we are told of warriors of great courage and bravery. Irish war folklore have been influenced by history, drawing again on the fact that they were not conquered by the Roman Empire when the rest of Europe was in continuous danger of it. To understand this reputation, Column tells us that the Irish " ... were looked upon as barbarians by the Romans and Greeks,...
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