Title: Dingle Folk Tales
Author: Luke Eastwood
Publisher: Electric Pub.
Review of Luke Eastwood’s Dingle Folk Tales
By Merchywen
The book begins with a survey of some of the ancient sites and features of the Dingle Peninsula, part of Country Kerry, which include standing stones and ring forts as well as presenting the derivation of the name Dingle. From the list of places and monument, with a decent map, one could take a tour of these sites if one was so inclined.
Eastwood’s collection is both comprehensive and wide ranging, and are retellings of older tales and more recent ones. There are tales that read like history lessons, including one of feuding, rebellion and the end of a local dynasty in the time of Elizabeth I; what happened during the Potato Famine; a tale of a native Arctic and Antarctic explorer; a medieval brooch; and fascinating tale of intrigue daring by a local man to save Marie Antoinette and bring her to Dingle, which failed. The book ends with a long involved tale concerning the Battle of Ventry.
No collection of this kind would be complete without tales about fairies, leprechauns or of magical happenings, quite often in threes, with a moral at the end. You can read about the Cailleach, ghosts, witchcraft, a dwarf and a giant. Animals are not left out either, including, of course, one about the late lamented Fungie, the Dolphin of Dingle Harbour and a hare.
There is even a connection to Star Wars in Dingle that is recounted.
I found them well paced and held my attention throughout. This collection would appeal to anyone who are interested in folk tales, particularly in Irish folk tales, or who have ancestry traceable to the southwest corner of Ireland.