Over Nine Waves: A Book of Irish Legends - Paperback

by Marie Heaney (Editor)

Journalist Marie Heaney skillfully revives the glory of ancient Irish storytelling in this comprehensive volume from the great pre-Christian sequences to the more recent tales of the three patron saints Patrick, Brigid, and Colmcille.

Back Jacket

In her colloquial retelling of these stories, Marie Heaney conveys the full dramatic and poetic power of one of Europe's oldest narrative traditions. The most important tales from the three major pre-Christian sequences - the Mythological Cycle, the Ulster Cycle and the Finn Cycle - are followed by lives of the saints Patrick, Brigid and Columcille, and the result is a uniquely accessible compendium. Encompassing both extremes of violence and the most sublime and tender imaginative fancy, the world of Over Nine Waves is one in which the present-day reader will have no difficulty finding his or her bearings. Marie Heaney is the ideal guide, demonstrating with authority what may still be too little known, that the ancient Irish legends are comparable in their force and profundity to any in the world.

Author Biography

Marie Heaney was born in County Tyrone. She trained as a teacher in Belfast and began her career in schools in Northern Ireland. Married with three children, she now lives in Dublin where she works as a freelance writer, contributing to newspapers and to programmes on both RTE and BBC.