Longford Folk Tales

Longford Folk Tales gathers legends, folk customs and local lore from across County Longford, spanning early Irish tradition and more recent memory. Philip Byrne includes stories of saints, deities, fairies, devils, kings, ghosts and the everyday characters who inhabit local storytelling.

Among the featured tales are the Wooing of Étaín, the Blake Millions, butter stealing and Hempenstall, remembered as ‘The Walking Gallows’. Other chapters turn to Lough Gowna, fairy forts, stolen children, county wake games and reported ghosts. Together, these accounts preserve the beliefs, storytelling habits and remembered incidents associated with Longford’s communities and landscape.