Animals of Ireland in Myth and Legend

Animals of Ireland in Myth and Legend gathers Irish legends in which animals carry symbolic, narrative or other traditional significance. Dáithí Ó hÓgáin presents the subject as part of Ireland’s storytelling heritage, focusing on the place of animals within the country’s mythic and legendary literature rather than treating them as a separate natural-history topic.

The book is a short introduction to Irish animal lore, shaped for younger readers but rooted in traditional material. Its emphasis is cultural: animals appear as figures within stories, beliefs and inherited imaginative traditions associated with Ireland. The result is a concise folklore volume concerned with how the animal world has been represented in Irish legend.