Leitrim Folk Tales

Susie Minto gathers traditional tales associated with County Leitrim, drawing on folklore archives, local histories, parish collections and other regional sources. The stories are rooted in the county’s landscape, from Benbo and its surrounding mountains to bogs, loughs and the winding Shannon River.

Among the accounts are legends of Fionn Mac Cumhaill’s supposed burial place, Cormac Riabhac’s feats of strength and the wrongful execution of Jack Bircall. The collection also records encounters with fairies, ghosts, changelings, mermen, enchanted cows and supernatural salmon, alongside stories of An Dobharchú at Glenade Lake and the giant serpent said to have shaped the Shannon. Tracey Jean Yappa provides the illustrations.