An Irish Folklore Treasury: A Selection of Old Stories, Ways and Wisdom from the School's Collection

"An Irish Folklore Treasury by John Creedon offers an earnest and intimate window into early twentieth-century life in Ireland through the eyes of young children...it provides an excellent introduction to Irish folklore―and to the importance of folkloristics and heritage preservation―for an undergraduate course. With its more manageable size than the 250,000-plus entries of the larger Schools' collection, An Irish Folklore Treasury could also engage students of all ages in the process of folklore analysis. This anthology does the important work of connecting a diverse readership with the history and practice of folklore collection, and, in this, Creedon greatly serves our discipline." – Joelle Jackson in Journal of American Folklore Vol. 138, No. 549, Summer 2025In this people’s history of Ireland, John Creedon introduces a fascinating collection of stories from the Schools’ Collection. This treasure trove of old stories, ways and wisdom, which could have been lost for ever, was collected by schoolchildren as part of a nationwide project set up in the 1930s to preserve Irish folklore.Published here for the first time, this ‘best of’ selection includes chapters on ghost stories, agriculture, forgotten trades, schooling and pastimes. The result is an incredible arc of folk history that tells us about ourselves and how we lived long ago. Read more