No products in the cart.
20 Enchanting Tales from Celtic Folklore
Celtic folklore preserves a body of myths and stories passed down for centuries among the Irish, Welsh, Scottish, Breton, Cornish, and Manx peoples.
Unlike the heroic cycles of Celtic mythology that feature gods of Ireland such as Lugh, Brigid, and the Tuatha Dé Danann, these fairy tales come from the hearthside traditions of Irish folk and wider Celtic lands
Recorded by Christian scribes in medieval manuscripts and later by folklorists in the nineteenth century, they reveal how Celtic culture understood the Otherworld, supernatural powers, and mythical creatures of the Celtic pantheon.
The tales are part of both Irish literature and Scottish folklore, bridging mythology and folklore into a living Celtic tradition.
I earn a small commission from the links to each book. If one particular book is of interest to you please feel free to check it out by clicking the title of the book.
1. The Children of Lir
Source: Early Irish folk tales; retold in Lady Gregory’s Gods and Fighting Men (1904).
One of the most famous Irish stories, this Celtic legend tells of four children transformed into swans for nine hundred years. When Christianity arrives, they regain human form as old mortals and die after baptism. It bridges Irish mythology and folklore, showing how the mythological cycle consists of both divine and tragic themes.
2. The Soul Cages
Source: T. Crofton Croker, Fairy Legends and Traditions of the South of Ireland (1825).
In Irish folklore, a fisherman discovers a sea-fairy who imprisons drowned sailors’ souls in lobster pots. He tricks the Otherworld being and frees them. This tale illustrates how Celtic mythological creatures could be both generous and cruel.
3. The Horned Women
Source: Lady Wilde, Ancient Legends, Mystic Charms, and Superstitions of Ireland (1887).
Twelve witches with horns appear in an Irish household, demanding submission. The woman of the house resists with Christian symbols. Here Celtic mythology creatures are re-cast through Irish folk tradition into warnings about demonic forces, preserved by Christian monks and scribes.
4. The Legend of Knockgrafton
Source: Croker, 1825.
A hunchback named Lusmore adds a respectful phrase to the fairies’ chant and is rewarded, while another imitator offends them and is cursed. This Irish tale is part of the body of myths where humility triumphs and pride is punished, common across the Celtic world.
5. Fair, Brown, and Trembling
Source: Jeremiah Curtin, Myths and Folk Tales of Ireland (1890).
This Irish Cinderella story shows Trembling, the youngest daughter, outshining her sisters at church and winning the love of a prince. It belongs to Irish folklore yet echoes Celtic myth in its Otherworldly helpers and magical clothes.
6. Tam Lin
Source: Scottish Border ballad, Child Ballads (No. 39).
A young woman rescues her lover from the Queen of Fairies, holding him through shape-shifts until he is freed. This Scottish folklore ballad connects to Celtic mythology creatures of the Otherworld and reflects the role of a goddess figure who both entraps and releases.
7. The Selkie Bride
Source: Collected in Orkney and Shetland tradition.
A fisherman steals a selkie’s sealskin, forcing her to marry him. When she finds it, she returns to the sea, leaving her children behind. These Irish and Scottish folklore tales exemplify Celtic tales of mythical creatures tied to the sea.
8. The Sprightly Tailor
Source: J. F. Campbell, Popular Tales of the West Highlands (1860).
A tailor accepts a wager to sew at night in a haunted church. As a giant phantom rises piece by piece, he escapes at the last moment. This Celtic folklore story blends humor and fear, showing how the Celts imagined supernatural powers.
9. Gold-Tree and Silver-Tree
Source: Jacobs, English Fairy Tales (1890).
A jealous queen plots to kill her daughter Gold-Tree, echoing Snow White motifs. The girl survives through help from mythical creatures and eventually prospers. It reflects how Celtic peoples adapted international fairy tales into Irish folk tradition.
10. The Brewery of Eggshells
Source: Cambrian Quarterly Magazine (1830); Jacobs, 1892.
A Welsh mother suspects her twins are changelings. By boiling food in eggshells, she exposes the fairy imposters. This tale reveals the Celtic mythological fear of Otherworldly beings stealing human children.
11. The Lady of Llyn y Fan Fach
Source: Medieval Welsh folklore; Wirt Sikes, British Goblins (1881).
A farmer marries a lake-maiden under the condition of avoiding three causeless blows. When he fails, she returns to the water. Her sons become the Physicians of Myddfai, linking Celtic folklore with historical sources in Welsh medicine.
12. Duffy and the Devil
Source: Cornish tale, Bottrell, 1870.
A maid bargains with the Devil to spin wool, but defeats him by learning his name. This Celtic folklore tale resembles Rumpelstiltskin and shows how the pantheon of evil beings crossed into Cornish and Irish folk tradition.
13. Lutey and the Mermaid
Source: Bottrell, 1870.
A Cornish fisherman helps a mermaid, who later claims him for the sea. The story belongs to wider Celtic mythology creatures of the Otherworld and reflects the attraction and peril of Celtic deities of the waters.
14. The Black Cat
Source: Émile Souvestre, Le Foyer Breton (1844).
In Breton folklore, a mysterious black cat aids a young woman, functioning like a Celtic deity in animal form. This mythological tale reflects how Celtic culture saw gods and heroes hidden in mythical creatures.
15. The Groac’h of the Isle of Lok
Source: Souvestre, 1844.
The Groac’h is a Breton sorceress who lures men and transforms them into fish. A courageous maiden breaks her spell. This Celtic folklore tale preserves echoes of the Celtic pantheon’s darker deities and warns against greed.
16. The Phynodderree
Source: Sophia Morrison, Manx Fairy Tales (1911).
The Phynodderree is a shaggy fairy helper who labors at night but vanishes when offered clothes. This Manx tale belongs to Celtic mythology and folklore where Otherworld beings interact with the Irish people and Celtic tribes.
17. Hudden, Dudden, and Donald O’Neary
Source: Patrick Kennedy, Legendary Fictions of the Irish Celts (1866).
Donald O’Neary outsmarts his greedy neighbors, echoing early Irish trickster myths. This comic tale in Irish folklore reflects Celtic deities of wit rather than war.
18. Gelert the Faithful Hound
Source: Associated with Beddgelert in Wales; popularized 18th century.
Prince Llywelyn kills his loyal hound, believing it harmed his son, only to discover the dog had saved him from a wolf. The Celtic myth here echoes both Irish mythology and British mythology in its tragic irony.
19. Jack the Giant Killer
Source: Cornish chapbook, 1711.
Jack slays giants with cunning, linking folk narrative with Arthurian legend. This Celtic folklore tale reflects ancient Celtic religion’s preoccupation with mythical creatures, giants, and gods and heroes.
20. The Mermaid of Zennor
Source: Cornish legend, associated with Zennor church.
A mysterious woman with supernatural powers is revealed as a mermaid and disappears with her lover into the sea. This story would become one of the most famous Irish folk tradition parallels in Cornish lore, embodying the Celtic mythological Otherworld.
References
- Croker, Thomas Crofton. Fairy Legends and Traditions of the South of Ireland. 1825.
- Jacobs, Joseph. Celtic Fairy Tales (1892) and More Celtic Fairy Tales (1894).
- Curtin, Jeremiah. Myths and Folk Tales of Ireland. 1890.
- Campbell, John Francis. Popular Tales of the West Highlands. 1860.
- Bottrell, William. Traditions and Hearthside Stories of West Cornwall. 1870.
- Souvestre, Émile. Le Foyer Breton. 1844.
- Morrison, Sophia. Manx Fairy Tales. 1911.
- Sikes, Wirt. British Goblins: Welsh Folk-Lore. 1881.
- Lady Wilde. Ancient Legends, Mystic Charms, and Superstitions of Ireland. 1887.