Rowdy Irish Tales For Children — Eddie Lenihan

Well-known author and storyteller Eddie Lenihan brings to life stories that he originally told to his son, Keith. In doing so, he preserves the freshness and immediacy of the spoken word and recreates it on the page. 'The Wake of 'Carraig Clancy'' is a story of Corca Baiscinn, the remote west of Clare, and its self-proclaiming emperor, Boethius 'Carraig' Clancy. When this great leader chokes to death on a fishbone, in undignified and suspicious circumstances, the wake that follows sees assorted heroes and warriors, keeners, druids and scribes collected together for the sombre occasion. The gathering descends first into chaos and later into legend, remembered even to our own day. 'Fionn Mac Cunhail and the Brainball Factory' tells the tale of one of the less savory aspects of Irish warfare in the heroic age of Fianna. Bloody and mysterious happenings at Tara lead the High King's druid to the conclusion that brainballs - the most sinister and detested weapon of the ancient world - are being manufactured in the wilds of Ulster, despite a strict royal ban. Such defiance cannot be tolerated, and so Fionn and his men set out to find the maker of the evil weapons and bring him back to Tara to account for his vile deeds - if they can, that is!