Section 18: The Friars of Urlaur

Legends of Saints and Sinners

by Douglas HYDE (1860 - 1949)

"I have called the present volume "Legends of Saints and Sinners," which to a certain extent it is; but I mean it for a book of Irish Christian folk-lore. My idea in compiling it has been to give for the first time a collection of genuine Irish folk-lore which might be called "Christian." By this I mean folk-stories and folk-poems which are either entirely founded upon Christian conceptions, or else are so far coloured by them, that they could never have been told—at least in their present shape—had not Christianity established itself in Ireland. Every one of these stories conforms fairly to this standard, except one or two, which I give as necessary corollaries. They are all translations from the Irish. I have found hardly any such stories in English. They were mostly collected by myself from the mouths of native speakers, but three or four of them I have taken from Irish MSS. in my own possession, and a few more were given me by my friends. Not one of these stories was ever translated into English before, with the exception of those which I have taken from my own "Religious Songs of Connacht." - Summary by From The Introduction

Listen next episodes of Legends of Saints and Sinners:
Section 19: Dialogue between Two Old Women , Section 20: The Minister and the Gossoon , Section 21: The Keening of the Three Marys , Section 22: The Farmer's Son and the Bishop , Section 23: Shaun the Tinker , Section 24: Mary and St. Joseph and The Cherry Tree , Section 25: The Student who left College , Section 26: The Help of God in the Road , Section 27: The Minister's Son , Section 28: The Old Woman of Beare , Section 29: The Old Hag of Dingle , Section 30: The Poem of the Tor , Section 31: Columcille and His Brother Dobhran , Section 32: Bruadar and Smith and Glinn , Section 33: Friar Brian , Section 34: How the First Cat was Created , Section 35: God spare You your Health , Section 36: Teig O'Kane and the Corpse , Section 37: Tomaus O'Cahan and the Ghost , Section 38: Prayer after Tobacco , Section 39: The Buideach, The Tinker, and The Black Donkey , Section 40: The Great Worm of the Shannon , Section 41: The Poor Widow and Grania Oï , Section 42: The Gambler of the Branch , Section 43: The Beetle, The Dhardheel, and the Prumpolaun , Section 44: The Lady of the Alms , Section 45: St. Patrick and his Garron , Section 46: How Saint Moling got his Name