Ebook: Early Irish History and Mythology

This book is concerned mainly with the early history of Ireland. Events and persons of early Christian Ireland are occasionally discussed; but for the most part it confines itself to the history of Ireland previous to the official introduction of Christianity in A.D. 431. The main source from which this history has been reconstructed is native Irish tradition, which has been supplemented to some extent by the testimony of classical authors and by linguistic evidence.

In the Additional Notes a few of the views expressed in the body of the book are modified or withdrawn. But for the most part — and this accounts for their unusual length — these Additional Notes are intended to make the book as self-contained as was reasonably possible. At the outset of my work I had hoped to supplement it at a later date by writing a couple of other books on kindred themes; but I later realized that there is no prospect of my obtaining the necessary leisure to undertake these.