Colin Urwin – författare

A wild frontier of mighty headlands, sheer crags rising from the sea and miles of lonely golden sands – Ireland’s coastline is foreboding, exhilarating and achingly beautiful.Men and women have lived and loved and died in this harsh but bountiful environment. Through it all they have told tales to entertain themselves, to pass on wisdom and to banish despair. It is little wonder that our richest folklore is woven into this island’s rugged and romantic coastline.Brought together and reimagined by modern-day seanchaí Colin Urwin, this collection includes some of the most enchanting, strange and poignant folk tales to be found on this ancient isle.

Swept by strong ocean currents and ferocious storms, Rathlin Island is mysterious and hauntingly beautiful. Lying just six miles off the north coast of County Antrim, it is the most northerly inhabited island of Ireland. Once home to prehistoric hunter-gatherers, its inhabitants have endured Viking raids, medieval massacres, famine and emigration. As farmers, fishermen and seafarers, they are resourceful, independent and proud – and they have always enjoyed a good story.Drawing on Irish and Scottish traditions, Rathlin has a rich folk heritage all its own. Much of it may have been lost but for one island man – Tommy Cecil. Best known for rescuing Sir Richard Branson after his hot-air balloon ditched into the sea off Rathlin, Cecil was also instrumental in saving many of the island’s old stories. Taken from recordings held in the Ulster Folk Museum, this unique collection brings these stories to print for the first time.

Founded fifteen centuries ago by the legendary Gaelic king Fergus Mór mac Eirc, Dál Riada was a most unusual ancient kingdom. From the Antrim Glens and Rathlin Island up through Kintyre, Argyll and the Inner Hebrides to the Isle of Skye, it was inhabited by Gaelic seafaring warriors and Viking raiders.With great skill and boundless courage, they navigated around the many islands and countless miles of treacherous coastline. They fought mighty battles, endured wild ocean storms and met with whirlpools and whales. Their presence still echoes in the old place names, and their stories of strange sea monsters, witches and otherworldly creatures have been passed down through the generations. In this collection, storyteller and folklorist Colin Urwin reimagines a few of the very best.

Irish Folk Tales of Love is a beautiful, poignant, and sometimes comical gathering of stories of lust, longing, heartbreak and devotion from Ireland’s ancient oral tradition. From doomed romances to crimes of passion, from cunning matchmakers to fairies who meddle in matters of the heart, these timeless tales reveal love in all its guises – tender and tragic, magical and mischievous, radiant and ruinous.Wander along wild coasts, through enchanted glens, across windswept mountains, and into firelit cabins and shadowed castles where love triumphs, falters, and twists in unexpected ways. Whether bittersweet dalliance or clumsy courtship, these stories remind us that love, in its beauty and its folly, has always been at the heart of the human story. Perfect for romantics, dreamers, and lovers of lore, this collection celebrates the enduring mystery and music of Ireland’s storytelling tradition.