The Glens of Antrim and the Causeway coast

There are nine glens or valleys of Antrim. Each of these green valleys has a character of its own. Together, they form a lovely and romantic area of rivers, waterfalls, wild flowers and birds.

The people of the Glens are great story-tellers. They will tell you that the places where the little people, or fairies, are said to go, are Lurigethan Mountain and Teveragh Hill. These little people are mischievous and take terrible revenge on anyone who cuts down a fairy thorn tree. Today many farmers throughout Ireland are so superstitious that they will not cut down a thorn tree, even if it is in the middle of their field!

The Glens of Antrim were very hard for travellers to reach until the building of the Antrim Coast Road in 1834. For sixty miles this follows the Causeway Coast, named after its most famous feature, the Giant's Causeway.

Stories, legends & myths

Story-telling has always been a part of the lrish way of life - stories of gods and people who lived in a land of adventure, warfare and romance, stories told by the fire side.

Monks living in the late Middle Ages preserved many of these stories in the beautifully-decorated manuscripts of the Book of Leinster. But it is the strong oral tradition of the lrish people which has made it possible for so many folk tales to survive. Over the centuries, story-telling was an important profession but nowadays such people would be hard to find. Perhaps the last story-teller was Peig Sayers who died in 1958. lt was said that she had 375 stories to tell!

Susan Sheerin, Jonathan Seath, Gillian White: Spotlight on Britain; Oxford University Press, 1985, page 108

The Irish are said to be a very superstitious race.

- What superstitions are observed in your country?

- Are you superstitious?

- Is there any truth in ancient superstitions?