“Humour is a strange, uncertain thing, this to one person, that to another. Hopefully , though, readers of this book will not he disappointed in their own search.
Anyone who has been disgusted by the habit of spitting in public today should pause a moment. They are witnessing the poor, ugly remnants of a heroic and wondrous Irish tradition that stretched back many ages and that once disgltinguished our culture from all others in its skill, knowledge and wisdom, as the tale “How spitting became an artwork in Ireland” describes.
Humour, as said, comes in many shades. And in “The druid of Feakle’s Toothshop”, though it may give much hilarious credit to the women of Ireland for improving the dental health of the warriors of the Fianna, there is a dark side, too for in an obscure place called Feakle, an evil minded druid is conducting experiments that are gruesomely similar to the worst of the twentieth-century horrors. Yet Fionn and his men, sent to investigate, overcome their fear and disgust, managing somehow to keep their sense of humour in the midst of dark terrors – no easy task, considering what they discover in that foul place."
Eddie Lenihan is a well-known seanchaí, broadcaster and folklorist. He is the author of twenty books for both children and adults. He lives in Crusheen, Co. Clare.
Cover illustration by Alan Clarke