Ireland was once so heavily wooded it was said a squirrel could travel from Cork to Killarney without touching the ground. So it is no surprise that in ancient Ireland mythology and folklore were an integral part of the general knowledge about each tree. This book gathers together the myths, legends and folklore associated with the native Irish trees. The folklore has two main themes: the tree as a marker of important places such as a royal site or holy well, and the role of different trees as sources of magical power in folk customs and superstitions. Many themes are common to different trees, such as fertility, magical power and the tree as a link between this world and the spiritual. Early Irish poetry is littered with references to trees and this book contains the most important of them in the original Irish and in translation.The creators of the Irish alphabet, Ogam or Ogham, named the letters after trees. The link between each letter and its tree is demonstrated in this book. The ancient Celts also had a lunar calendar of thirteen months, and this book features an ogham tree calendar linking the trees to the different months of that ancient calendar. Author: Coitir, Niall Mac Publisher: Gill Books Format: Paperback Publication Date: 28/09/2015 ISBN: 9781848892484 B-Code: B023701 Pages: 240 Dimensions: 198x128mm