Every county covered in Kieran’s magical tour of ancient and modern tales
Enchanted Ireland features stories from every county in Ireland and includes a map showing where the legends were based
AUTHOR Kieran Fanning has just published , a collection of magical tales, one from every county in Ireland. This hardback book is beautifully illustrated by Canadian artist Julia Iredale and contains a map for you to visit each of the 32 featured locations.
Kieran, a native of Stratford-On-Slaney in Co Wicklow, works as a teacher and spends his free time researching myths and legends, and writing stories for his book.
Carlow’s story is set at Dinn Righ in Ballyknockan, once the home of the legendary Labhraidh Loingseach, the king with horse’s ears.
Labhraidh Loingseach was a wise and well-loved Irish king, though he had a peculiar habit of wearing tall headgear at all times. His secret? He had been born with horse’s ears, which gave him extraordinary hearing. To conceal them, he wore long hair, high crowns, horned helmets and even hats while swimming.
Each year, the king would summon a barber – always from far away – to cut his hair. But when the barber inevitably discovered his ears, he was executed to keep the secret. Over time, barbers across Ireland grew fearful and refused to work, causing people’s hair to grow wild.
One day, a barber named Marcán was summoned. His mother, a widow, begged the king to spare him. Labhraidh Loingseach promised her that Marcán would live if he could keep the king’s secret. Marcán vowed never to tell a living soul about the king’s unusual ears. He cut the king’s hair and left with his life intact. However, the burden of his secret weighed heavily upon him.
He asked a druid for advice. The druid cleverly pointed out that Marcán had only promised not to tell a living soul. That didn’t mean he couldn’t share his secret with a rock or a tree. So Marcán whispered the secret to a walnut tree in the forest.
Later, a harper named Craiftine made a harp from that very tree. When he performed at the king’s banquet, the harp suddenly cried out, “The king has horse’s ears!” The secret was out, and at first Labhraidh thought he was doomed. But then, he felt strangely relieved. He expected ridicule but instead received compassion and support from his people. One man with an eye patch and a woman with a scar both spoke out, saying his honesty made them feel seen and accepted.
Labhraidh, deeply moved, vowed to embrace his uniqueness. No longer ashamed, he ruled not just as a good king, but a better one –wiser, braver and finally free of the secret that had burdened him all his life.
Labhraidh Loingseach ruled as king for 30 years. He named his kingdom Laighin, after the copper-headed lances his soldiers brought from France. Today, we know this kingdom as the province of Leinster, and it is still called Laighin in the Irish language.
Other countries have similar stories about kings with animal ears, like the Greek story of King Midas who had donkey’s ears, the Serbian story of Emperor Trojan who had goat’s ears, or the Welsh story of King March who had horse’s ears.
took a year to research. “It was great fun trawling through old books and the dusty corners of the internet hoping to uncover lost stories,” said says Kieran.
The 32 stories in the book range from some of Ireland’s oldest tales like the arrival of the Tuatha Dé Danann, right up to more modern tales from the last century and features many well-known stories such as The Children of Lir, as well as the exploits of Fionn Mac Cumhaill and Cúchulainn.
is published by Gill Books and is available in all good bookshops.
