Scarcely a parish in Ireland is without one or more dedications to saints, in the form of churches in ruins, holy wells or other ecclesiastical monuments. Professor Pádraig Ó Riain's Dictionary of Irish Saints is intended to serve as a guide to the (mainly documentary) sources of information on the saints named in these dedications, for those who have an interest in them, scholarly or otherwise. The need for a summary biographical dictionary of Irish saints, containing information on such matters as feastdays, localisations, chronology, and genealogies, although stressed over sixty years ago by the eminent Jesuit and Bollandist scholar, Paul Grosjean, has never before been satisfied. Professor Ó Riain has been working in the field of Irish hagiography for upwards of forty years, and the material for the over 1,000 entries in his Dictionary has come from a variety of sources, including Lives of the saints, martyrologies, genealogies of the saints, shorter tracts on the saints (some of them accessible only in manuscripts), annals, annates, collections of folklore, Ordnance Survey letters, and other documents. Running to almost 700 pages, the body of the Dictionary is preceded by a Preface, List of Sources and Introduction, and is followed by comprehensive Indices of Parishes, Other Places (mainly townlands), Alternate (mainly Anglicised) Names, Subjects, and Feastdays. Professor Ó Riain's Dictionary has been described as 'an astonishingly comprehensive, intelligent and well-organized work'; it is unlikely to be superseded for many decades to come.

The trials and successes of the twelve Irish saints including Ireland's Patron Saint Patrick, Saint Brigid, who founded Ireland's first community of sisters, and many others who were either canonized or saintly laypersons. A classic volume providing insight into the facts and legends of these remarkable people.

Alice Curtayne has collected stories that reflect not only the holiness but also the gaiety of the saints -- appealing to readers of all ages -- and she tells them with the poetry and feeling that mark the work of every true Irish storyteller.

True stories and legends about the saints.

These short, popular essays on fourteen well-known and well-loved early Irish saints present a very readable and informative amalgam of often-scarce historical fact and much folklore and legend.