There are a huge amount of books out there that can be helpful to the budding Gaelic Polytheist but there are also some really really terrible ones, too. There are also a lot of books out there that might prove to be incredibly good if you’re some other flavour of pagan or polytheist, but they aren’t going to have much of anything that’s going to be useful to what Gaelic Polytheism aims to achieve.
So because it’s not always easy to figure out which books are worth your time, money, or precious shelf-space I thought it might help to compile a list of books I think would be the most helpful in giving the beginner a solid start.
Gaelic Polytheist and Other Related Books
There’s not a whole lot out there for Gaelic Polytheists right now, but as a rule Morgan Daimler usually comes out on top of most people’s list of recommendations. Daimler has a fairly large number of titles available and I couldn’t possibly list them all (nor have I read them all yet), but on the whole they’ve produced a fairly wide range of books on gods, fairies, prayers, and translations of myths, as well as a nice introduction to Irish Polytheism that’s not too heavy or overwhelming.
The list below doesn’t include my own books (because that seems beyond cheeky and I already have a page dedicated to those).
Living Virtuously: A Pocket Guide for Gaelic Polytheists by DJ Mogh Bríghde
Irish Paganism: Reconstructing Irish Polytheism by Morgan Daimler
By Land, Sea, and Sky by Morgan Daimler
Gods and Goddesses of Ireland: A Guide to Irish Deities by Morgan Daimler
Ogam: Weaving Word Wisdom by Erynn Rowan Laurie
A Circle of Stones: Journeys and Meditations for Modern Celts by Erynn Rowan Laurie
Pagan Portals – The Irish Pagan Book of Rites: Rituals and Prayers for Daily Life and Festivals by John Michael McLoughlin
The CR FAQ – An Introduction to Celtic Reconstructionist Paganism by Kathryn Price NicDhàna, C. Lee Vermeers, et al.
(I’ve included The CR FAQ and A Circle of Stones here even though I think they’re both a little dated these days, but they’re also fairly seminal works in the history of the broader reconstructionist movement which I didn’t want to ignore).
Other Recommendations
These recommendations should help start you off on the right foot, giving you a decent grounding in the basics of history and mythology, cosmology, and belief. Some of the books in the rest of this list are freely (and legally) available online so you don’t have to spend a fortune here. I’ve provided links to the titles I’ve been able to find online so far (though availability is subject to change here), with most of them being hosted at archive.org. You might need to register an account so you can ‘borrow’ them but it won’t cost you anything.
A few of the books I’ve recommended here can be hard to get hold of now, and even if you can find a copy second-hand the sellers might happily price gouge. I’ve decided to recommend them anyway because you might still be able to get hold of them through a library, you might be lucky enough to stumble across a copy going cheap, or (you never know) they might eventually be re-released.
No book is perfect, so do bear in mind that even if I might recommend a title that doesn’t mean it’s not without its problems! Some of these books are quite old so they might be a little outdated, but if I’ve recommended them then that means I’ve decided the overall value of the book outweighs that parts that don’t necessarily hold up so well.
For the Beginner
Celtic Christianity and Nature: Early Irish and Hebridean Traditions by Mary Low
The Old Gods of Ireland: The Facts about Irish Fairies by Patrick Logan
Listen to the Land Speak: A Journey into the wisdom of what lies beneath us by Manchán Magan
Thirty-Two Words for Field: Lost Words of the Irish Landscape by Manchán Magan
Gods and Heroes of the Celts by Marie-Louise Sjoestedt (trans Myles Dillon)
Irish Folk Custom and Belief by Séan Ó Súillebháin
Celtic Heritage by Alwyn and Brinley Rees
Where Three Streams Meet by Seán Ó Duinn
Celtic Mythology by Proinsias Mac Cana
Ireland’s Immortals: A History of the Gods of Irish Myth by Mark Williams
Studies in Irish Mythology by Grigory Bondarenko
Cosmology
Celtic Cosmology: Perspectives from Ireland and Scotland by Jacqueline Borsje, Ann Dooley, Séamus mac Mathúna, and Gregory Toner (Eds.)
The Sacred Tree: Ancient and Medieval Manifestations by Carole M. Cusack
Mythic Ireland by Michael Dames
From Chaos To Enemy: Encounters With Monsters In Early Irish Texts by Jacqueline Borsje
The sacred trees of Ireland by A. T. Lucas
The Cult of the Sacred Centre: Essays on Celtic Ideology by Proinsias Mac Cana
Fiery Shapes: Celestial Portents and Astrology in Ireland and Wales, 700-1700 by Mark Williams
Irish Mythology
Some of the books recommended here are translations of the myths themselves, while others are more focused on discussing various aspects of the myths in more detail. You can find translations of most of the myths online (although there are a number of dead links there now, but you could try the waybackmachine at archive.org, or look them up at CODECS, which should give you links to any available translations).
The Celtic Heroic Age by John T Koch and John Carey (Eds.)
Ancient Irish Tales by Tom Peete Cross and Clark Harris Slover
The Mythological Cycle of Medieval Irish Literature by John Carey
Introduction to Early Irish Literature by Muireann Ní Bhrolcháin
The Celtic Myths That Shape the Way We Think by Mark Williams
Dindshenchas Érenn by Marie-Luise Theuerkauf
Early Irish Literature by Myles Dillon
Cycle of the Kings by Myles Dillon
Early Irish Myths and Sagas by Jeffrey Gantz
The Irish National Origin-Legend: Synthetic Pseudohistory by John Carey
A Single Ray of the Sun: Religious Speculation in Early Ireland by John Carey
Studies in Irish Literature and History by James Carney
Pagan Past and Christian Present in Early Irish Literature by Kim McCone
The Táin by Thomas Kinsella
The Táin by Ciarán Carson
Celtic Curses by Bernard Mees
Irish Wisdom by Fergus Kelly
Magic, Metallurgy and Imagination in Medieval Ireland: Three Studies by John Carey
Ireland’s Immortals: A History of the Gods of Irish Myth by Mark Williams
Studies in Irish Mythology by Grigory Bondarenko
Celtic Myth in the 21st Century: The Gods and their Stories in a Global Perspective by Emily Lyle (Ed.)
Irish Law and History
Ireland in the Medieval World AD 400-1000: Landscape, kingship and religion by Edel Bhreathnach
A Guide to Early Irish Law by Fergus Kelly
Dark Speech: The Performance of Law in Early Ireland by Robin Chapman Stacey
Early Irish Farming by Fergus Kelly
What Life Was Like Among Druids and High Kings: Celtic Ireland, A.D.400-1200 by Robin Chapman Stacey
The Brehon Laws: A Legal Handbook by Laurence Ginnell
Irish kings and high-kings by Francis J. Byrne
Cultural Identity and Cultural Integration: Ireland and Europe in the Early Middle Ages by Doris Edel (Ed.)
Literacy and Identity in Early Medieval Ireland by Elva Johnston
Irish Festivals and Folklore
The Year in Ireland by Kevin Danaher
The Festival of Lughnasa: A Study of the Survival of the Celtic Festival of the Beginning of Harvest by Máire MacNeill
In Ireland Long Ago by Kevin Danaher
Irish Customs and Beliefs by Kevin Danaher
Irish Folk Ways by E Estyn Evans
Irish Folkore by Bríd Mahon
Irish Superstitions by Dáithí Ó hÓgáin
Irish Wake Amusements by Séan Ó Súilleabháin
Irish Folk Medicine by Patrick Logan
The Holy Wells of Ireland by Patrick Logan
Tree Dogs, Banshee Fingers and Other Irish Words for Nature by Manchán Magan (Auth.) and Steve Doogan (Illus.)
Deities
War Goddess: The Morrígan and her Germano-Celtic Counterparts by Angelique Gulermovich Epstein
The Banshee: The Irish Death Messenger by Patricia Lysaght
The Ancient Irish Goddess of War by W M Hennessy
The Book of the Cailleach by Gearóid Ó Crualaoich
The Rites of Brigid: Goddess and Saint by Seán Ó Duinn
The Great Queens by Rosalind Clark
The Waves of Manannán: A Study of the Literary Representations of Mannanán mac Lir from Immram Brain (c700) to Finnegans Wake (1939) by Charles MacQuarrie
Lug’s Forgotten Donegal Kingdom: The Archaeology, History and Folklore of the Sil Lugdach of Cloghaneely by Brian Lacey
Irish Festivals and Folklore
The Year in Ireland by Kevin Danaher
The Festival of Lughnasa: A Study of the Survival of the Celtic Festival of the Beginning of Harvest by Máire MacNeill
The Rites of Brigid: Goddess and Saint by Seán Ó Duinn
In Ireland Long Ago by Kevin Danaher
Irish Customs and Beliefs by Kevin Danaher
Irish Folk Ways by E Estyn Evans
Irish Folkore by Bríd Mahon
Irish Superstitions by Dáithí Ó hÓgáin
Irish Wake Amusements by Séan Ó Súilleabháin
Irish Folk Medicine by Patrick Logan
The Holy Wells of Ireland by Patrick Logan
Witchcraft and Magic in Ireland by Andrew Sneddon
Sex and Gender
I’ve included some articles in this section because otherwise it’s quite sparse.
Terrible Queer Creatures: Homosexuality in Irish History by Brian Lacey
The Case of The Abbot of Drimnagh: A Medieval Irish Story of Sex-Change by Tadhg Ó Siocháin
Constructing Gender in Medieval Ireland by Sarah Sheehan and Ann Dooley
Land of Women: Tales of Sex and Gender from Early Ireland by Lisa M. Bitel
Gender and Christianity in Medieval Europe: New Perspectives by Lisa M. Bitel and Felice Lifshitz
Gender and Sexuality in Early Irish Saga by Sarah Sheehan
‘What manner of man is this Hound?’: Gender, Humanity and the Transgressive Figure of Cú Chulainn by Finn Longman
Love and gender in medieval Gaelic saga (PhD thesis) by Robbie Andrew MacLeod
‘Fer Diad de-flowered: homoerotics and masculinity in Comrac Fir Diad’ by Sarah Sheehan (in Ulidia 2)
‘The invention of women in the Táin’ by Ann Dooley (in Ulidia)
Scottish Folklore and Tradition
The Gaelic Otherworld by Ronald Black
Witchcraft and Second Sight in the Highlands and Island of Scotland: Collected entirely from oral sources by John Gregorson Campbell
Superstitions of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland by John Gregorson Campbell
Gaelic Incantations, Charms and Blessings of the Hebrides by William MacKenzie
Ortha Nan Gaidheal: Carmina Gadelica in English and Gaelic by Alexander Carmichael
Carmina Gadelica: Volume 1 by Alexander Carmichael
Carmina Gadelica: Volume 2 by Alexander Carmichael
Carmina Gadelica: Volume 3 by Alexander Carmichael
The Silver Bough (four volumes) by F Marian McNeill
Scottish Charms and Amulets by George Black
A Description of the Western Isles of Scotland by Martin Martin
Folk Lore or Superstitious Beliefs in the West of Scotland Within This Century by James Napier
The Folklore of the Scottish Highlands by Anne Ross
Folksongs And Folklore Of South Uist by Margaret Fay Shaw
A Tour of Scotland by Thomas Pennant
Healing Threads by Mary Beith
Scottish Customs from the Cradle to the Grave by Margaret Bennett
Scottish Fairy Belief by Lizanne Henderson and Edward J. Cowan
Fantastical Imaginations: The Supernatural in Scottish History and Culture by Lizanne Henderson (Ed.)
Notes on the Folklore of North-East Scotland by Walter Gregor
Folklore of Scottish Lochs and Springs by James M McInlay
The Life and Legacy of Alexander Carmichael by Domhnall Uilleam Stiùbhart
Witchcraft and folk belief in the age of enlightenment: Scotland, 1670-1740 by Lizanne Henderson
The Isle of Man
The Folklore of the Isle of Man by Margaret Killip
Twisting the Rope and other folktales from the Isle of Man by Kathleen Killip
The Folklore of the Isle of Man by A W Moore
Celtic Folklore: Welsh and Manx by Sir John Rhys
Historical and Statistical Account of the Isle of Man by Joseph Train
Manx Calendar Customs by Cyril I Paton
A description of the Isle of Man : with useful and entertaining reflections on the laws, customs and manners of the inhabitants by George Waldron
William Cashen’s Manx Folklore by Stephen Miller (Ed.)
An abstract of the laws, customs, and ordinances of the Isle of Man by John Parr
Manx Notes and Queries by C Roeder
Laa Boaldyn: May Day Folklore from the Isle of Man by Stephen Miller
Eòlas 