The King of Ireland's Son
by Brendan Behan
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Sent to find the source of the heavenly music heard throughout the kingdom, the youngest son of the King of Ireland finds a beautiful maiden held captive by a fierce giant.Tags
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When the King of Ireland dispatches his three sons - Art, Neart and Ceart - to determine the source of the heavenly music that can be heard all throughout the land, he promises half his kingdom to the one who can solve the mystery. In true fairy-tale style, it is the youngest who triumphs, journeying through a strange underground land to the palace of a terrible giant, where he discovers the daughter of the King of Greece at her harp. Aided by a magical horse, Art defeats the giant and rescues the princess, returning home for his reward...
An original tale first published as part of Brendan Behan's Island: An Irish Sketch-Book in 1962, The King of Ireland's Son utilizes so many of the traditional motifs of the folk genre - the three show more sons, the three old men met on the journey, the magical horse, and the hiding places uses by Art - that it seems like "the real thing." P.J. Lynch - who has also worked on Hans Christian Andersen's The Snow Queen, and E. Nesbit's Melisande - contributes gorgeous artwork to this edition, colorful and expressive. Well worth the time of anyone interested in Irish folklore and storytelling, although readers should be aware that this is a very different tale from the similarly titled The King of Ireland's Son, written by Padraic Colum in 1916. show less
An original tale first published as part of Brendan Behan's Island: An Irish Sketch-Book in 1962, The King of Ireland's Son utilizes so many of the traditional motifs of the folk genre - the three show more sons, the three old men met on the journey, the magical horse, and the hiding places uses by Art - that it seems like "the real thing." P.J. Lynch - who has also worked on Hans Christian Andersen's The Snow Queen, and E. Nesbit's Melisande - contributes gorgeous artwork to this edition, colorful and expressive. Well worth the time of anyone interested in Irish folklore and storytelling, although readers should be aware that this is a very different tale from the similarly titled The King of Ireland's Son, written by Padraic Colum in 1916. show less
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A Child's Book Tour of Ireland
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Author Information
43+ Works 2,569 Members
Brendan Behan was born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1923. He came from a family of rebels. His father was in prison because of IRA activities when Behan was born, and his uncle Peadar Kearney was the author of A Soldiers Song, the song of rebellion that was to become the country's national anthem. Not surprisingly, Behan became a rebel himself, joining show more Fianna Eirann, a youth organization that he referred to as the Republican Boy Scouts, at the age of 9 and transferring to the IRA when he was just fourteen. When he was 16, Behan was arrested for the possession of explosives while in Liverpool, England. Apparently he had been sent there as part of a plot to blow up the battleship King George V. Behan spent 3 years in an English reform school, an experience that later became the basis for the autobiographical novel Borstal Boy. When he was released in 1942, Behan was sent back to Ireland, where he rejoined the IRA and, in less than a year found himself under arrest again. This time the charge was firing at two police officers, for which he was sentenced to 14 years in prison. He was released, however, in 1946 as part of a general amnesty. Upon leaving prison, Behan worked as a house painter and a seaman. He also began writing, initially as a freelance journalist and later as a playwright. His best-known works are his plays The Quare Fellow and The Hostage, comedy-dramas that deal with the subjects Behan knew best-Dublin and the IRA. Behan also wrote Brendan Behan's Ireland: An Irish Sketchbook, Brendan Behan's New York, The Scarperer, Confessions of an Irish Rebel, Richard's Cork Leg, and After the Wake. Behan died in 1964, at age 41, of a combination of alcoholism, jaundice, and diabetes. After Behan's death, Borstal Boy was adapted for the theatre by Frank McMahon. The resulting production won a Tony award and a New York Drama Critics Circle Award for the best play of 1969-70 season. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- The King of Ireland's Son
- Original publication date
- 1996
- Important places
- Ireland
- Dedication
- For Luke
- First words
- Once upon a time, and a very good time it was too, when the streets were paved with penny loaves and houses were whitewashed with buttermilk and the pigs ran round with knives and forks in their snouts shouting, "Eat me, eat ... (show all)me!" there lived a King of Ireland and he had three sons named Art, Neart and Ceart.
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- 77
- Popularity
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- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (4.50)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper
- ISBNs
- 3
- ASINs
- 1
