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24 Jack Fritscher

Glossary continued
Firbolgs: an ancient tribe in Ireland
Gardai: police
Aer Lingus: an international Irish airline
Lir, the Children of Lir: Lir’s four children were turned into swans by their
wicked stepmother’s spell which also gave them the extravagant gift of song.
(Lir is pronounced “Lear”)
Mickey: like “Mick,” an American derogatory term for an Irish person
Otherworld: the night world of myth and legend where heroes, enchanters, trick-
sters, and fairies live
Paddy Goes to Holyhead: a satirically named rock band
eejit: idiot
Tuatha de Danaan: originally the people of the gods of Dana, the tribe who
arrived in ancient Ireland on the feast of Beltane, May Day, landing at Con-
nacht, displacing forever the earlier tribe, the Firbolgs
shebang: party, the whole thing, a celebration

Sources: “Chasing Danny Boy” is based around the Irish mythological tales
“How Diarmuid Got His Love Spot” in Oisin’s Children, “The Fight with
the Firbolgs” in The Coming of the Tuatha de Danaan, “The Landing” in
The Coming of the Gael, and “The Flight from Teamhair” in Dermuid and
Grania collected by Lady Gregory in Gods and Fighting Men, London: John
Murray Publishers, 1904

©Jack Fritscher, Ph.D., All Rights Reserved
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