fairy tales

For untold generations, human beings have swapped stories about fairies and goblins, princesses in distress, animals transformed into people and vice versa.

There’s a shared belief in many cultures, from ancient Europe to China, that a person’s fortunes and misfortunes in life are preordained.

If there is one thing Ireland is known for it’s fairy tales and ghost stories. While tantalizing hints of small, pipe-smoking men and pots of gold are offered at the end of every rainbow, every stately mansion more than 100 years old has a resident ghost or two. I was on a week’s tour around the southeast coast of the Irish Republic and in these garden counties, ghosts and greenery seemed to go together.