ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

My special thanks are due first and foremost to storyteller, author, scholar and “legendary tour guide,” Richard Marsh of Dublin, for showing me the locations where this story takes place, suggesting useful research sources, clarifying areas of confusion, proofreading my manuscript for technical errors and being an all-around goldmine of information. Any remaining errors are, of course, mine and not his.

Thanks also to:

Joanne Findon, Associate Professor of English Literature at Trent University and Ulster Cycle scholar, for advising me on the pronunciation and phonetic spelling of old Irish names;

Lady Augusta Gregory, for seeing the beauty and value of these ancient stories and first bringing them to the English-speaking public;

My editor, Sarah Harvey, for helping me find the right balance of modern and traditional narrative and holding my hand through the hard parts;

Cover illustrator, Cathy Maclean, for the three gorgeous covers she has designed for my stories;

My agent, Lynn Bennett;

And finally, thanks to my family for their whole-hearted support and above all to my husband, John, who bravely drove me all over Ireland in a standard-transmission car.