44 Irish Short Stories: An Anthology of Irish Short Fiction [...] ([1954]), 500pp.

CONTENTS: Paul Vincent Carroll, “She Went by Gently” [9]; Desmond Clarke, “The Islandman ” [9]; John Collier, “The Lady on the Grey” [22]; Daniel Corkery, “The Awakening” [32]; Daniel Corkery, “The Return” [47]; Eric Cross, “Saint Bakeoven” [58]; Lord Dunsany, “The Kith of the Elf-folk” [70]; St. John Ervine, “The Burial” [86]; Padraic Fallon, “Something in a Boat “ [9?]; Arnold Hill, “Miss Gillespie and the Micks” [110]; David Hogan, “The Leaping Trout” [118]; James Joyce, “Araby” [126]; James Joyce, “Counterparts” [33]; Patrick Kavanagh, “Footbal;” [46]; Mary Lavin, “The Story of the Widow’s Son” [152]; Donagh MacDonagh, “‘All the Sweet Buttermilk ...’” [166]; Donagh MacDonagh, “Duet for Organ and Strings” [176]; Michael MacGrian, “Myself and a Rabbit” [184]; Michael McLaverty, “The Wild Duck’s Nest” [189]; Michael McLaverty, “Father Christmas” [194]; “Bryan MacMahon, “The Plain People of England” [206]; Bryan MacMahon, “The Cat and the Cornfield” [218] George Moore, “Julia Cahill’s Curse “ [227]; Val Mulkerns, “The World Outside” [234]; Padraic Ó Conaire, “The Devil and O’Flaherty” [244]; Frank O’Connor, The Drunkard “ [249]; Frank O’Connor, “The Majesty of the Law” [261]; Sean O’Faolain, “Teresa “ [271]; Sean O’Faolain, “Persecution Mania” [291]; Liam O’Flaherty, “The Hawk” [298]; Liam O’Flaherty, “The Tent” [304]; Seumas O’Kelly, “Michael and Mary” [314]; Seumas O’Kelly, “Nan Hogan’s House” [320]; Brian O’Nolan, “The Martyr’s Crown” [359]; Jim Phelan, “Bell Wethers” [365]; James Plunkett, “Weep for Our Pride” [378]; George Bernard Shaw, “The Miraculous Revenge” [392]; Edward Sheehy, “The Black Mare” [416]; James Stephens, “Schoolfellows” [431]; James Stephens, “A Rhinoceros, Some Ladies and a Horse” [439]; Maurice Walsh, “Come Back, My Love” [451]; Oscar Wilde, “The Happy Prince” [471]; William Butler Yeats, “Red Hanrahan” [482]; William Butler Yeats, “Where There Is Nothing, There Is God” [492]; Notes on the Authors [497].

[ See a copy of this list in RICORSO > Bibliography > “Anthologies” - via index or as attached. ]

The Irish have always had a way with words. Long ago they took on a language not their own and learned to re-word it into pure magic. Nowhere is this magic more in evidence than in their short stories—stories that combine lyricism, humor and tragedy with rare imagination set in simple backgrounds, largely without props.

The seemingly effortless art of the best Irish writers has an appeal that is naive and highly sophisticated at the same time; the disarming simplicity with which the tales are spun being somewhat misleading at the first reading.

In this anthology there are gathered, for the first time in America, some of the more representative examples of Irish short fiction. The emphasis is on variety. All are a delight to read. Only 21 of the 44 have previously been published in this country.