The Devil is an Irishman - Edmund Lenihan

Whether one is a night-rambler (Jack Murt in "Jack O' the Lantern"), a fisherman (Sean O Duinn), a gambler (Martin the Cards in "The Two-Rooted Briar") or a plain, ordinary farmer (Larry in "Larry and the Devil"), there are certain things one does not do, certain conventions that must be obeyed, such as not fishing on Good Friday or talking to spectral figures in graveyards in the dead hours of the night.;But, sadly, common sense cannot always be depended upon. People get themselves into dangerous predicaments in spite of all the warnings. The only trouble is that when the cause of the trouble is the Devil, the consequences for the luckless victim are very serious indeed - unless he has the presence of mind to be able to beat the Evil One. And Irish lore has many examples of people who did just that.;In this collection, Edmund Lenihan presents four stories of such encounters, but not all of them have happy endings. As the author points out, an interesting fact regarding Devil stories in Irish tradition is that the Devil is usually presented as a very human figure, almost like one of ourselves. He has a sense of humour and even a sense of fair play, and keeps a bargain even if he is thwarted and the victim escapes his clutches. There are no such stories about God.;Edmund Lenihan is the author of "Fionn MacCumhail and the Baking Hags", "Ferocious Irish Women", "In the Tracks of the West Clare Railway" and "Stories of Old Ireland for Children".