Irish giants

Beyond the Literacy Hour http://iisresource.org/giants.aspx

Stories about Irish giants are proving firm favourites in primary schools in Britain.
This is not only because of the quality of the writing and illustrations, but also the wide variety of Irish giants on offer.

Promoting tolerance & mutual understanding

According to British and Irish MPs, learning about Irish giants is to learn about tolerance and mutual understanding.

‘Through using simple themes to discover that not all giants in British & Irish fairy tales were violent and
threatening and that not all of them had beards and dark hair,
children were introduced at an early age [Yr 3] to stereotypes and encouraged to appreciate
how different countries had their own traditional tales, some of which shared similar themes to stories
with which the children were already familiar.
Teachers realised the potential of such comparisons for promoting themes of mutual understanding.’

Most cherished giant: the sleeping giant

Should the giant stay awake or go back to sleep?
That was the question which exercised Year 3 at St Hugh’s Catholic Primary School, after reading
Marie-Louis Fitzpatrick’s The Sleeping Giant (Wolfhound Press, 0-86327-643-1).
With a strong historical timeline, it is a lovely tale of an amiable giant who awoke from his
slumber, in the form of an island off the coast of Kerry, to wreak unintended havoc on and around
Coumeenole beach. Perhaps everyone would feel safer if he went back to sleep?

Most disliked giant: the giant in the King of Ireland’s Son

Brendan Behan’s The King of Ireland’s Son (Andersen Press, 0-86264-693-6) is the
exciting tale of a young prince rescuing a beautiful maiden from the clutches of an
evil giant with the help of a magical stallion.
The pictures by P. J. Lynch do indeed make the giant look evil and menacing.

Most popular giant: Finn MacCool

The overall favourite Irish giant is Finn MacCool. Tales of him abound in
many lavishly illustrated books:
Malachy Doyle, Tales from Old Ireland (Barefoot Press,1-90228-385-6),
Soinbhe Lally, Favourite Irish Tales (Poolbeg Press, 1-85371-777-0)
Una Leavy, Irish Fairy Tales & Legends (O’Brien Press, 0-86278-482-4).
Finn has filled many a happy Literacy Hour and beyond and inspired teachers
to verse and dramatic performance.

Resources
IiS http://iisresource.org/resources_el.aspx
Irish Giants (Y3); Giants’ Week (Y5 & 6 SEN); Finn M’Coul (Y5 & 6): Planning; Responses
Physical drama: Narrative poem and scheme of work; Children’s drama diaries; PowerPoint
Pronunciation guide
Other
Introduction to Irish history http://www.facstaff.bucknell.edu/rickard/irishhistory.ppt
Irish myths & legends http://www.teachnet.ie/stpats2004/irishmythandlegend
Mythical Ireland http://www.mythicalireland.com

Ireland in Schools http://iisresource.org iisresources@yahoo.co.uk