An Circín Dubh

Though described by her daughter as “stoical and dignified and secretive”, the stories written by Cork-born revolutionary Eileen O’Faolain (1902-1988) are warm and often humorous. An Circín Dubh (The Little Black Hen), translated by Brighid Ní Loingsigh, is a story about a changeling who takes the form of a hen, and is typical of O’Faolain’s fairy stories for children.