An irresistible title for an irresistible little book which begins with a search for the gentle giant in the mists of antiquity - the dogs most likely arrived in Ireland with the Celts who came from the Black Sea region in the 5th century, and seven of them were certainly presented to a Roman Questor in 391 AD - through to the inevitable decline which followed the killing of the last wolf in Ireland, said to have taken place in Co Carlow in 1786. The middle third of the book adopts a more personal note as Bremner recounts the struggle to save the breed, in which she and her extended family played a considerable part; she finishes with a selection of legends in which the "wolfdog" plays a major role. A charming, well-illustrated book in a series which also features Dublin Monuments, the River Gods and the Irish Harp.
Arminta Wallace