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Céad Míle Fáilte! A Thousand Welcomes to the Sister Fidelma Mysteries website. This site is provided for everyone interested in Peter Tremayne's international bestselling mystery series and, indeed, to those interested in all his work both as Peter Tremayne and his non-fiction work as the Celtic Scholar Peter Berresford Ellis. It is provided free of charge through the courtesy of The International Sister Fidelma Society. We would like to point out that this is a Society of volunteer workers, entirely funded by membership subscription. We provide not only this website, but all subscribing members to the Society get our print magazine, The Brehon, sent to them three times a year, and are updated on all activities. Why not join us? Click on THE SOCIETY link above and find out what we have to offer, and to join our ever-growing organization.
MOST FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTION... "When is the next Sister Fidelma book coming out?" MOST FREQUENTLY GIVEN ANSWER... Depends if you are following the UK publications or the US publications:
To recap the titles IN PUBLICATION ORDER (another common question):
LOOKING TO PURCHASE THE SISTER FIDELMA NOVELS IN A VARIETY OF FORMATS FROM AMAZON (US)? NEWSPOINTS - UPDATED SEPTEMBER 2022
A SPECIAL BONUS FOR
FIDELMA FANS!!
 As
those of you who have already purchased
The Sister Fidelma Compendium: A Reader’s
Guide to the Sister Fidelma Mysteries of Peter
Tremayne will know (wait…
what???... you haven’t ALL
purchased it yet?... the chastising shall
commence… see below for complete details), owing
to the sheer length of the book, I was forced to
publish this in black and white/greyscale,
rather than color. In color, it would have sold
for 3-4 times as much, and then NONE
of you would have bought it.All that aside, the one comment I have continued to receive is “It’s a pity we can’t see more detail in the illustration of King Colgu’s Fortress,” showing the Rock as it would most likely have stood in Fidelma’s time. Most readers of The Sister Fidelma Mysteries (though not YOU, of course) often mistakenly envision the title character residing on the Rock of Cashel as it now stands. In truth, one would need to completely raze the entire top of The Rock of all its 11th-century-forward ecclesiastical buildings and travel back several centuries to before Fidelma's time (the 7th century) to see what was most likely built atop the plateau. I created the conceptual layout of the Royal Fortress of King Colgú atop The Rock of Cashel, ca. 7th century, specifically for The Compendium. The structures were proposed by Peter Tremayne “from ancient Irish records, in the myths, the annals and chronicles, as well as archaeological evidence,” so you know there could be no better source. I can guarantee you not a single tour guide atop The Rock today has even the slightest clue about any of this. But YOU do. And I have now added both a small and large poster version of the same illustration as appears in the book, in full color, through the Society’s CafePress page at https://www.cafepress.com/eclecticon/186001. Just as with the Map of Fidelma’s World (also on the same page), this is a high-quality print job, suitable for framing or just stick up with chewing gum (I don’t actually recommend the latter). So, head over to the Cafepress shop to get your own copy (and no, it won’t have all the words scribbled all over it like the blurred sample shown)! ANNOUNCING TWO EXCITING NEW FIDELMA BOOKS! • SISTER FIDELMA'S BODYGUARDS: Who Were The Nasc Niadh in the Sister Fidelma Mysteries of Peter Tremayne? • THE SISTER FIDELMA COMPENDIUM: A Reader’s Guide to the Sister Fidelma Mysteries of Peter Tremayne  SISTER
FIDELMA'S BODYGUARDS: Who Were The Nasc
Niadh in the Sister Fidelma Mysteries of Peter Tremayne?
(Hardcover, Paperback, and Kindle Editions) – May 1, 2022 by David Robert Wooten (Author), Peter Tremayne (Contributor) • Publisher: Phoenix Press • Language: English • Trade Paperback and Kindle: 164 pages, extensive full-colour photos and illustrations • Paperback ISBN: 979-8-8028-2427-6 • Kindle ASIN: B09Z9JN92K CLICK HERE TO BUY DIRECTLY FROM AMAZON!  From the
Introduction“WHAT, OR WHO, ARE THE NASC NIADH mentioned in The Sister Fidelma Mysteries written by Peter Tremayne? This is an oft-asked question of our Society by members and readers from around the world. One or more members of the Nasc Niadh are listed among the Principal Characters at the beginning of each of the Sister Fidelma novels, usually noting that they are the élite bodyguard to the King of Muman (Colgú). But were they ‘real,’ or merely a ‘MacGuffin’ to further Peter’s murder mysteries? “Tremayne’s contributed essay on ‘Fidelma’s Bodyguards’ details the factual history of these ‘Champions of the Collar’ – most assuredly not something invented out of whole cloth by the author of this internationally best-selling series. There was no need to manufacture fictional characters for these roles, as they would have been very real members of a long and proud tradition dating back over a millennium before Sister Fidelma was even ‘born.’ And while Ireland saw the birth and growth of the Nasc Niadh, the concept was globally practiced throughout history – under other names and on other continents – as shall be explained by Tremayne, and additionally in appending articles which focus on the Golden Collars, or torcs/torques, themselves.” Sister Fidelma’s Bodyguards is a thorough and scholarly study, explaining not only these warriors’ important presence in the novels, but their actual place throughout history – not only in Ireland, but around the globe for centuries. Whether a devoted “Fidelmaniac” or simply a lover of history, this tome will fascinate. Additional articles, along with plentiful full-colour illustrations and photographs, detail the use of these Golden Collars in actual practice. This book is currently being released exclusively through Amazon. CLICK HERE TO BUY DIRECTLY FROM AMAZON! AND...  THE SISTER
FIDELMA COMPENDIUM: A Reader’s Guide to the Sister
Fidelma Mysteries of Peter Tremayne
(Hardcover, Paperback, and Kindle Editions) – February 15, 2022 by David Robert Wooten (Author), Peter Tremayne (Foreword) • Publisher: Gryfons Publishers & Distributors • Language: English • Hardcover, Trade Paperback, and Kindle: 460 pages • Hardcover ISBN: 978-0965422093 ASIN: 0965422097 • Paperback ISBN: 978-0965422086 ASIN: 0965422089 • Kindle ASIN: B09Z9LTZFJ 
CLICK HERE TO BUY DIRECTLY FROM AMAZON!"FIDELMANIA!" - Livres Hebdo, Paris, May 2006 "[Fidelma]... cannot be categorized as just genre fiction. It is literature. We can compare it to Umberto Eco’s The Name of the Rose." - Lucha Crovi, La Libertà, Italy From the Foreword by Peter Tremayne, creator of The Sister Fidelma Mysteries series: "This tome is not only about the facts of the “Sister Fidelma Age and Culture,” but will help the discerning reader — or even those who just enjoy following the adventures — in navigating the travels and travails of Fidelma of Cashel with her faithful companion, Brother Eadulf of Seaxmund’s Ham, of the South Folk of East Anglia." For true Fidelmaniacs (as diehard devotees of the character, her creator, and the series are known), a book such as this is long overdue, and its pages will doubtless be quickly dog-eared by both longtime and newly-initiated readers of Sister Fidelma and her mysterious-murder tales. Ideally this will serve as both reference and tribute to an author whose works are universally read (in a plethora of languages) and loved…
It is the editor’s hope that this work will sit table-side, bedside, wherever-side the reader chooses to devour the dozens of Sister Fidelma novels and short stories penned by one of the world’s leading Irish historiographers – ever at-the-ready should some question arise. One might – and I say “might” – compare it to The Cadfael Companion, but even Peter has proclaimed to me that this is a wholly different type of reference book. We hope you are excited about this book as we are announcing it!! CLICK HERE TO BUY DIRECTLY FROM AMAZON!  WE
ARE DELIGHTED TO ANNOUNCE THE RETURN OF A MUCH-REQUESTED
ITEM!Scréach ón Tuama (A Scream From the Sepulchre), by Peter Tremayne, is now available as a 36pp digital (PDF) booklet, exclusively from The International Sister Fidelma Society. Originally published in 2008 and now completely out of print, it has been "revived in this new format. Originally published by Peter (in English) in 1998, this Irish language version was produced in a limited run by the Society in 2008, and is now being re-released in 2022. This is the first - and only - time a Sister Fidelma Mystery has been produced in the Irish language. Scréach ón Tuama has been translated by Dr Gearóid Ó Laoi of Cork. As well as the text, which is written in the standard, now called Caighdeán, there is an introduction about the series and selection of book reviews from the leading Irish newspapers. The jacket illustration was provided by Maggie Tolderlund of Peuco Editores, Fidelma's original Argentinean publishers, and there are also colour photographs inside. Order your digital copy today by clicking the above ONLINE STORE link!
FÉILE FIDELMA 2019 - A HUGE SUCCESS! It was wonderful to rekindle old acquaintances, make MANY new ones (wow, did we have a lot of new attendees!), and enjoy what we said all along would be a GREAT Féile. The above photo, by Sean Laffey of the Sister Fidelma Committee of the Cashel Arts Fest, shows our largest group yet, which thrills me no end. Those with sharp eyes will see our newest Fidelmaniac – Maggie Tolderlund and her husband Danny’s wee child (Emily Kenneally also brought along Cormac, her 18-month-old baby just so everyone had an opportunity to coo and make strange faces at small people). Be sure to keep checking the FÉILE portion of our website for photos from the various lectures and excursions, as soon as attendees get back home from over a dozen far-flung countries worldwide. Here’s hoping best of health and recovery to all of those who were ill during this past weekend, and a HUGE round of thanks to the much-abbreviated Fidelma Committee of the Cashel Arts Fest for pulling off another exciting event for all. Remember, you can still purchase copies of the weekend’s programme booklet here on the Society website in the ONLINE STORE. And we will be updating the CafePress Fidelma collection with the new Fidelma image shortly. We HOPE (no promises) to see all (and even more) at another future gathering!!
A "NEW" FIDELMA FOR 2018! - by David Robert Wooten, Director
With that in mind, I contacted a brilliant artist, and good friend, Eric Müller, who has rendered a wide variety of illustrations through the years of the famous, infamous, celebrity, or common man (he even rendered both my daughter and me in amazingly accurate portrait style). In fact, his amazing portrait of Fidelma's creator is now forever part of a large tribute piece presented to the author during the anniversary months of his 50th year of publishing, his 100th title actually published, and even his 75th birthday. Each of these individual events is a milestone in itself, but combined I think you will agree that something special had to be done. As noted, I took it upon myself to have rendered not only the creator of the titular character of the Fidelma series but the good Sister herself. Unaccustomed as Eric was to rendering a character completely out of "thin air" as one might say, I gave him both Peter's own descriptions of the character from the novels, as well as an actual living, breathing actress, I felt embodied the look and character of Fidelma. After a few back-and-forths, Eric came up with the beautiful image you see here (and, once again, I am in love with this woman). Peter agrees with me that this rendition of his creation is both lovely and true to form (which was my ultimate hope). Peter then immediately chimed in with "Naturally you are going to have her rendered in color," a process which I had already undertaken when he commanded such a task. I had turned to longtime friend and equally brilliant artist Franchesco! for suggestions as to qualified artist who could color the good Sister to my standards. He noted that he, himself, was not accustomed to coloring other artists' works, as he did not want to enforce his style onto their artwork. While Eric is a brilliant penciller and inker, his coloring work is primarily confined to using colored pencils to render original artwork (with wonderful results). So, as I patiently waited for Franchesco! to provide contact information and samples of qualified colorists, imagine my surprise, delight, and amazement when Franchesco! emailed me back - not with the names of other artists, but with his own digital coloring of the good Sister, now seen at upper right on this page and front-and-center of our lead page. With only a few minor tweaks requested by me, we ended up with what I consider to be a true image of Fidelma, and someone to whom I would gladly play Eadulf against in the novels. I certainly hope you will all agree with the ultimate depiction of “David’s Fidelma,” and welcome your comments via email to david@sisterfidelma.com.
FRONT PAGE UPDATE!
So, to spruce up our intro page, we scoured the web for some appropriate Celtic music. We wanted something that was well short of Dropkick Murphy (whose music we certainly appreciate) and more like Enya (but a bit more Irish, sans vocals, and without the potential to quickly lull the listener to sleep). If you take a listen to the tune, we believe we have succeeded in this task - at least in our ever-humble opinion. But all that simply wasn't enough. What if someone is coming to our page had no idea who Sister Fidelma was (heaven forefend!)? They would need someone to quickly and succinctly explain who, what, where, and why, in hopes that the visitor will want to delve further into Fidelma's World. And it took no thought at all on our part to decide upon the narrator of this brief but important voiceover - "The Voice of Fidelma" herself. Our dear friend Caroline Lennon has narrated every Audible Sister Fidelma title, plus more, on cassette tape and now CDs. You listen to her narration and are easily taken back to 7th century Ireland. You hear her speaking Irish words you had no hope of pronouncing correctly (though Peter notes this really isn’t that important when reading the books – see our FAQs page) and think “Oh, THAT’S how you say that word or phrase!” So, we sent Caroline an initial script which she tweaked ever-so-slightly, putting her own feeling and emphasis to the sentences, teasing the listener just enough to invite them into Fidelma’s World, as if they would truly be missing out if they did not follow her lead. We cannot thank Caroline enough for her participation in this overall team effort, updating and enhancing the website to hopefully bring in a fresh batch of Fidelmaniacs who have been quietly lurking in the shadows, waiting for someone to ask them to come in. As ever, our heartfelt thanks go out to Caroline, as they should from all members of the Society.
BUY YOUR COPY OF THE FIDELMA GRAPHIC NOVELS BY CLICKING THE ABOVE GRAPHIC!!
The Sister Fidelma Mysteries - Essays on the Historical Novels of Peter Tremayne Edited by Edward J. Rielly and David Robert Wooten
Print ISBN: 978-0-7864-6667-2; Ebook ISBN: 978-1-4766-0034-5; notes, bibliographies, index; 239pp. softcover (6 x 9) 2012 Price: $29.95 Order directly from the publisher
About the Book This is a collection of new essays on Peter Tremayne’s Sister Fidelma novels, which feature Sister Fidelma’s attempts to solve a wide range of crimes, often murders that occur under especially mysterious conditions. The novels, set mainly in 7th century Ireland, also include a great deal of history, which is not surprising given that the author is actually Peter Berresford Ellis, a noted Celtic historian. Some of the essays analyze aspects of the novels, focusing especially on the protagonist and her partner in detection and, ultimately, husband, Brother Eadulf. Other essays place Fidelma and the novels within the tradition of detective fiction. Still others explore the historical, intellectual, spiritual and geographical contexts for her labors. Also included are accounts of the author’s career, the International Sister Fidelma Society, and the biennial Sister Fidelma conferences held in Cashel, Ireland.
About the Authors
Edward
J. Rielly is a professor of English at Saint Joseph’s College of Maine.
He has presented papers at the annual Cooperstown Symposium on Baseball
and American Culture as well as other conferences. He is the author of
about two dozen books and lives in Westbrook, Maine. David Robert
Wooten is director of The International Sister Fidelma Society and
editor of its magazine, The
Brehon. He lives in Little Rock, Arkansas.
As most of you know, for some time there has been a map of Fidelma’s travels available for sale in support of the Society. Most of the books come with a simple lineart map, showing details of that particular novel, but nowhere else will you find a chart noting all of the good Sister’s travels (granted, some are still in far-off lands, remote from Éire, but are so noted on the map). While the map has always been reasonably well received, we have never been thoroughly satisfied with it. Thus, when it came time to update the map to Peter’s latest title (The Chalice of Blood)*, we felt a major overhaul was in order. The new map features all of the same locations, updated with the latest titles, but the map itself is much more aesthetically pleasing. Plus, it is now available in a larger, and easier to read, 23” x 35” size, as well as a smaller 11” x 17” mini poster print. So, if you’ve been holding out on this map, now is the time to buy one. Or, if you bought one of the original/earlier versions, now’s the time to update! The prints, from CafePress, are extremely well done, and are available unframed, as well as framed in smaller sizes. You can see these new items – as well as all other Sister Fidelma merchandise, including Féile Fidelma 2010! Items (and 2008!, and 2006!) – via our CafePress shop at http://www.cafepress.com/eclecticon. Just look for the INTERNATIONAL SISTER FIDELMA SOCIETY shop amidst all the others.
*THE MAP IS NOW UPDATED THROUGH
BLOODMOON, IN 2018!
Entire contents ©2000-2022 Peter Berresford Ellis | |||||||
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