TO THE LAND OF THE FAIRIES
The Children of Lir,
Oisin and Tir na N'og ,
Midar and Etain,
The
Stolen Child
The Fairies,
Leprechaun & the Shoemaker,
Fairy Music,
The Four
Celtic Festivals,
Salmon of
Knowledge,
The Leprechaun
WHO ARE THE FAIRIES.
It has been said the every time a new
born baby laughs
the laugh breaks into a thousand pieces and from these
pieces a fairy is born. That fairy then belongs to
the baby for all its natural life.
They are whimsical, magically, sylph like creatures who
flit and fly from place to place. If you walk through the forest
between Midnight and dawn you may be lucky enough
to see one. They are very intelligent and generally
friendly unless bothered. The best way to meet
is to ask them politely.
Signs that the fairies are around are
hushed giggling, a feeling
that someone is watching you when there is no one there, a
wonderful unexplained fragrance in the air.
And remember only true believers see
fairies. If you are one of the
lucky ones you will remember it all of your days.
The Irish word for Fairy is
Sidheog, a diminutive
of the shee in banshee.
Some say they are 'Fallen angels who are not good
enough to be saved, nor bad enough to be lost'.
The Book of Armagh say they are the 'Gods
of the Earth'.
Others say they are the 'Gods of ancient Ireland', the Tuatha de
Danan, who, when no longer worshipped and fed, dwindled
away in the popular imagination, and now are only small.
They occupy themselves by eating,
playing, fighting and making
music and dance. The most industrious among them is the Leprechaun,
who is kept busy making shoes.
The Puca is the November fairy
and is the
stuff that nightmares are made of. He can come in
any shape or size, usually half human, half animal.
It was usual before the coming of Christianity to leave
out gifts for him on Novembers Eve to keep him Happy.
The Fear Gorta (man of hunger)
is a very thin fairy, who goes
through the land in famine and bad times begging. He always
brings good luck to the giver.
The Banshee meaning woman
fairy is traditionally known to
wail before death. Many have reported seeing
her as she goes along wailing and clapping
her hands. Usually her wailing will be heard to come
from a fairy bush of which there are many in Ireland.
THE TUATHA-DE-DANNAN
It is believed by many people that the
cave fairies are
the remnant of the ancient Tuatha-de-Dananns who once
ruled Ireland, but were conquered by the Milesians.
These Tuatha were great necromancers, skilled in all magic, and
excellent in all the arts as builders, poets, and musicians. At
first the Milesians were going to destroy them utterly, but gradually
were so fascinated and captivated by the gifts and power of the
Tuatha that they allowed them to remain and to build forts, where
they held high festivals with music and singing and the chant of the bards
And the breed of horses they reared could not
be surpassed in all the world....fleet as the wind
with the arched neck and broad chest and
quivering nostrils, and large eye that showed
they were made of fire and flame, and not of
dull, heavy earth.
And the Tuatha made stables for them in the great caves of
the hills, and they were shod with silver and had golden bridles,
and never a slave was allowed to ride them. A splendid sight
was the cavalcade of the Tuatha-de-Danann knights.
Seven-score steeds, each with a jewel on his forehead
like a star, and seven-score horsemen, all the sons of kings,
in their green mantles fringed with gold, and golden helmets
on their heads, and golden greaves on their limbs, and
each knight having a golden spear.
And so they lived for a hundred years
and more, for by
their enchantments they could resist the power of death.
THE LAND OF TIR-NA-NOG
There is a country called Tir-na-N'og,
which means
the Country of the Young, for age and death have
not found it, nor tears have ever gone near it.
According to many stories, it is the favourite dwelling
of the fairies. Many have described seeing it in many
places; some in the bottoms of lakes and have heard
the sound of bells rising from the lakes.
More have seen it far off on the horizon, as they peer out from
the Western cliffs. Fishermen speak of Islands on the horizon
that move or disappear as they are approached.
FAIRY FORTS, PATHS AND WAYS
Sharing the land with the fairies can
be a complicated
matter. Throughout the middle kingdoms there exists
a network of passages called fairy paths. Ireland is full
of them. Because they are invisible the only way to find
them is by connecting up locations that are
believed to be fairy sites, the most notable
of which are those known as fairy forts or raths.
There are over 2000of them in Ireland.
There are also trees and bushes known
as fairy sites. Often
they stand oddly alone in the middle of a field, or they
appear in the middle of hedges or near a well. It is deemed
very unlucky to disturb a fairy tree or to block a fairy path.
There are many stories told of people
having to remove parts
of their house when they discover that part of the house is
built in a fairy path. One such story was
about a man named Michael O Hagan whose
children were dying for no obvious
reason. The distraught man sought help
from a local wise woman who on arrival at
his home noticed that he had built an extension
to his house that crossed a direct line between
two fairy forts. Mr O Hagan demolished the extension
and his remaining child grew healthy again.
There was a huge resurgence of old
beliefs after
catastrophe struck John DeLorean, the luxury
car manufacturer, when it was discovered that a fairy
bush had been uprooted to build his factory in Belfast.
The following are fairy stories taken
from a combined
writing of some of Irelands well know pens.
Theses included Douglas Hyde, Lady Wilde, Lady Gregory,
William B Yeats. Some are also from my own memory of
the stories told to me as a child.
THE CHILDREN OF LIR
OISIN AND TIR NA N'OG
THE FAIRTALE OF MIDIR AND
ETAIN
THE LEPRECHAUN
AND THE SHOEMAKER
THE STOLEN
CHILD
THE FAIRIES
FAIRY MUSIC
THE LEPRECHAUN
THE SALMON OF KNOWLEDGE
THE FOUR IRISH
CELTIC FESTIVALS
