In fact, despite their heretical nature, the earliest Irish myths and fairy tales were written down by Irish monks. From the eighth century on, Irish monks seemed to have felt secure enough in their Christianity to value Irish fairy tales as an interesting historical legacy, rather than as a threat to Christian doctrine. Irish fairy tales have held on stubbornly into the modern age, even finding a place in Irish Catholic doctrine as people described the nature sprirts they feared and respected as angels which had fallen from heaven but been saved from hell.
guardian of irish mythology
If there is one thing which has augured the end of the Irish fairy tale it has been the dawning of the age of television. TV more than anything else has damaged the oral tradition of sharing stories round the Irish hearthside. That said, Irish fairy tales have been laid down for posterity in a variety of excellent books.
And there are also modern Irish writers who have been heavily influenced by Irish mythology and they are, in there own way, creating a new body of Irish fairy tales for the current generation. There has even been a recent animated film inspired by Irish mythology - The Secret of Kells Celtic Irish society revolved around the cult of warrior heroes.
The most important people in early Irish society, equal even to the kings, were the Seanachie or storytellers. A major part of these bards' duties was to compose poems in praise of the daring deeds of kings and warriors, hence they were held in such high esteem in a warrior society. Irish wars at this time consisted mainly of targeted raids aimed at stealing cattle the measurement of wealth in Irish society before coins were introduced by the vikings , and individual contests of strength.
The two great heroes of Irish warrior myths are Finn MacUail, leader of a band of warriors known as the Fianna, and hero of the Fenian cycle of legends, and Cu Chulain a warrior of supernatural strength and abilities, the hero of the Ulster cycle of myths.
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Although the tales surounding these two figures are warrior stories, and may even be based on real historical figures, they also have many fantastical elements which allow them to be classified as fairy tales. Both heroes use enchanted weapons and magical abilites as part of their success. And both must contend with hostile supernatural beings such as the Morrigan , the Irish Goddess of death and destruction who wants to claim them for her own. These warrior heroes face not only human enemies but an array of supernatural forces - from druids and sourceresses to mythical gods and godesses.
The other major theme of early Irish legends is romance. Even the most hardened of warrior heroes, had a single true love, a woman who could bring them to their knees. These early romances offer an intriguing insight to the position of women in Irish culture at the time. The women are often powerful figures who don't tolerate any betrayal or slight to their honour such as Emer. Some are out-and-out sexual predators like Queen Maeve , who use their wiles to gain political power and economic status - and who lose their temper when a man refuses to play their game.
Others are beautiful but ultimately tragic figures like Deirdre who are victims of a society where young girls were offered in marriage to powerful but old and unattractive men. Soul-mates are common in Irish stories.
One such in the story of Midir and Aideen where even magic cannot break apart their love. Sadly, many Irish romances end in tragedy such as the story of the Sons of Uisneach which centres on the heroine Deirdre and which is one of the 'Three Sorrows of Irish Storytelling'. Emer is widowed when Cu Chulain dies in a heroic battle and the flight of Diarmuid and Grainne ends in a tragedy to equal Romeo and Juliet. The other two 'sorrows of Irish storytelling' concern children - the Children of Tuirean and the famous story the Children of Lir.
There are heart-wrenching tales but beautiful also, and a powerful warning about the cost of human greed and envy. I don't know if the Irish are more psychically aware, or just more culturally-attuned to believing in ghosts, but in all my travels I have never met a people with more tales of true-life ghost sightings as well as penchant for legends of haunted castles and dark fairies who warn of death. Many of my Irish friends swear they have seen a ghost at night, or have had a strange experience of ghostly premonition just before a relative died.
Ghost stories have only become common later in Irish history. In early Celtic times it was believed that the dead passed onto eternal life in the Otherworld - they did not come back to haunt the living. It is most likely that ghost tales became more popular in the late Medieval and Early- Modern period, in line with the rest of Europe. Writing at this time Shakespeare often used ghosts, such as that of Hamlet's father, as a key plot device - suggesting the great influence the idea ghosts had on people's imagination at this time.
Fairies and Folk of Ireland
Ghost stories have also had a great influence on Irish literary figures. For example there is a tale told near where I live of an evil man who came back from the dead three times before he was finally successfully buried under a stone slab with his head cut off. Locals tell me that this was the inspiration for the Dublin writer Bram Stoker to write 'Dracula'. Oscar Wilde and WB Yeats have also written ghost stories, among others. Irish ghost stories are very much rooted in particular places. There is no ruined castle, no ancient building that does not have at least one tale of a ghost that haunts its walls.
Often they are also morality tales - the tragedy which led to the haunting is a result of some sin or crime committed, and these tales offer a stark warning against such acts. An example from the area of Ireland where I grew up is the tale of Princess Maeve who is said to haunt Dunluce Castle on the north coast. It is believed her ghostly white face can still be seen at times in the window of castle tower where she was kept imprisoned by her own father.
There are also much Irish folklore dating from the medieval period and beyond which concerns dark fairies as harbingers and bringers of death. The legend of the Banshee is the most famous. These include the famous few such as the leprechaun, banshees, changelings and many others. Not long after the foundation of the commission he created two books for the collectors. In he wrote his more well-known volume A Handbook of Irish Folklore published To this day his work serves as a great resource to collectors of Irish folklore and provides a wide outline of the traditions of Irish Folklore.
He played particular attention to the stories of Fionn Mac Cumhail and the Fianna , and looked into how stories were told in Irish and in other languages across Europe. His work was and still is very important in the study of Irish Folklore for the masses. When Christianity was first brought in Ireland during the 5th century by missionaries, they were not able to totally wipe out the pre-existing folklore and beliefs in God-like fairies. For example, fairies, who were previously perceived as God, became merely magical, and of much lesser importance.
Along with it, a fusion of folklore legends and Christianity was witnessed. Folklore is a part of national identity, and is evolving through time. During the 16th century, the English conquest overthrew the traditional political and religious autonomy of the country. At the time, intellectuals such as Sir William Wilde expressed concerns on the decay of traditional beliefs:.
In the state of things, with depopulation the most terrific which any country ever experienced, on the one hand, and the spread of education, and the introduction of railroads, colleges, industrial and other educational schools, on the other — together with the rapid decay of our Irish bardic annals, the vestige of Pagan rites, and the relics of fairy charms were preserved, - can superstition, or if superstitious belief, can superstitious practices continue to exist? Moreover, in the last decades, capitalism has helped overcoming special spatial barriers [14] making it easier for cultures to merge into one another such as the amalgam between Samhain and Halloween.
Niamh of the Golden Hair appeared on a white horse to Oisin, son of Fionn mac Cumhall, to confess her love for him, and took him back with her.
Irish folklore - Wikipedia
Interactions between man and Sidhe were not always so benign. As a boy, Fionn mac Cumhall was the only warrior capable of slaying the fire-fairy, Aillen mac Midhna, who for many years had been laying waste to the Hill of Tara with fire every Samhain festival. Often, the Sidhe would fight amongst themselves, and sometimes, humans would be caught in the crossfire.
This happened on one occasion to Fionn, when he and five members of his Fianna were hosted overnight by the Sidhe after getting lost whilst out hunting. The next morning, they awake to find they are expected to fight on behalf of their hosts against the massive Sidhe army led by Bodb Derg lined up outside the mound. Posted on 10th October by Ali Isaac. How and why to connect to elementals! Thank you Ali for another wonderful post about these amazing beings and for your wealth of knowledge about the history!
Always a great read. Like Liked by 1 person. I finally got back over here, reading your post lit up my day. I have heard from some people that the name sidhe actually refers to a much larger group of people of many sizes, and that the Tuatha De Danann got lumped in with them around the time of Christianity and the growing fears people had of other kinds of beings than themselves.
Other people speculate that the sidhe and the Tuatha De Danann have always been synonymous. And at least one of them shared that they might seem somewhat god-like, but are not gods. Here in California, I have seen, and once met, very tiny otherworld beings who identified themselves as fairies.
These ones have wings, and they move very quickly so when you are watching it is like seeing many lights go by or flash under a bush or take off over the ground. Some people call them nature spirits. An absent but pretty malevolent nonphysical person was the main focus of the dream, so toward the end, when I actually felt someone standing behind me, I just assumed it was the dream character and got pretty scared.
I could tell even facing away from him that he was extremely tall and imposing. He tried reaching out to connect with me, and I instinctively moved away, and the next several minutes were him trying and eventually succeeding in calming me down. By then I was half awake and he was still there. He told me I had been dreaming, and that I was safe with him.
A photograph of genuine fairies taken by Frances Griffiths in Cottingley in What are your thoughts about leprechauns?
This is what I found when I looked up the word: Mythology of the Celtic People. Hmmm, I know that the word leprechaun originated from an Irish word meaning shoemaker. They might just be craftspeople in the sidhe realm. They are not Tuatha dDe Danann, and I am sure they were greatly reduced in size and status during early Christianity, as happened with so many others. Ali might have more insights about this. Nothing like walking on egg-shells when it comes to faerie folk! Like Liked by 2 people.
Excellent work as ever Ali; love the header image. I love how it blends so that the edge is blurred between reality and fiction and we are left speculating about the truth. The Christian influence mucks it up further, although at least those accounts still exist and give historians something to wonder about. Thanks for another fascinating read. Yes, we are lucky to have those accounts, even if they are a bit murky.
I think you know all about it… you weave lots of it into your stories. They are tall, oh guess who else is tall…. What like the ones that lift big fat rocks and build pyramids? I know, I know! Love discovering common links. Btw I read somewhere recently that the ancient celts counted their age in lunar months rather than solar years, which is why they seemed to all live so long.
How else would the Church depict the old shining heroes except as wizened cantankerous dwarfs? How are you today? Feeling better, I hope. Maybe the fresh country air and peace and solitude will help when you move. Roll on, that great day! The bug has almost cleared up, thanks.
Lovely post and very close to my heart. Here, we used to call them na daoine maithe, or the good people. Better not chance it….