Blue Star Chronicles

I know that St. Patrick’s Day is not until next week, but I like St. Patrick’s Day. Maybe it’s the call of my ancestors. I don’t know, it’s just a fun holiday and Ireland is an interesting place. Whatever - here’s some random odds and ends about Ireland and Irish mythology.

1. Bands of Vikings rampaged through and attacked the coasts of Ireland for centuries. They first came to Ireland in the 8th Century and their influence did not begin to decline until well into the 11th century. They attacked monastic settlements mostly because that is where treasures were kept. The native Irish fought the Vikings throughout the centuries and maintained their Gaelic identity and culture. The Vikings gradually began to set up permanent settlements. They either moved on or became part of Ireland.
2. During the 13th century the Gaelic chieftains, O’Rourke and MacMurrough were at war with one another. MacMurrough asked the Normans to come to his aid in Ireland. The Normans did and then decided to take control of the country. They were fierce warriors and so well armed and armoured that the Norse and Gaelic Irish could not defeat them with axes and spears. They build great fortified castles and towers. But like the Vikings, they began to like the Irish and started intermarrying with the native Irish and settling down on the Island. It is said of the Normans that they became “more Irish than the Irish themselves”.
3. Ever hear of a banshee? You know, ‘She was screaming like a banshee!’ Well …. The bean-sidhe (woman of the fairy) may be an ancestral spirit appointed to forewarn members of certain ancient Irish families of their time of death.
4. I’ve seen a couple of different sources for the name leprechaun. One source is that it is derived from the Irish leath bhrogan that translates to shoemaker. The other is that its origins may lie in luacharma’n which is Irish for pygmy.
5. Leprechauns are apparently aged, diminutive men who are frequently in an intoxicated state. They drink a home-brew called poteen.
6. About where those pots of gold came from. Leprechauns have a natural distrust of humans that was probably caused by the deeds of the Vikings. They have also became self-appointed guardians of ancient treasure burying it in crocks or pots. The treasure was left by the Danes when they marauded through Ireland.
7. The Merrow is the Irish version of a mermaid. The word merrow or moruadh comes from the Irish muir (meaning sea) and oigh (meaning maid) and refers specifically to the female of the species. They are known for their promiscuity in their relations with mortals and they are extremely beautiful. Interestingly, the male of the species is extremely ugly. I’m not sure why. Farmers on the coasts often trick the merrow into marriage. They are very wealthy because of their ability to plunder gold from ship wreckage. They can’t resist the call of the sea and will eventually leave their husbands and children to return to the sea.
8. The Pooka comes out at night and is the most feared fairy of Ireland. It can take on many forms, can speak like a mortal and creates mischief and trouble. The pooka is very vindictive and it’s said that to this day attacks on property and sober travellers on their way home continue.
9. Grogochs were originally half human, half-fairy aborigines who came from Kintyre in Scotland to settle in Ireland. The grogochs is very sociable and bustles about the homes of people he likes trying to help. He has the power to be invisible except to people he likes. When he likes someone, he often ends up getting in the way by trying to be helpful.
10. The dullahan is the heralder of death. He is spectacular in that he rides through the countryside on a black horse. He is headless, but carries his head in his hand, in this way he can see great distances. The purpose of this fairy is to call out for the soul of the dying. Where the dullahan steps a mortal dies. The origins of the dullahan are not known for certain, but he is thought to be the embodiment of an ancient Celtic god, Crom Dubh, or Black Crom.
11. A changeling is a fairy infant that is born deformed or stunted. The adult fairies exchange these children with mortal babies. A changeling brings the mortal family bad luck. They drain away all of the family’s fortune as they are little monsters. A family can protect it’s infant from being taken by early baptism. The fairies will not take a baptized mortal infant.
12. On Midsummer Eve, sacred rites were held on two hills near Lough Gur (’the Enchanted Lake’) in County Limerick. One is called Knock Áine (‘Áine’s hill’), Áine being the name of the ancient Irish goddess who dwells there. She is also called Áine Cli, Áine Cliach, Áine of the light, Aine N’Chliar, and Áine Cliar, the Bright.

    Áine’s name comes from the word an, meaning ‘bright’. She is one of the sídhe (pronounced shee), or the ‘Good People’, patroness of Munster and Queen of the South Munster fairies, and seems to have been a moon goddess, like Diana. The peasantry knew her as ‘the besthearted woman that ever lived’.

13. Áine’s sister was Finnen (Fenne or Fennel), named the same as the sacred herb which wards off evil spirits, bestows strength, courage, and prolongs life. At least as far back as the Middle Ages in Europe, fennel was hung on doorways, and stuffed into keyholes, on Midsummer Eve to guard against evil spirits.