Ireland's Scariest Fairy Tales & Myths and the Legends Behind Them

Ireland's Scariest Fairy Tales & Myths and the Legends Behind Them
With st. Patrick's Day right around the corner we thought we would talk about some Irish fairy tales or more specifically the fairies that live inside the fairy tales just a fair warning though these fairies aren't quite as happy and helpful as our beloved tooth fairy or Tinkerbell in fact some of these fairies are downright scary and have got us thinking that we might just need to start celebrating Halloween on st. Patrick's Day instead so let's sit down and go through some Irish fairy tales the pooka the pooka could either be your best friend or your worst nightmare depending on their mood that day like a lot of Irish fairies they're said to be a shapeshifter but they often like to take the form of a dark black horse with golden or red glowing eyes if you find yourself lost and a horse like this offers you a ride you should probably politely decline hookahs love to trick humans into wild rides with the sole purpose of terrifying the rider then they dump them off exactly where they pick them up with nothing but a new terrible experience and a long walk home during these wild nights they also love to cause a little domestic chaos as well breaking down fences and ruining crops while they're at it there are all kinds of tales recounting not-so-great encounters with pookas stories like this one passed down from 1813 during a fox hunt a wild black horse with no rider appeared and began tempting the hounds to continue chasing the Fox even as they neared a dangerous Gorge ahead the horse easily leaped across the gorge disappearing into woodlands but the pack of hounds hard on scent of Fox went headlong into pool he wept as most of the pack went under suddenly his sorrow gave way to terror he heard a diabolical name like an animal laughing from woods opposite Brennan knew then that it was puka after a story like that it's pretty hard to find any redeeming qualities in the pooka they do however help out rural farmers from time to time as long as the farmers have made offerings to them of course it said the farmer should leave a few stalks behind during harvest as a puka share in order to appease them and stop any potential mischief from happening on their property some stories even tell the farmers being able to befriend the pooka who then helped the farmers with their crops and helped bring the family happiness and prosperity for the rest of their days so maybe this murderous and destructive prankster is just misunderstood after all either way we'll leave a few years of corn outside the door this year just to be safe d'leh hon sorry Ichabod Crane but Dullahan might have beat you to the punch on this whole Headless Horseman business de la Han carries his all-seeing head around with him as he travels the irish countryside on his devilish horse it's not always just one singular ghoulish horse though often times he's seen traveling on the black coach with as many as six horses in tow just in case that wasn't terrifying enough he also uses a human spine as a whip oh and did we mention that wherever he goes death follows you'll want to avoid eye contact with him at all costs if you look at him he might just use that whip of his to blind you either that or he will throw a bucket of blood all over you neither option really being the greatest but it could be worse though it could be you he's roaming the countryside for if he happens to call out your name well we hope your affairs are in order because death will immediately follow Hanlan's mill fairy urban legends of ireland describes a brief encounter with the Dullahan poor mix heart almost died within him but he said nothing only looked on and the black coach swept away and was soon lost among some distant trees next morning early he was standing at the roadside when he saw Dan Madden coming on to master's best horse down the hill Dan wiping the tears from his eye with the sleeve of his coat who'd have thought that the first thing I'd see this morning was the mistress standing at my bedside and bidding me get up and ride off like fire for dr. Johnson for the master had got a fit and poor Dan's grief choked his voice Oh Mick don't fret too much because even the scariest of the scary have things they're afraid of as it turns out della Han is terrified of gold even in small amounts which is great news for all of us penny-pinchers all you need to do is throw some on the ground and he is coming for you to scare him off your trail needless to say we may need to befriend some leprechauns too our hands on some extra gold the stay prepared banshees why have just one bringer of death when you can have two banshees are another infamous fairy from Ireland that death happens to be pretty close friends with unlike that last guy though banshees are simply warning of an upcoming death rather than bringing it along with them in the tale how Thomas Connelly met the banshee this type of fairy is described as as pale as a corpse and the two eyes sewn with thread from the terrible power of crying they had to do as blue as to forget-me-nots and as cold as the moon in a bog hole of a frosty night and a dead and alive look at them that sent a cold shiver through the marrow of my bones the Banshee is often described this way a woman dressed in white clothing that is usually blood stained with an incredibly pale complexion and all white hair urban legend says that if you hear the ear piercing cry of a banshee you or a relative will die within 24 hours so unlike that Dullahan guy at least the banshee gives you a little bit of time for some final goodbyes to your loved ones changelings as if raising a child isn't hard enough some fairies like to go ahead and throw changelings into the mix fairies are often envious of human children and like to swap out their own fairy children for their human counterparts fairy children aren't the typical bundles of joy that we're all used to know these guys are only ever happy when bad things happen in the household the changeling will screech and yell and take all happiness away from its unknowingly adoptive family some tales say one of the only ways to get your real child back are through extreme methods a tale passed on by Thomas Keatley in 1850 tells the story of two travelers who happened upon a child in the wilderness they brought the child back to his home only to find the mother and a changeling in the home already they're in a rather risky and potentially cruel test they lift the straw underneath the child on fire to get rid of the changeling who fled before being burned to end the matter at once the lads produced the real child healthy and Hardy and they forthwith proceeded to dispose of their new charge for this purpose they got an old Creole to put him in and some straw to light under it seeing the serious turn matters were likely to take he resolved not to await the trial but flew up the smoke hole and went at the top he cried out that things would have gone very differently with them had it not been for the arrival of their guests you don't need to jump straight into homemade witch trials though others have said that loving and caring for the changeling enough to see it become happy and healthy will make their fairy parents jealous and swap them back for your own happy and healthy child so put down the torches and pick up the changeling and you'll likely have your baby back in no time grow gawk we promise not all fairies are so bad though in fact the grow [ __ ] actually sounds like they may be a dream come true these fairies are said to possess the power of invisibility and will only finally reveal themselves to you once they know you are trustworthy once they do it's time to kick up your feet and let them take over some of your household chores they'll scurry around completing The Sluagh urban legend some of your dirty work and they'll do all of this for the simple payment of a jug of cream now let's say our new friend has worn out their welcome which is definitely a possibility as many stories like the one in leprechauns the myths legends and lore have been told over the years in spite of their stupidity the house of screaming skull urban legend grog rocks were extremely good hearted and eager to do good turns indeed they were so eager to please that they invariably became pests about the house they would run about often invisibly trying to do small chores for the woman of the house and would usually end up creating more mess than they cleared well if this is the case all you have to do is invite over your local priest bishop or anyone who is part of the church your new friend turned nuisance will tuck tail and run away as they are terrified of the clergy even if they quickly were out there welcome they'd still be welcomed guests compared to the other fairies we've mentioned after learning more about all of these fairies I think it's safe to say we'll try our best to steer clear of them for now and try and stick to the fairy godmothers we've grown accustomed to if you have another favorite Irish legend let us know down in the comments below a happy st. Patrick's Day and don't forget to carry around some spare gold just in case della Hahn wants to make a quick visit to your neighborhood this year.