Tag Archives: Fairies

ABDUCTIONS by fairies, and other nefarious activities of Ireland’s ‘sídhe’, are detailed in a new book by Quin’s Michael Houlihan. The Kerry man, who is a founder of the Quin Heritage Group, has not been sitting on his laurels for long and Irish Fairies – A Short History of the Sídhe is now available in local bookshops.  The recent Púca controversy proves the persistence of superstitions around fairy folk, and Michael outlines where this mischievous character sits in the pantheon of the sídhe, alongside creatures like the banshee, the fairy queens Clíodhna and Medb, the nobles Aengus Óg and the Dagda. “For thousands of years, the Irish have believed in ‘the fairies’,” Michael said. “In present-day Ireland, however, as in so many modern societies, fairies have been retreating, almost to the point of extinction. Nevertheless, the question might still be asked, what if the fairies were not created or imagined, but remembered?” As well as considering that key question, the …

SOME unusual visitors have decided to make Ennis their home, after they were impressed by the Trojan work going on in one local estate. An Sean Dun in Roslevan has become home to six fairies, who are now living throughout the estate. Cormac McCarthy, of the local residents’ committee, said the new arrivals decided to stay after seeing the great work that children in the estate have done in recent years. At the recent An Sean Dun family fun day, the children were given clues to fairy doors that have been hidden throughout the estate. “This was a special thank you to the children; they’re always so enthusiastic about what we’re doing on the estate. The fairy doors are dotted throughout the estate and the children were given riddles to find them. They were all running around with their parents trying to find the doors and we encouraged the children to find them and upload photos to our website. The …