For the benefit of any of my American friends, wishing to visit our country, here is a little bit over the next couple of days about Irish culture, mythology and legends.
Ireland is steeped in mythology and legends. It is a magical country, from Giants and Banshees to Leprechauns and fairies - the tales are endless. Fine, that is the culture.
Even the most romantic of visitors will know we do not still believe in all that, but, just like any other country, we are proud of our culture, proud to acknowledge it, talk about it, show you places where it has left its mark, and leave it where it belongs, in our culture and mythology.
Even up to fairly recent times, fairies and banshees played a big role in Irish beliefs and culture. In the building of houses for example, great care would be taken that no part of the structure encroached on a “fairy path” - a track way thought to be used by “The Little People” as they made their nightly sojourns from one place to another. Encroach on that and bad luck would follow not only you but your descendents also, to the end of your days.
In many minds now the perception of fairies is that they are the winsome little winged creatures of children’s books and bedtime stories. Not so, I’m afraid, the fairy of Irish folklore.
Many tales revolve around the Tuatha de Danaan, the People of the Goddess Dana, who are Ireland's collection of shadowy Neolithic figures who were banished into an underworld existence by the hero gods of the invading Celts. Greatly reduced in size and power, these immortals lived on as the sidhe (pronounced "shee"), an Irish word for fairies. In his Fairy and Folktales of the Irish Peasantry, W.B. Yeats concluded that once the old gods were deprived of their worship and offerings, they were diminished in the popular imagination. Eventually they evolved into fairies.
Variously known as The Good People or The Little People, a popular nineteenth century belief was that fairies were fallen angels, or those unable to attain heaven. They were not wicked enough to be confined to hell but were banished to earth’s twilight places.
Rural superstition agreed on one point: Sidhe neighbours demanded respect. They had power to grant favours, but, if neglected or disrespected, could also prove spiteful. Thanks to pishogues (fairy spells) hens refused to lay eggs, milk would go sour, livestock and farmer alike would sicken. Accidents and untimely deaths were proof that the fairies had been insulted in some way.
The four leaf shamrock, a symbol of good luck, is thought to guard against fairy bewitchments.
More tomorrow…
