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When discussing the Irish Sidhe, the Fairies as we call them here, you’ll hear many a cautionary tale of trickery, hard lessons, and even death… before you ever get a scéal of a tiny helpful creature. So why does Irish folklore focus so much on the warnings about Fairies?
✨ Post by Lora O’Brien
In the often green and pleasant (but just as often grey, rainy and dull) landscapes of Ireland, where ancient stones still whisper old tales, lies a warning oft spoken in shushed and serious tones… but seldom heeded by visitors, the young, or the ignorant.
This is the warning about Fairies, and this article will explore the cautions and courtesies extended towards these elusive inhabitants of the Irish Otherworld.
What Are Fairies, in Ireland?
These beings, known in Irish as the Sidhe (pronounced ‘shee’), are as integral to Irish heritage as our rolling green hills, stone walls, and rugged coastlines. Fairy folklore permeates our culture in a way that is ever present, even if it is most often not spoken of. Unless the warning is needed.
With origins rooted in Irish mythology and strongly perpetuated through Irish folk belief, the Sidhe or Irish Fairies are most often referred to by other names… The Good Neighbours, the Good People (Na Daoine Maithe), the Other Crowd, Themselves, the Folk, or the Aos Sidhe (Noble People of the Mounds), among many other descriptors.
But don’t be tricked into believing this means they ARE good, or have good intentions towards you. These titles are respectful and propitiary offerings, and ocassional wishful speaking, that they will be flattered by the humans who encounter them or come under their observation. So they leave us alone and unscathed.
Understanding the Irish Sidhe: More Than Just ‘Fairies’
The Sidhe, in the Irish language (Old Irish Sid, Modern Irish Sí), originally referred to the ancient burial mounds and tombs that were said to be entrances and gateways to the Irish otherworld, a parallel world to ours that has its own rules, its own laws of time and space, and its own inhabitants.
Over the years, the ‘people of the mounds’, those who visited our world through these ancient portals (and stole us from here to there), came to be know as the Sidhe.
Some of the Sidhe are the descendants of the Tuatha Dé Danann, a race of god-like beings who, after being defeated in battle, retreated into the Otherworld and inhabited the mounds. They are not the only ones who live in the Otherworld however, or travel through the mounds (and lakes, and islands, and mists… and the many other ways their world connects with ours).
To understand the warnings about the Sidhe, one must first comprehend their nature. In Irish folklore, these beings are far from the cutesy fairies of popular culture.
What Do Irish Fairies Look Like?
These beings are not the diminutive, playful fairies of popular tales, though granted – some are said to be small in stature. And some are very tall. They interact with the human world in myriad ways, often with consequences for those who disrespect their spaces or traditions.
Regardless of size, these are powerful, majestic, and sometimes capricious entities deeply connected to the land of this island, some are connected to natural objects or places, and many are directly linked to certain ancient mounds, hills, and sacred sites.
Some Fairies appear in almost ‘normal’ human form, some are mostly humanoid, some take animal form, and others are shapeshifters who can and do appear however they like.
They may dress in regular human clothing, though it is often told that even when making an effort to blend in with us, still they may seem slightly ‘off’. Clothes of an older or unusual style, hair that doesn’t seem to move the way it should, skin either slightly lustrous, or dull and paperlike.
Nothing you can quite put your finger on, but a sense of something in the pit of your stomach is telling you that something is not quite right. Trust that internal warning if you feel it friend, please believe me.
Na Daoine Sidhe are respected and often feared, with many customs and superstitions developed to avoid their wrath or to live harmoniously alongside them. These are the warnings we give folk about the Fairies, when they have the sense to ask us.
The Warnings of Old: Respecting the Fairy Realm
In Irish mythology and folklore, our warnings about the Fairies are rooted in respect and caution. One of the most prevalent pieces of advice is to avoid disturbing the Sidhe’s dwelling places.
These include fairy forts, roads, fields, trees, rings, and mounds known as a rath or a lios. These sites are often seen as portals to the Otherworld and disturbing them can bring bad luck with the Sidhe’s displeasure.
Stories abound of construction projects halted and strange occurrences befalling those who dared to interfere with these ancient sites. Here’s one from County Mayo…
There is an old fort a few fields from where I live. There are a lot of trees growing in it. It is a very haunted place. Very often lights are seen in it, and from once the nights times comes all the fairies come to it. In the older times, if anybody would go into it after sunset a light would follow him. There was once a man who did this and when he came to the corner of the field a big man lay on the ground before him. He had had to stay there until four o’clock that night and when the cocks crew the man went off in a blaze of fire. In this fort there is a cluster of trees and inside those trees there was a burying place for children. It is not right to break a tree in a fort, because it is said you will have back luck. This was done once by a boy and he never had a days luck. The following happened in this field. One day it as a man was fettering his horse in the field a crowd of fairies came to him and asked him to go with them. He said he would be too long away for he had a pot of potatoes boiling on the fire, and they told him he would be back again in the length the pot would be boiling. One of them struck a tree and changed it into a tree house and the man went off with them. He thought he was a long time gone and when he came back he found he was only gone a few minutes. It is not right to fall in a fort or you would die before the year would be out.
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0115, Page 208 [Duchas.ie]
Unseen Influence: The Sidhe in Our World
The Sidhe are known to have a strong connection to the land, and some are even in tune with nature (though they are not elemnental spirits, or nature guardians, as such). Their warnings might come through as environmental cues though.
A sudden change in weather, the rustling of leaves in a still forest, or unexplained sounds can all be signs from the Sidhe. People are advised to heed these signs and act accordingly — often by leaving the area or by performing a protective ritual.
In Ireland, we find that making an offering (suitable to the environment you find yourself in), then getting the feck out of there, is an effective deterrant to being followed home by a curious, angry, or idle Fairy. They sometimes take an awful interest in a person, as we can see in this example from County Galway…
There was a man there one time and the fairies were trying to catch him. One night they came to catch him, but they forgot to take an extra horse. They caught the man however and instead of giving him a horse to ride on they gave him a calf, and told him not to talk, for his life. To make a long story short, everything was all right, until they came to Léim na heilte, all the horses jumped over the lake, and the man was wondering would the calf be able to jump. However the calf rose into the air and reached the other side without delay. The man was very surprised, and said, if I were never again to speak a word, that is the best jump, I ever saw made by a calf. The fairies knocked him, and beat him.
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0006, Page 006 [Duchas.ie]
For whatever their reasons, the Sidhe seem to love to play with us and meddle in human affairs, especially during certain times of the year. Samhain (Halloween) and Bealtaine (May Day) are particularly potent, as the energies are shifting then and everything is in flux.
>>> To Learn More, Read my Book – The Fairy Faith in Ireland
The warnings you will hear about protecting your home with fire, iron or herbs, watching your words, and being wary of strange gifts or offerings.
Have You Had Enough Warning?!
The warnings about the Irish fairies are not just old wives’ tales. They are a testament to the respect, caution, and understanding our ancestors had for the forces of nature and the unseen world.
In today’s fast-paced world, many of us still do. These tales remind us of the mysteries that lie just beyond our understanding and the importance of respecting traditions and the natural world – seen or unseen.
Indeed, here’s a warning the fairies were giving to a human, just to show you their perspective on the matter too…
In Clifden about sixty years ago there lived a bagpipes player of no mean nature. He was in great demand whenever there was a marriage or a dance. He lived in a small cottage with his widowed mother. One night he was coming home from a dance where he had been playing and his pipes were under his arm. All of a sudden he heard music the like of which was never heard before. He listened and after a few minutes he could play the tune himself. He was just starting for home when he was confronted by a host of fairies. An imposing little man came from the front ranks and cried in a shrill voice “if you play the tune you have just heard you will have to come with us.”
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0004, Page 072 – All of their Data © National Folklore Collection, UCD.
When the player reached home he told his mother what had happened. She told him to heed the warning. One night he was playing at a dance and began to play the fairy tune and in one second he had vanished up the chimney out of sight. His mother gave up all hope of ever seeing him again.
About three miles from Clifden there lived a wise woman who said she could free the widow’s son from the fairy spell. One night she told the widow to follow her. After a long walk they came to a grassy knoll and here the wise woman sprinkled the ground with holy water and said a few prayers and the next minute the widow saw her son. The son had many things to tell his mother about the fairies. Every week he was taken by the fairies to a football match. When the match began he had to play on the bagpipes. He asked his mother how long he had been gone and he was told six months but he said he thought it only one night. There was a dance to celebrate his home-coming. He never told anyone outside his mother about the fairy tune. He lived fifty years after his adventure.
So, as you walk through the Irish countryside, remember the Sidhe are watching, and heed the ancient warnings passed down through generations. It’s not just about avoiding misfortune; it’s about living in harmony with a world much larger and more mysterious than we might ever comprehend.
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This was a great read
Thanks Taylor!
Thank you for that information. I deal with fairies on a daily basis (I had to consult a shaman to confirm this) and it’s always interesting to contrast and compare information. Similar to that story about the man in Galway riding the calf, they seem to have taken a strong interest in me. Btw, I live in Cork and there aren’t any known sacred sites around here, within my home’s immediate vicinity.
I agree that they’re humanoid in form (they often touch my face affectionately with their small hands) and they seem to have a normal human height. I often feel their breath on my face. The biggest surprise to me is that they have hearts, which I feel beating against my own chest almost all day long. They have the sense to move back from me when I’m doing a task that requires focus or caution, thankfully…
When it’s dark, I see them as bright flashes of light around me. They are generally benevolent, loving beings (they have often hugged me and squeezed me), who seem particularly enthusiastic about performing any form of skin healing (like, say, when I have a cut or a burn), but they can be over-bearing and annoying at times. It’d be nice to be truly alone for once.. They have only spoken aloud twice, and on both occasions, they simply said my first name. They seem to prefer listening and observation.
When I wake up in the morning, they shoot bursts of energy up through me, as if to wake me up. It feels a bit like when you yawn, but more of an amplified jolt. My cats are able to see these beings, of course.
It’s taken some getting used to, being aware that they are around me while also living my normal, mundane life simultaneously (almost like bilocational consciousness?). I didn’t even believe in fairies once upon a time (only spirits, ghosts and the like) – I used to take the piss out of the idea of fairies – yet here we are now. 🙂 I’m sure there are negative fairies, like with any species. The gamut must run wide. Never a dull feckin’ moment, that’s for sure!