Irish Spirits

This episode was called the Dark N' Stormy - so exactly like what the cocktail is actually called, but it just fit so perfectly with our theme: shipwrecks and their ghosts. One night after watching the movie The Fog  it got us a wondering, surely an island will have more maritime based spirits to shake a stick at. We weren't wrong! Mainly caused by shipwrecks, Alex (our bartender) chose the 'foreshadowing-ly' named, Dark 'N Stormy. 

Our stories circumnavigated nearly the entire coastline of Ireland and uncovered tales of the ghosts from the wrecks, the ghosts of those who escaped the sea and even the ghosts of the shipwrecks themselves...drink (responsibly) every time we make a terrible nautical pun but this rum-based drink made us the drunken sailors. To 'sea' where we got our sources from (sorry) check out : Legends, Charms and Superstitions of Ireland - Lady Wilde, marine.ie, Lady Gregory’s complete Irish Mythology, https://www.diffordsguide.com, Tarquin Blake's Haunted Ireland, Wikipedia, https://www.wildernessireland.com/blog/spooky-sites-ireland/,  https://www.irelandbeforeyoudie.com/5-terrifying-ghost-stories-ireland/ , https://oldmooresalmanac.com/the-ghosts-of-the-lighthouse/ , https://darkemeraldtales.wordpress.com/2015/05/05/ghosts-of-rms-lusitania-and-the-port-of-cobh/ , https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/05/ireland-faces-bill-for-millions-to-remove-ghost-ship-mv-alta-from-rocks, https://dodublin.ie/city-sightseeing-tours/ghostbus/dublin-ghost-stories/the-tayleur, https://dodublin.ie/city-sightseeing-tours/ghostbus/dublin-ghost-stories/fingal-pirates-smuggleres, http://www.waterfordmuseum.ie/exhibit/web/Display/article/331/10/The_Ardmore_Journal_Phantoms_Of_The_Sea_.html, http://diarmuidlynch.weebly.com/shipwrecks.html 

Support the show

This episode we got well....sexy! When you think vampire, you may think, Tom Cruise or Robert Pattinson but we would  argue that vampires are inherently - Irish. We take what we call the dearg-diúlaí or 'red-blood drinkers' of Irish lore and  look at Dracula's Irish cousins in this episode. Indeed, we sink our teeth into the idea that Dracula was Irish after all. From the vampire tropes that emerged from the Irish perfecting the genre of Gothic literature to us examining the effects of garlic, this was a bumper episode! It went by in a blur and the next day we felt drained, but that could have been the effects of the cocktail chosen by our resident bartender - Alex! As always please drink responsibly and find the recipe for An Deoch Fola over on our Instagram @irishspiritspodcast! An Deoch Fola was our attempt at a pun 'as Gaeilge' as in English it means 'blood drink' - enjoy :)

To help sharpen our fangs, our sources were: P. Tremayne (P. Beresford-Ellis) and P. Haining, The Undead (Constable 1997), O.G. Hoyt, Lust for Blood (Scarborough 1984), J. Wardell and T.J. Westrop, ‘The History and Antiquities of St Catherine’s Old Abbey in Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland (1904), J. Curtin, Irish Fairy Tales (Barnes and Noble 1993), Turtle Bunbury for newstalk.com at https://www.newstalk.com/newstalk-breakfast/hidden-histories-wturtle-bunbury-irelands-victorian-vampires-716760, Bob Curran - History Ireland (lecturer of Folklore at Coleraine) https://www.historyireland.com/18th-19th-century-history/was-dracula-an-irishman/ , National Geographic - ‘The Bloody Truth about Vampires, Becky Little at https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2016/10/vampires-europe-new-england-halloween-history/ , Dearg - Diúlaí, The Irish Vampires (Derry & Wexford) - Tarquin Blake, Dr. Michael Hefferon (now based in Canada) being interviewed in the Irish Times back in 2019, Nick Groom - The Vampire: A New History, www.vampirewebsite.net, The Lost Journal of Bram Stoker: The Dublin Years, Mark Jenkins - Vampire Forensics, Dr Michael Hefferon - Of Plagues and Vampires: Believable Myths and Unbelievable Facts from Medical Practice, https://hekint.org/2020/02/04/control-of-blood/ EC Spary ‘Control of Blood’ and further suggested reading from us: ‘Vampire of Venice’ Unmasked: Plague Victim & Witch?”,  “Archaeologists Suspect Vampire Burial; An Undead Primer.'

Support the show

In honour of the month of Samhain, this episode was all about...Samhain! and how Halloween in Ireland came to be. We went full on Celtic pagan by also drinking a la mas ubal  or 'Lambswool' a drink now known as 'wassailing.' This hearty drink was made by us separately but were virtually reunited by the power of the technology...it's good to be back! As always please drink responsibly and find the recipe over on our Instagram @irishspiritspodcast - this one took a little longer to prepare but the smell of mulled cider may actually attract the spirits than drive them away...

We reminisced about the good ole bin-bag days and how discussed how truly terrifying turnips are - but to 'help the Halloween party' our sources were: newgrange.com, museum.ie,
oakden.co.uk, ‘The Dark Secrets of the Bog Bodies’, (Eamonn P. (Ned) Kelly interviewed by Diana Bentley),Minerva: The International Review of Ancient Art & Archaeology, March/April 2015, Erin Mullally ‘Samhain Revival’  Archaeology Vol. 69, No. 6 (November/December 2016), Weisstein, Eric W. "Triskaidekaphobia on MathWorld".  Holiday Folklore, Phobias and Fun - Donald Dossey, John Roach, Friday the 13th Superstitions Rooted in Bible and More, National Geographic News, Hartston, Willam (2007). Encyclopedia of Useless Information, Nathaniel Lachenmeyer, 13: The Story of the World's Most Popular Superstition, Clar, Mimi (1957). "Friday the 13th". Western Folklore, Henry Sutherland Edwards, The Life of Rossini, Thomas W. Lawson (2005). Thomas W. Lawson, Friday, the Thirteenth (1907), Chrysopoulos, Philip (13 October 2015). "Why Superstitious Greeks Fear Tuesday the 13th",  Editorial, Reuters (13 June 2008). "Friday 13th not more unlucky, Dutch study shows", Ronald Hutton is the author of Blood and Mistletoe: The History of the Druids in Britain (Yale, 2009). This article was originally published in the April 2009 issue of History Today, Fergus Kelly, A Guide to Early Irish Law, https://www.digitalmedievalist.com/opinionated-celtic-faqs/samain, https://www.etymonline.com/word/halloween, https://www.inah.gob.mx/boletines/1485-origenes-profundamente-catolicos-y-no-prehispanicos-la-fiesta-de-dia-de-muertos-2

Oh! and  Happy Friday the 13th!

Support the show

 Unfortunately due to Covid-19 restrictions in Dublin, us as a trio couldn't meet up this week - again! We will get an episode out as soon as we can but in the meantime please enjoy another interlude by Laura Fitzachary as she expands a little on the lore surrounding Ross Castle, Co. Meath. The sources she used were ross-castle.com, Conor Pope writing for the Irish Times https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/travel/i-went-in-search-of-ireland-s-most-troubled-ghosts-1.4066856  and Nicole Buckler writing for the Old Moore's Almanac https://oldmooresalmanac.com/1270-2/ . Check out what Laura is drinking on our Instagram page @irishspiritspodcast and of course please drink responsibly!

Support the show

Unfortunately due to Covid-19 restrictions in Dublin, us as a trio couldn't meet up this week! We will get an episode out as soon as we can but in the meantime please enjoy this interlude by Caoimhe Creed as she regales you with a ghost story from dúchas.ie - National Folklore Collection. Check out what Caoimhe is drinking on our Instagram page @irishspiritspodcast and of course please drink responsibly!

Support the show

This episode focused on how haunted castles in Ireland can be! We looked at what was scarier: the castles themselves or the events that took place in the them, all washed down with our carefully crafted cocktail - The Oubliette. A drink to make you forget, it went down a little too easy courtesy of our phantom bartender, Alex! 

Each castle we discussed brought us down another rabbit hole of which much like an oubliette it was hard to get out of - each castle deserves their own episode! Until then enjoy our smattering of tales as we wonder what a ghost is at all! Our sources this week were: Augustine of Hippo, Blurry Photos Podcast, https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/6-possible-scientific-reasons-for-ghosts/, Ghosts - W.B. Yeats, Castle Ghosts of Ireland 1995 documentary, Legends, Charms and Superstitions of Ireland - Lady Wilde, https://www.ghostsandgravestones.com/types-of-ghosts, Tarquin Blake's Haunted Ireland, https://historycollection.com/12-torturous-methods-execution-history/5/, https://www.atlasobscura.com/foods/saint-agathas-breasts-festival-sicily, theirishplace.com, True Irish Ghosts Stories by St. John D. Seymour and Harry L. Neligan, authenticvacations.com, https://ghostcatcherie.wordpress.com/ , https://projectdreamscape.org/annals/298/what-is-an-oubliette/, http://www.megalithicireland.com/Leap%20Castle,%20Offaly.html, punchdrink.com

Support the show

Welcome to Irish Spirits, a fortnightly podcast about folklore and drinking, a natural Venn diagram of Irish culture. Hosted by Caoimhe Creed, Laura Fitzachary & Alex Buckley, each week we will have a theme. Whether it’s ghosts, fairies or mythical creatures, we will discuss the stories and lore, all while drinking a themed cocktail made by our phantom bartender, Alex! 

For our inaugural episode we discussed 'The Banshee'! From eye witness accounts to how we miss Banshee Bones, we washed down Episode 1 with our first carefully crafted cocktail: The Honeycomb Harbinger. Drink along with us (responsibly) as we post the recipes for each cocktail ahead of the show on our Instagram page @irishspiritspodcast
You can also follow us on Twitter @irishspiritspod & email us at [email protected]

We could have talked about the banshee all night but only because of the fantastic sources out there. Of which included: Tarquin Blake’s Haunted Ireland, Dúchas: the Online Schools Collection compiled between 1937-38, Kathy Weiser at ‘Legends of America’, ‘All About that Celtic Hair’ blog by Cindy Thomson, Charlotte Haffner on the history of póitín at https://www.celticwhiskeyshop.com/blog/Poitin, 'Irish Banshee Traditions - A Preliminary Survey' by Patricia Lysaght, Bealoideas, UCD's Folklore of Ireland Society Journal 42/44, 'Blow the House Down': Coding, The Banshee and Women’s Place by Bettina N. Kimpton, Proceedings of the Harvard Celtic Colloquium Vol. 13 1993, 'The Banshee’s Comb (MLSIT 4026): The Role of Tellers and Audiences in the Shapings of Redactions and Variations' by Patricia Lysaght, 'The Banshee' by Celtic Myths and Legends Podcast, 'Irish Folklore' by Fourfront Games Podcast, 'Madwoman, Banshee, Shaman: Gender, Changing Performance Contexts and the Irish Wake Ritual' by Narelle McCoy, Dean Ruxton's 'Ireland's Banshee: A delusion of peasants or a spirit with a mournful wail? & JohnPWalshblog.com

Support the show