Forget everything you think you know about St. Patrick's Day. Irish mythology is genuinely terrifying, and we're going there.
We open with two listener submissions that stopped us in our tracks: a man struck by lightning inside his own childhood home in Texas, and a gnome sighting featuring a little figure in a red hat that we can't stop thinking about.
Then we go deep-uncovering the dark origins of leprechauns (they were feared, wore red, and may be descended from a fallen sun god), the death goddess who became the Banshee, and the Dullahan- Ireland's headless horseman who predates Sleepy Hollow by centuries. Plus- Abhartach, a real 5th-century chieftain who kept climbing out of his grave demanding blood, and whose burial stone has never been moved to this day. We also dig into why nearly every culture on earth independently invented fairy mythology, and a few sworn legal testimonies from people who saw things they couldn't explain.
Happy St. Paddy's Day! 🍀
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References:
🍀 LEPRECHAUNS & THE TUATHA DÉ DANANN
MacKillop, J. (1998). Dictionary of Celtic Mythology. Oxford University Press.Ó hÓgáin, D. (2006). The Lore of Ireland. Boydell Press."Adventure of Fergus son of Léti" — earliest recorded leprechaun account, c. 8th century. Translated in Cross & Slover, Ancient Irish Tales (1936).Monaghan, P. (2004). The Encyclopedia of Celtic Mythology and Folklore. Facts on File.Green, M. J. (1992). Dictionary of Celtic Myth and Legend. Thames & Hudson.
🌍 GLOBAL FAE
Briggs, K. M. (1976). An Encyclopedia of Fairies. Pantheon Books.Gunnell, T., ed. (2007). Legends of the Hidden People. University of Iceland Press. — Huldufólk/Iceland construction disputes.Foster, M. (2015). The Book of Yokai. University of California Press.Mooney, J. (1900). Myths of the Cherokee. Bureau of American Ethnology. — Nunnehi & Yunwi Tsunsdi.El-Zein, A. (2009). Islam, Arabs, and the Intelligent World of the Jinn. Syracuse University Press.Ramos, M. D. (1971). Creatures of Philippine Lower Mythology. University of the Philippines Press. — Duwende.
👻 THE BANSHEE & THE MORRIGAN
Lysaght, P. (1986). The Banshee: The Irish Death Messenger. O'Brien Press. — The definitive scholarly work.Clark, R. (1991). The Great Queens: Irish Goddesses from the Morrígan to Cathleen ní Houlihan. Colin Smythe.Ó Crualaoich, G. (2003). The Book of the Cailleach. Cork University Press. — Bean chaointe/keening traditions.
🐎 THE DULLAHAN
Yeats, W. B. (1888). Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry. Available free at Project Gutenberg: gutenberg.org/ebooks/33887Irving, W. (1820). The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Available free at Project Gutenberg: gutenberg.org/ebooks/2048
🧛 ABHARTACH — THE IRISH VAMPIRE
O'Donovan, J. (1856). Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland by the Four Masters. Hodges, Smith & Co.Haining, P. & Tremayne, P. (1997). The Undead: The Legend of Bram Stoker and Dracula. Constable.Slaghtaverty burial site, County Londonderry — archaeology.ie
📜 REAL HISTORICAL ACCOUNTS
Kirk, R. (1691). The Secret Commonwealth of Elves, Fauns and Fairies. Available free at Project Gutenberg: gutenberg.org/ebooks/38486Tower of London sentry case (1864) — cited in Underwood, Ghosts of London (1975).Souter Fell mounted army (1737–1745) — cited in Hutchinson, History of Cumberland (1794).Haystack Fairies of Wales (1862) — cited in Sikes, British Goblins (1880). Free at Project Gutenberg: gutenberg.org/ebooks/13673