Creatures from Irish Folklore

St. Patrick’s Day is coming, but there’s more to the holiday than green beer. Ireland has a rich tradition of mythology, so here are five creatures to check out from Irish folklore.

Bunworth Banshee, 1825 © Thomas Crofton-Croaker | Public Domain

The Banshee

Similar to the Greek siren, banshees are depicted as pale women with silvery hair draped in white or gray cloth. She is sometimes seen as a young women or as a wash lady cleaning her bloody rags, but she usually appears as an elderly lady, letting out a blood-curdling scream that supposedly brings death to whoever hears it.

The Origin and History of Irish Names of Places, 1875 © National Library of Scotland | Archive

Abhartach

This terrifying legend tells the tail of a cruel dwarf tyrant who rises from the dead and terrorizes people. To defeat him, he must be killed and buried upside down. Some people believe he was an inspiration for Dracula, according to the legend that Abhartach drank the blood of his subjects.

© Henry Fuseli | Public Domain

The Changeling

According to Irish legend, fairies sometimes had deformed children and would send them to the human world to be switched with a normal baby. The changeling left behind would be associated with bad omens and misfortune, with the myth appearing in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Gone with the Wind.

© Jean-Noël Lafargue | Wikimedia

The Leprechaun

Though they are the most famous, leprechauns are relatively new in Irish folklore. The depiction is often inaccurate, depicting a caricature of short, green Irish people instead of the traditional red military coat worn by the original leprechaun figure. The character was first referenced in Echtra Fergus mac Léti, the medieval tale following the King of Ulster, who was kidnapped by three lúchorpáin. After escaping and capturing his foes, the leprechauns offered him three wishes in exchange for freedom.

© Sergey Sarafanov | Dreamstime

Ellén Trechend

Dating to the 8^th century, the ellén trechend is a three-headed monster that emerges from a cave to go on a rampage. There is some dispute as to what kind of monster it is, with some claiming it to be a bird, while others attribute it to Aillén, the fire-breathing dragon defeated by Fionn mac Cumhaill.