The pooka is the most feared type of Irish fairy. They are violent tricksters who emerge solely at night. Pookas often take the form of a black horse who stampede at night trampling fences, properties and crops.

If chickens or cows see a pooka they will be too traumatised to produce eggs or milk for weeks. As is true with many Irish folklore creatures, different areas of Ireland claim that pookas have different forms. In County Wexford pookas are said to take the form of large, dark eagles while in Laois pookas take the form of a terrifying boogeyman character. While they take the form of a horse to wreak night-time destruction, they will take the form of a goblin to claim a share of the harvest.

Pookas are said to have mastered human speech.

Top 10 Irish Mythological Creatures | Irish Folklore

If the person emerges they are dragged away by the Pooka, but if no one comes outside the Pooka will vandalise the property. Merrows are the much more beautiful counterparts of merrow-men. The name merrow translates to sea maid. They are not to be confused with mermaids as they have human-like legs instead of a tail. However there are some key differences between a merrow and a human; merrows have larger, flatter feet and webbed fingers to aid swimming. Some say her abilities come from a red feathered cap while others claim it comes from a seal skin cape.

Either way, for her to walk on land she must abandon her cap or cape. If a man finds and hides these garments, the merrow is forced to become his wife and she cannot return to the ocean. Merrows are desirable brides with their extreme beauty and riches collected from the ocean floor.


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However, as soon as she finds her garments again, she is overwhelmed by the urge to return to the sea and will leave her husband and children. Kelpies are evil water spirits who haunt rivers and lakes. They often appear as a foal or horse with a perpetually soaking wet mane. Their cute, dishevelled appearance attracts people, often children, to get onto their back. The kelpie then rides into the water drowning their victim. They eat the victim leaving only the heart and liver.

Kelpies have been known to appear as incredibly handsome men and, less commonly, beautiful women. Similarly to the merrow, kelpies can be trapped on land in human form if a person steals and hides their silver bridle. There are many stories of women marrying kelpies in human form.


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  • This story is often used by Irish parents to keep children away from the water. Changelings all have old, wrinkled, yellow skin and screech all day and night. They feed on good fortune and find joy in disaster striking their adopted family. As changelings grow, they are drawn towards instruments. They have mesmerising skill, causing anyone who hears them play to become entranced.

    Far Darrigs are a type of fairy closely related to the leprechaun.

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    Their name translates to red man, which is apt as they wear a red cape and hat. These may sound like jolly creatures, but they most definitely are not. They are gruesome practical jokers. Far Darrigs carry a human sized burlap sack ready to kidnap people with.

    1. Leprechaun

    They trap their victims in a room and use their ventriloquist skills to project inhuman noises around their victim. Their most terrifying noise is the laugh of a dead man. Far Darrigs have also been connected to the stealing of human babies to be replaced with changelings. They are associated with nightmares and find delight in terror. There are stories of Far Darrigs luring men to their house and ordering them to cook dinner, only to find that dinner is a skewered hag cooking over a fire.

    This, however, is much harder than it sounds as Far Darrigs set well hidden traps.

    2. Banshee

    Fear Gortas appear as walking corpses. With their protruding bones, deathly skinniness, blueish skin and rotting flesh they truly are a terrifying sight. They wander during famine asking whoever they encounter for food. Those who give the fear gorta food are rewarded with lifelong wealth and prosperity, those who do not will suffer bad luck and poverty.

    The moral of the story is to always share. There is another story stating that the fear gorta is a cursed patch of grass above a grave and anyone who steps on it is cursed with eternal hunger. If this hunger is not met with food, the person will die. This is another Irish death omen. The Dullahan is a headless man riding a black horse wearing a black cape. In his left hand he holds a human spine for a whip and in the right he holds his grinning head.

    The dullahan rides to the area in which the death will take place and calls the name of the soon to be deceased. The first recorded reference to leprechauns appears in a medieval tale called The Adventure of Fergus, Son of Leti. In one of the stories, Fergus mac Leti, a King, ends up passing out on a beach and wakes up to find himself being dragged to sea by three "luchorpain". He then subdues his captors and they grant him three wishes in exchange for their freedom.

    Its entire existence is a cruel joke on humanity. A leprechaun's pot of gold is held at the end of a rainbow, a place that's literally impossible to reach because a rainbow is an optical effect that moves farther away the closer you get to it. They hailed from the 4 northern ancient cities of Falias, Finias, Gorias and Murias, which is where they got their awesome superpowers.

    The Story of Leprechauns

    They could accomplish awesome feats, like replacing severed arms with working, silver-plated arms take THAT Star Wars and X-Men and poison people with their eyes. But when they ran into the Milesians read: After their defeat, the Milesians were supposed to divide the land between themselves and the awesome former-superheroes. Leprechauns can, therefore, pop in and out of these magical entrances in the blink of an eye, and are said to be seen mostly at night He's a nocturnal creature who is supposedly always drunk and often rides sheep and dogs for sport. What are some things you probably don't know about leprechauns?

    Take a look at this list and hopefully you'll learn a thing or two about these little fellas that you may not have known before. Then go have a Guinness, in honor of the Irish.