Irish Folklore

Stories tagged Irish Folklore:

• The Selkie Bride of Donegal Aug 20, 2025

  

  On the storm-lashed coast of County Donegal, where the Atlantic hurls itself endlessly against granite cliffs and the wind carries the ancient songs of the sea, there stands a cottage whose empty windows look out over waters that hold both beauty and sorrow. This was once the home of Ruairí MacSweeny and his selkie bride, whose story has become a legend whispered along the western shores—a tale of love and captivity, of freedom lost and the price that both captor and captive must pay when the bonds of the heart become chains of possession.

• The Mermaid of Gollerus Aug 19, 2025

  

  On the wild coast of County Kerry, where the Atlantic waves crash endlessly against the towering cliffs of Gollerus and the spray rises like silver smoke in the morning light, there lived a young fisherman named Tomás Fitzgerald whose life was forever changed by an encounter with one of the sea’s most mysterious children. His story is one of love that transcended the boundaries between land and sea, and of the heart-breaking choices that sometimes must be made when two worlds collide.

• Abhartach, the Vampire of Derry Aug 18, 2025

  

  In the remote hills of County Derry, where ancient ring forts crown the windswept heights and the mists rise from boglands that have remained unchanged since the dawn of time, there stands a weathered stone that marks one of the darkest chapters in Irish supernatural history. Here lies—or once lay—Abhartach the Cruel, a chieftain whose evil was so profound that death itself could not contain it, and who returned from the grave to terrorize the living as Ireland’s most feared vampire.

• The Dullahan, the Headless Horseman Aug 17, 2025

  

  In the wild counties of western Ireland, where the Atlantic winds howl across barren moors and ancient burial grounds dot the landscape like scattered stones, there exists a creature so terrifying that even the bravest men will bolt their doors and shutter their windows when they hear the sound of galloping hooves on moonless nights. This is the Dullahan—the headless horseman of Irish legend—whose very appearance means that death walks close behind, and whose call cannot be ignored by those whose names are written in his dark ledger.

• Stingy Jack and the Jack-o'-Lantern Aug 16, 2025

  

  In the misty hills of County Cork, where the veil between this world and the next has always been thin, there once lived a man whose cleverness was matched only by his greed and whose fate would become forever linked with the autumn tradition of carved lanterns. His name was Jack O’Lantern, though the good people of his village knew him better as “Stingy Jack”—a title he had earned through a lifetime of penny-pinching, corner-cutting, and small-time swindling that made him the most despised man for miles around.

• The Kildare Pooka Aug 15, 2025

  

  In County Kildare, where the rolling green hills stretch toward the horizon and ancient stone walls divide fields that have been farmed for a thousand years, there once lived a young man named Pádraig O’Sullivan who was known throughout the region for two things: his quick wit and his complete lack of fear. It was these very qualities that would lead him into the most extraordinary adventure of his life—a midnight encounter with the infamous Kildare Pooka.