Hungry Grass
According to Irish folk tradition anyone crossing a patch of Hungry Grass (sometimes stated as crossing it at night) will be gripped with a terrible and unless sated immediately, fatal hunger. The origin of...
Country and County: Ulster
Oilliphéist
In ‘Irish Myths and Legends’ by Ronan Coghlan, we are told that Oilliphéist, is an Irish word meaning ‘dragon’ or ‘great worm’, and that ‘a creature of this sort, hearing that Saint Patrick was coming to drive out its kind, cuts its way through the land, thus forming the River Shannon.’ The Shannon is 224 miles long and the is Ireland’s longe
Irish Ghosts by Peter Underwood
Peter Underwood, a world renowned expert on the paranormal, has published a new book focussing on Irish Ghosts. I had great hopes for this book having owned a copy of his 1973 book Gazetteer of Scottish & Irish Ghosts for a number of years, and I’m pleased to say I’ve not being disappointed.
Jamie Freel and the Young Lady
The following story from’ Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry’ by William Butler Yeats (1888) takes place in Fannet, which is now known as Fanad, a peninsular by Lough Swilly. Although the tale includes a trip across the length of Ireland, according to the story the hero states he is nearly home when approaching Tamney, so I have used this village for my map reference below.
St Patrick’s Purgatory, Saint’s Island
According to tradition, whilst St Patrick was converting the Irish pagans to Christianity in the 5th century, he had a vision whilst in a cave on Saints Island, just off the shore of Lough Derg.
Lough Derg
Lough Derg is a 2200 acre lake in County Donegal, famous for St Patrick’s Purgatory which is still a popular of pilgrimage as it has been many centuries.
Cornu
According to legend the Cornu was a great black bird, described as being like a wingless and featherless heron that occupied a cavern at the medieval pilgrimage site of St Patrick’s Purgatory, Saint’s Island,
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