Out of numerous personal accounts, here are the five weirdest fairy and supernatural sightings in Ireland.
In the recent 2014-2017 Fairy Census, personal accounts of fairy and supernatural sightings from all over the world have been listed. And seeing as Ireland is so intrinsically linked with mythology and folklore, a dense amount of spellbinding and utterly bewildering stories have taken place on the Emerald Isle.
Edited by British historian Simon Young, this census aims to neither prove nor debunk supernatural sightings, but instead to give a collective platform to the stories of individuals who believe there is more than meets the eye.
Here are the top five weirdest fairy and supernatural sightings in Ireland.
5. Co. Cavan; 1980s; male; 11-20
“I was walking home one night when a rustle began in a hedgerow to my right. Being from the country, I put it down to a badger or fox out hunting. That thought soon fled when the rustling followed my every step. I increased my pace, so did my unseen friend’s.
I got really worried, when, on encountering a gateway in the hedgerow, the rustling transferred to the other side of the road. By now I was petrified but pig-headed enough to not show it. My companion followed me for another half-mile.
Then came the part I will never forget: the hedgerow rose above the road to about my shoulder height. It became sparse, thin, more barbed wire than foliage. I turned my head sideways, and there, blotting out the stars, was a shape about three feet tall.
It was bulky at the waist, wide at the shoulders. If it was looking at me, I could not tell, but it stood for a moment, as I did before I ran the last mile home. If it followed me, I cannot tell, for the blood was thrumming in my ears.
When I reached my house, I collapsed in the door. My older brother was up, and he saw my state. He still says to this day that my hair was standing on end.”
4. Co. Dublin; 1990s; male; 21-30
“While travelling at night, on a road that ran up some mountains, we saw a shapeless white form that appeared to be a white shopping bag blowing around in the wind moving quickly up the mountainside. It was moving against the wind, however. Uphill.
We had pulled off the road, at a lay-by, to look at the view of the city lights down below, when we noticed the shape jumping from tree to tree towards us. It was about two or three square feet in area and a matte bluish white colour. Like a large pillow case or, like I said earlier, a shopping bag.
No markings or features, not shiny at all, looked more like a strange cloth than plastic. Both myself (American) and my fiancée (Irish) had a feeling that whatever it was, its intentions were not good. We had a general sense that something unpleasant would happen if it caught up to us, so we jumped back in the car and hightailed it out of there.”
3. Co. Mayo; 1980s; Female (third person); the witness (51-60) is dead
“My friend and another person were driving along a rural road in Co Mayo (where she was from but no longer lived) and they both saw a very small man dressed in green walk across the road in front of their car.
She was a sensible and very honest devout Catholic woman and I never knew her to lie or make things up. ‘Whatever she saw or didn’t see, I firmly believe her account as being true, whatever that means! She was a sensible businesswoman and didn’t make things up.’ ”
2. Co. Mayo; 2010s; female; 31-40
“I saw a group of six Sidhe, four male, two female, walking through an open field along a narrow footpath in my direction. This was not my first contact with them, so I wasn’t afraid.
We exchanged greetings (in Irish), and went each on our way. The last of their company turned around when we were just a few steps passed and asked me if I was so-and-so’s (one of their people) granddaughter. I said I was. She smiled and said I should visit sometime.
Like I said, I and my family have had many contacts with them, of which some have resulted in children. This is a description of one of the brief and most common contacts. Others involve lengthy conversations, which I cannot share.”
1. Co. Cork; 2000s; female; 51-60
“Full Moonlight, Samhain Eve, little gobliny type men running in and out of bushes, giggling, tumbling and scurrying around the garden. House by side of Burren, yew lined at the side, orchard at the end.
Like little men! About two feet tall, very dark-skinned, swarthy with big noses. Ragged clothes. Streams of music which was hypnotic but made me feel sick!
We had a solid type fog all day and a farmer had said, ‘Pooka come down in the mist’. I just knew [it was a fairy]. My paternal Grandmother was Irish and when I went to live in Ireland in 2007, I felt I had gone home. [Fairies are] I think ancestral voices. I have always felt ‘something’ and have seen things all my life. I learnt when going to school to keep quiet. I can’t explain my experience. I just am thankful for it.”
There you have them—the five weirdest fairy and supernatural sightings in Ireland, from the recent Fairy Census via Fairyist.com. Share these stories with friends you’d like to spook out this Halloween!
