Blessington Street

SO I BROUGHT HER HERE TO THE FAIRY VILLAGE AT BLESSINGTON STREET BASIN

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A very young member of the family asked us if fairies were real. I did not give here a direct answer but I brought her the Blessington Street Basin to see this fairy village. She was delighted and then asked me if Santa is real … maybe she thought that I might bring her to Lapland or the North Pole.

Up the airy mountain,
Down the rushy glen,
We daren’t go a-hunting
For fear of little men;
Wee folk, good folk,
Trooping all together;
Green jacket, red cap,
And white owl’s feather!

In Irish folklore, the Tuatha de Danann were the one of the original inhabitants of Ireland – that is, until a warrior tribe, the Milesians (or Celts) arrived. The Milesians attacked and won a war against the Tuatha de Danann, eventually driving them underground. The Tuatha de Danann used their innate magic to become the Sidhe (pronounced Shee) – today known as the “fairies”, “little people” or the “wee folk”.

Like most folkloric events, the fairies and their magical, mysterious ways are often used to make sense of the indescribable or incomprehensible; Pre-Christian monuments are said to have been built by fairy folk, bad luck and illness a result of offending the fairies and people who disappear have been kidnapped by the little people. Even natural (and supernatural) phenomena can be explained by fairies. In general, it’s best to avoid angering the fairies, because who knows what they might do.

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