To hear her harrowing wail tear through the night sky was an omen of certain death. The cry of the banshee implied that someone in your family had died or was about to– or, that you were about to...
The golden treasure called the Broighter Hoard was found at the site of Lough Foyle, near Limavady in Northern Ireland at the end of the 19th century. Its discoverers couldn't believe their eyes when...
The Newgrange (New Grange) tumulus is found in County Meath, Ireland. This ancient site is connected to stories about magic, fairies, and incredible excavations. Newgrange is a part of the impressive...
One of the most prominent characters of Irish mythology and literature, Lugh Lama-fada, served as the High King of Ireland for 20 years before his unfortunate death at the hands of the sons of...
Horses have long been an important aspect in both western and eastern cultures. They are considered common in Indo-European traditions, with Chinese and Turkish traditions providing the most well-...
The hedgehog is a type of mammal that can be found in parts of Europe, Africa, and Asia. Unlike some animals, such as the fish or the dog, the hedgehog does not feature prominently in mythology and...
The legend of Irish Milesians is one of the strangest stories connected with the origins of these islanders. Where did they come from? Is it possible that the early ancestors of modern Irish people...
An archaeologist studying musical horns from iron-age Ireland has found musical traditions, thought to be long dead, are alive and well in south India. The realization that modern Indian horns are...
The Hill of Tara (Cnoc na Teamhrach) is comprised of a number of features, believed to have been constructed separately and arbitrarily before the space was combined into one large complex by the...
In medieval Irish legends they were called Banduri or Bandorai. Their existence was confirmed by ancient Greek and Roman writers. But who were the legendary female Druids? The Druids were the ancient...
A fulacht fiadh (spelled also as fulacht fian ) (the plural form being fulachtai fia ) is a type of archaeological feature found in Ireland. Such features have also been found in other parts of the...
In ancient Greece there was a large and dangerous sea monster called the aspidochelone , which could be translated as asp-turtle . The people who described it for centuries probably just saw a whale...
While researchers were analyzing the genes of prehistoric Irish ancestors they discovered that the beginning of a “Celtic Curse” (haemochromatosis) probably arose 4,000 years ago with a wave of...
Dating back to the 12 th century, the “Lebor Gabala” or “The Book of Invasions” talks about how Ireland came to be populated. After the great flood, only the Fomorians, a supernatural race in Irish...
The name Ben Bulben, also spelt as Benbulbin or Benbulben, is said to be an anglicized version of the Irish Binn-Gulbain, meaning ‘Gulban’s Peak.’ This jaw-shaped rock formation (the word ‘gulban’...
The Leprechaun is a much-loved and sometimes feared magical creature of Irish folk legend. Short in stature and with a long-beard and pot of gold, leprechauns were once believed to pervade the Irish...