THE CELTIC FAIRYLAND

The Rise and Fall of the Tuatha dé Danaan

THE SIDHE: WISDOM OF THE CELTIC OTHERWORLD

As the poet Matthew Arnold wrote in his On the Study of Celtic Literature, the Celtic people had a particular gift for expressing the magical and mysterious qualities of nature. Their lore is especially rich in tales of the Fairy Folk, who in Ireland were known as the Tuatha dé Danaan, or Children of Dana (or Danu), the great Celtic Earth Mother.

The Tuatha dé Danaan were a magical people who overthrew the original inhabitants of Ireland, and ruled over that isle for a very long time, though eventually they were overthrown by a race of invaders from Spain called the Milesians. Many of the Children of Dana were slain, and the rest were forced to exercise their magic arts and become invisible, or retreat to the underworld.

THE SECRET OF ROAN INISH

In time, as the ancient gods of the Celts shrank in glory, so too the children of the goddess Dana shrank in stature, and became known as the fairy folk or the Sidhe (pronounced "shee"). They might still be found inhabiting, and fiercely guarding, lonely woods, bogs, ponds, streams, mounds in meadows, or hollows in green glens. It was common practice to propitiate the Sidhe with offerings, or by referring to them by such euphemisms as the Fair Folk.