Ireland and the Good Folk?

Question

My friend is going on a trip to Ireland (near Tara, i believe). I was wondering about protections against the good folk... As in turn your clothes inside out... stuff like that. The last thing i want if for her to get sucked down some Sidhe mound.

Answer 1

Tell her to carry a full bottle of whiskey at all times, and wear a hat, it gets windy on the hill of Tara.

Answer 2

Well now! It is only good and proper that you would be considering your friend’s safety around the ‘good folk’ for this is what they preferred to be called.  They take grave exception to being called ‘little people’ or ‘wee folk’ or other such derogatory names and I hold a sprig of yellow primroses in my hand for protection even as I type these names.  Tell your friend that they are not to be confused with the more commonly known Leprechán, he is a little fellow whose occupation is making shoes (one only, not a pair for reasons known only to himself) for the ‘good folk’.  If they can catch a hold of one these little fellows, be sure to tell them not to take their eyes off him even for a second until he promises the crock of gold for his freedom.  If you take your eye off him, he just disappears.

Now for general protection from ‘you know who’ remember the yellow primrose, tell her to sprinkle a few outside the front door or even a small twig of the rowan or mountain-ash tree, and they wont pass it.  Be sure and warn her not to throw any pails of water (or other liquid substance) out the said door without shouting a warning, they really get mad if they get a drenching! Any food that falls to the floor is not to be eaten it should be put aside for their consumption and last thing at night bring a can of clean water into the house.

If she is out and about, the way to tell if the ‘good folk’ are around is to watch for the shee-geeha, 'fairy wind’, that is a little whirl of dust moving in a circle on the ground, to be seen even on the calmest day.  Human beings who interfere with raths, mounds or forts, will be fairy-struck, which can cause paralysis or other dangerous illness, so she is not to interfere with these. A lone tree in a field is also a sacred thing of the ‘good folk’ and no attempt at damaging or knocking it down should be made.  If she finds herself having to milk a cow, (and stranger things have happened to visitors) tell her to let the first few squirts go to the ground and not into the milking pail.  This is how the ‘good folk’ get their daily calcium.  

The time of year when your friend is visiting is also important, as there are significant days of the year to be extra cautious.  The eve of St. Brigid, which is the last day of January, she should put a sheaf of corn and an oaten cake on the doorstep as a thanksgiving for the plenteous grain-crop and for good luck during the following year.  Between sundown on the last day of April and dawn of the 2nd of May, the ‘good folk’ move their place of residence and magic for good or evil is at its strongest at this time.  If she has borrowed anything from anyone, this is the time to return it.  She is not to carry any fire or ashes out of the house or give any food to beggars; they might be a mischievous ‘you know who’ in disguise.  Halloween is another night that all sorts of fairies, good people and púca are about.  This last little mischief is an immigrant brought here by the Danish when they came to live here.  He is not to be trusted at all and does untold damage to the blackberries on Halloween night.  Some say that he squirts slime on to them, but others of us know what he really squirts on them, so tell her to avoid eating any blackberries after this time.

If she observes all of these precautions she should have a very enjoyable stay in Ireland, and who knows she might go home with a crock of gold!

Answer 3

Unfortunately, those people appear to have been exterminated, having suffered setbacks at the hands of the Romans and the Saxons, and then intermarrying with other populations until their separateness as a people and culture disappeared.

Anyway, your friend should avoid sleeping outdoors near the mounds.  These days that should do it.  Also, if she's superstitious, she should never ever say the word "Sidhe" aloud.

Answer 4

it is not the wee folk that do that ....it is the strong spirits ..the bottled kind ...that are more likely responsible