Irish Druids and Old Irish Religions

IrisJi
Superstitions.
—
95
Fairy-inspired bards were liable to be spirited a\va\- b\-
their muse, the Leanmvi Siglie, If she helped them in
composition, they were bound to follow her throuL;hout
eternity.
"Were it
of golden locks,
Than that the country should be laughing at thy doggrel rhyme?"
not better thou shouldst dwell awhile with a youn^; maiden
The Mermaids, or sea-fairies, were Moriiodh, or Moruogli.
Their hair and teeth were green. We have no record of
their pugnacious qualities, as of the denizens of land.
Ailne, whose lay is
in old Irish, lamenting the death of her
husband and two sons, knew— "by the mighty fairy host,
That were in conflict over the Dun, Fighting each other"
that evil would befall her three beloved. They did not
then play Ceol-sidh, or fairy music.
The w^ord Sidh is said to be the Celtic root for a blast
of wind. The whirlwind was certainly called a fairy w ind.
There is a Sidh Tliuim on the Boyne, Sidli Ncanta of
Roscommon, Sidh MeadJia near Tuam, Sidh AodJia Ruaidh
a hill of Donegal. There are seventy Irish townships
beginning with Shec.
Ireland abounds with localities having fairy associations.
Joyce gives many. Finn and his Fenians are in S/iabhiia-mban-fionn,
the mountain of the fair-haired women
;
Rath SitJie, the Fenian fortress, is in Antrim the h\air\-'s
;
wood is in Sligo. Then there are the Shccgys, fair\- hills, in
Donegal ;
the Shceauns, fairy mounds the haunted hills.
;
Shean, Shcena, Shane; and Knockna looricaim, the hills of
the Cluricane. In Lough Corrib the Leprechauns were
said to have been provided with ground meal for supper by
hospitable neighbours.
There was a Banshee's palace in South :\Iunster. anc
another in a rock near Mallow. The Banshee Acddicll had
a fine palace in a rock by Killaloe ;
it was she who tincw