Tag: irish fairies

New Fairy House in Caherdaniel

Awesome new Fairy House in Derrynane

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P10404982A Fairy House has appeared, full of mementos and beautiful miniature ceramics in the Derrynane woods.

New Fairy House in Caherdaniel

The house is dedicated to a very special person, Ita Corridan, who sadly passed away after a brief illness in the autumn of 2014.

Ita was much-loved in the local community and well-known to visitors at Derrynane House. She worked for many years in the café at this National Monument in County Kerry. Ita was very involved with local community activities and with the church in Caherdaniel. Her hobbies included walking, hiking, sunbathing, swimming, reading and collecting fine china. Visitors to Ita’s fairy house will see tiny depictions of these hobbies, beautifully handcrafted by local ceramic artist, Cara Turner.

Cancer ribbon and kerry flagOutside, a cancer ribbon hangs over the door frame, a Kerry flag flies from the chimney pot and a swimsuit and beach towel dry on a tiny clothes line.

clothes line for fairies

 

 

 

 

 

 

Inside, a sideboard holds miniscule cups and saucers to depict Ita’s collection of fine china. On a table, a book rests waiting to be read. A pair of hiking boots is placed inside the door. The highlight of the interior of the house is the family itself.
Ita Corridan's Fairy House

Ceramic figures of Ita, with her husband Tom, son Joe, grandson Adam, and daughters Eimear and Dee. Tom is a keen cyclist and a bicycle wheel rests by his feet. Ita is holding a cake, she was a wonderful baker and produced many mouth-watering delights for visitors to Derrynane House.

“Ita was a great supporter of the Fairy Trail in Derrynane” noted fairy house builder, Ginny. “This little house is a gesture of thanks”.  

Irish Fairies

 

Fairies in Derrynane

Did anyone spot any new Fairy houses?

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What to do on a wild an windy summer day in Kerry!

Fairy windows in IrelandWith so many blustery days this summer, it’s no wonder the fairies have been busy indoors. They have been hollowing out a tree to make a new three storey tree home in Derrynane Woods. They even put displays in some windows of their precious possessions..

So this is what the fairies do when the weather is not great. They get VERY busy – just to keep warm!

– maybe you might be able to peep behind the curtain to see what is hiding there!

If you go out in the woods today – you never know what you might spot.Click the pic!

Kerry fairy house

 

 

 

 

 

 

How Did the Fairies Get to Derrynane?

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The story so far – The fairies were isolated on the islands of Deenish and Scariff, near Derrynane on the Kenmare Estuary in County Kerry:

Chapter Three
After much discussion between the elder fairies and younger folk there was sadly no agreement on a united plan of action to escape from the islands. Separate groups emerged and they formed island clans, such as the Derrie’s and the Quin’s.

Transportation problems were the main cause for concern and the main question was:
‘How will we get us away from here – we have no wood to build a boat or other building materials.’

The islands were a desperately difficult place to escape from – so how could the fairies make their escape? Being marooned  here had also made everyone a little bit crazy. Fights started.

Finding an escape boat was foremost in everyone’s minds so they all got to work.

The ‘Derrie‘ fairy clan were traditional in their ways and believed that solid materials were the best solution for building needs. On the other hand, the Quin clan had been following more modern lightweight methods for building – with much success. Other groups had still to make up their minds. (By the way, the Derrie’s still call Quin’s ‘Lightweights’).

So what happened next? The Derrie’s decided to follow current trends in the area. The island of Skellig Michael nearby had a thriving community of monks living in beehive huts made of stones. They decided that they could build a boat in a similar fashion to the beehives and make their escape to the mainland….
They did – but what a journey they had to endure…

The suffering of Derrie fairies was gigantic. Not alone had the building of the stone ship been a back breaking task, the voyage itself was full of danger (we will recount this epic voyage on another day). When they arrived on the mainland, many had already perished –  mostly because of horrendous storm that had whipped the seas into an angry furnace.

This picture shows the Derrie stone ship shortly after arrival at Derrynane Bay (so named after the Derrie Clan)

Stone ship in Derrynane

When the Derrie fairies made their  way onshore, they left behind a legacy that can still be seen to this day – a ship made of stone!  Every hundred years since then, the ship has changed  its appearance and you can see it today on the road to Lambs Head near Caherdaniel.

The Ship House in Derrynane
The ship house in Derrynane today

Not much of a summer start for the June Holiday on the Irish Fairy Trails…..

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Well, we all thought that it was going to be a nice dry and sunny weekend here in Kerry – but no, it has been lashing rain all weekend.
The trouble is because it is so wet our wings get too heavy to fly and the only chance we had to get out was in the early hours of Saturday morning – before any little mortals would have  seen the light of day.

The first weekend of June is a very special time for the fairies living on the Irish Fairy trails. We had planned all sorts of activities and were looking forward to making new friends. We now have a lot of work to do th clean up the mess from all the rain – but hopefully everything will be ship shape again soon.

Irish fairy house on the Irish Fairy trails in Kerry
Just missed us!

The Magical World of Irish Fairy Trails

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The Irish Fairy Trail Story starts!
Our story starts many years ago when the island of  Scariff were being dragged across the ocean from Beara in West Cork, to Dingle in County Kerry

Chapter One

The noise was horrendous and all the fairies immediately clamped their hands over their ears. With trembling knees they asked “What has happened”

The efforts from the past 11 days had taken their toll. The Hag of Beara  was tired and disaster was imminent .  The small small elfin like creatures who had jumped on board her ship, waited to hear the news.

“We have an impossible situation on our hands now,”  said the Hag. “I was told not to look behind as something bad would happen if I did. I couldn’t help it as my curiosity got the better of me –  so I peeked. We are all at risk now, it is everyone for themselves. Get your act together if you want to survive”.

With that, the rope broke…..and the island was marooned forever.

( visit our Fairy Story Page  – this is where you will find out more!)

The islands of Deenish and Scariff in Derrynane
The islands of Deenish and Scariff in Derrynane