Other Vampires Myths

And other scary Irish Tales

Dearg Due

Dearg Due • The Irish vampire Yes, Dracula himself is an Irish creation (Irishman Bram Stoker created the modern image of the monster in his masterpiece novel), but there’s also a vampire that resides right smack in the middle of Ireland. Dearg-due, an Irish name meaning “red blood sucker,” is a female demon that seduces men and then drains them of their blood. According to the Celtic legend, an Irish woman who was known throughout the country for her beauty, fell in love with a local peasant, which was unacceptable to her father. Dad forced her into an arranged marriage with a rich man who treated her terribly, and eventually she committed suicide. She was buried near Strongbow’s Tree in Waterford, and one night, she rose from her grave to seek revenge on her father and husband, sucking their blood until they dropped dead. Now known as Dearg-due, the vampire rises once a year, using her beauty to lure men to their deaths. Not to worry, though – there is one way to defeat Dearg-due. To prevent the undead from rising from the grave, simply build a pile of stones over her grave. No, it won’t kill her, but at least you’ll hold her off until next year!

The Dullahan

The Irish headless horseman Another legendary Irish monster is the Dullahan, a name that can be translated to “dark man.” Often portrayed in contemporary fantasy fiction and video games, this foreteller of death is the Irish version of the headless horseman. The Dullahan rides a headless black horse with flaming eyes, carrying his head under one arm. When he stops riding, a human dies. Some versions of this legend say that the Dullahan throws buckets of blood at people he passes, while other say he simply calls out the name of the mortal that will soon die. As with most evil forces, the Dullahan has a weakness – gold. The creature is scared of the substance, so any lonely travelers this Halloween night would be wise to have some on him in case they have a run-in with this headless horror!

Leanan Sidhe

The evil Irish fairy-muse Both a muse and a demon, Leanan Sidhe is another one of Ireland’s mythological vampires. The fairy was a beautiful woman who was said to give inspiration to poets and musicians – but at the price of their lives. She would make the artist her lover, sharing with them her intelligence, creativity and magic, but when she left, the men would be so depressed, they'd die. Leanan Sidhe would then take her dead lovers back to her lair. Rather than directly suck the blood of her victims, Leanan Sidhe got creative, and collected their blood in a giant red cauldron, which was the source of her beauty and artistic inspiration. As with Dearg-due, to prevent the undead Leanan Sidhe from rising, one must put a cairn of stones over her resting place. A tip to artists: perhaps you should look elsewhere for inspiration, rather than risking falling into the evil hands of the Leanan Sidhe!

Folklore from Ireland