Folklore and Folk BeliefIreland, Scotland, Isle of Man; Irish and Scottish diaspora communities worldwide

Celtic Ireland and Scotland: Aos Sí, the Fairy Faith and the Otherworld

The fairy folk, the Otherworld, and the liminal belief traditions of Ireland and Gaelic Scotland

The supernatural traditions of Ireland and Gaelic Scotland centre on the aos sí — the "folk of the fairy mounds," sometimes called daoine sídhe, sometimes euphemistically called "the Good Neighbours" or "the Fair Folk." These are not the diminutive winged fairies of Victorian illustration: they are, in the documented folk record, a powerful, dangerous, and morally ambiguous non-human race who inhabit a parallel Otherworld (Tír na nÓg or the sídhe mounds), interact with humans through kidnapping, blighting, and sometimes blessing, and must be carefully managed through avoidance, propitiation, and correct speech. The tradition is documented from medieval Irish literature, 18th-century antiquarian records, systematic 19th and 20th-century folklore collection by the Irish Folklore Commission, and living ethnographic work into the late 20th century.

CelticIrelandScotlandFolkloreAos SiFairy FolkOtherworldGlobal Unknown

Overview

## Overview The supernatural folk traditions of Ireland and Gaelic Scotland constitute one of the richest and best-documented bodies of living belief in the European world, continuously recorded from medieval manuscript sources through to late 20th-century field interviews. The core tradition centres on the aos sí (Old Irish: áes sídhe; pronounced approximately "ees shee"), the supernatural race associated with the sídhe — the ancient burial mounds and hollow hills of the Irish landscape. These are large Neolithic and Bronze Age earthworks (including Newgrange, Knowth, and Dowth in the Boyne …

Celtic Ireland and Scotland: Aos Sí, the Fairy Faith and the Otherworld

Overview

Historical Origins

Variants & Regional Forms

Notable Accounts

Media