Bluiríní Béaloidis is a podcast from the National Folklore Collection at University College Dublin. It explores the rich landscape of Irish and European folk traditions. Each episode journeys through diverse cultural narratives, revealing how understanding our traditional heritage can illuminate our present and guide our future. By uncovering the stories, beliefs, and practices embedded in folklore, the podcast invites listeners to discover the depth and complexity of our shared cultural inheritance.

Fairy Forts
Across the Irish countryside, scattered through fields, valleys, and forgotten corners, lie countless earthwork mounds, cairns, and tumuli—relics of early human habitation dating back to prehistoric times. These ancient sites have acquired profound supernatural significance over centuries, regarded in folk tradition as the dwellings of Na Daoine Maithe (The Good People), a euphemistic term for fairies in Irish folklore.

Far removed from the whimsical fairies of Victorian imagination or contemporary popular culture, these beings were conceptualised as an ancient, otherworldly community that coexisted with humans within the natural landscape. Both feared and revered, they were believed to wield considerable influence over human lives, capable of bestowing both blessings and curses. Their ambiguous nature—neither entirely benevolent nor wholly malicious—reflects the complex relationship between Irish rural communities and the unpredictable forces of nature.

In this edition of Blúiríní Béaloidis from Ireland's National Folklore Collection, hosts Claire Doohan and Jonny Dillon explore the rich history and intricate role of fairies in Irish tradition. Their discussion challenges popular misconceptions, uncovering the origins, habitats, and rituals associated with these enigmatic beings. By examining connections to fallen angels, pre-Christian deities, and nature spirits, the episode traces how various cultural and religious influences shaped beliefs about the fairy world.

The enduring belief in fairy forts and reluctance to disturb them—even well into the 20th century and occasionally persisting today—demonstrates how mythological narratives can influence practical behaviour and land use over remarkable time spans. These sites became focal points where abstract beliefs manifested in concrete interactions with the landscape, creating spatially defined areas where ordinary rules were suspended.

This exploration reveals how mythological beliefs function not merely as entertaining stories but as frameworks for interpreting the environment, explaining misfortune, and maintaining connections to ancestral landscapes.