Far darrig

Solitary fairy from Hiberno-English oral tradition, known for mischievousness. This short, pugnacious, ugly red-clad figure specializes in practical jokes, some of which can be gruesome. He also has the ability to appear larger than he is and to release mortals trapped in fairyland. In Donegal, where a mortal man was punished with macabre experiences for not producing a succession of stories, the far darrig is tall. In Munster, according to T. Crofton Croker (1832), he is about 2.5 feet tall, wears a sugarloaf cap, a wrinkled face, and has long grey hair.

Folk motifs: F233.3; F369.4; F375.

A far darrig or fear dearg is a faerie of Irish mythology. The name far darrig is an Anglophone pronunciation of the Irish words fear dearg, meaning Red Man, as the far darrig is said to wear a red coat and cap. According to Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry the far darrig is classified as a solitary fairy along with the leprechaun and the clurichaun, all of whom are "most sluttish, slouching, jeering, mischievous phantoms." The far darrig in particular is described as one who "busies himself with practical joking, especially with gruesome joking".

References

• Yeats, W. B. (ed.) Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry. 1888.

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