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IRISH MERROW
The Irish Merpeople are called merrows and
they can be distinguished from other sea-dwelling faeries in
that they wear red feather caps to propel themselves down to
their homes in the depths. Should their caps be stolen or
hidden, they
can no longer return to their watery homes. The female merrow
are very beautiful and, like other mermaids, appear before
storms as an omen, but they are gentle by nature and often
fall in love with mortal fishermen.
The word merrow or moruadh comes from the Irish muir
(meaning sea) and oigh (meaning maid) and refers specifically
to the female of the species. Mermen - the merrows male
counterparts - have been rarely seen. They have been described
as exceptionally ugly and scaled, with pig-like features and
long, pointed teeth. Merrows themselves are extremely
beautiful and are promiscuous in their relations with mortals.
Merrows have special clothing to enable them to travel through
ocean currents. In Kerry, Cork and Wexford, they wear a small red
cap made from feathers, called a cohullen druith. In more
northernly waters they travel through the sea wrapped in sealskin
cloaks, taking on the appearance and attributes of seals.
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The Irish merrow differs physically from humans in that her
hands have a
thin webbing between the fingers. It should not be assumed
that merrows are kindly and well-disposed towards humans. As
members of the sidhe, or Irish fairy world, the inhabitants of
Tir fo Thoinn (the Land beneath the Waves) have a natural
antipathy towards humans. In some parts of Ireland, they are
regarded as messengers of doom and death.
On the sea she is as wild as she is alluring, but on the land she
is submissive to men.
Sometimes they come ashore in the form of little hornless cattle,
but usually they are wearing their sealskin cloak. In order
to come ashore, the merrow must abandon her cap or cloak, so any mortal
who finds these has power over her, as she cannot return to the sea
until they are retrieved. Hiding the cloak in the thatches of his
house, a fisherman may persuade the merrow to marry him. Such
brides are often extremely wealthy, with fortunes of gold plundered
from shipwrecks. The offspring of these marriages are sometimes said
to be covered with scales, just as the descendants of the Roane, or
Seal People, are said to have webs between their fingers. Eventually the merrow will recover the cloak, and
rediscover an urge to return to the sea so strong that she
eventually leaves her
mortal husband and children behind.
Many coastal dwellers have taken merrows as lovers and a number
of famous Irish families claim their descent from such unions,
notably the O'Flaherty and O'Sullivan families of Kerry and the
MacNamaras of Clare. The Irish poet W B Yeats reported a further
case in his Irish Fairy and Folk Tales: Near Bantry in the last
century, there is said to have been a woman, covered in scales like
a fish, who was descended from such a marriage.
Despite her wealth and beauty, you should be particularly wary about
encountering this marine fairy.
Variants: maighdean mharra, moruadh,
mulrruhgach, murach.
There be none of Beauty's daughters with
a magic like thee;
And like music on the waters
Is thy sweet voice to me.
Lord Byron
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