Merrows were mermaids - also mermaids- Irish (hence the red hair, for symbolic taste...). They were beautiful women waisted up and down, fishtail (although Magritte would slightly dynamite the myth in one of her paintings...).
As we know, mermaids sang a song so hypnotic, those who heard it fell in surrender to these creatures so termed as Sirens.
The medieval writings (and earlier, on the Odyssey....) there's talk of entire music drunk crews throwing themselves over the edge and being devoured by these beings...Here, Collier's mermaid sees her alleged daughter on the beach, and of course... It's a moment of immense emotion as the sea creature remembers its ancient earth love with which they formed an impossible family.
Merrow (from the Irish Muruch) is a mermaid or merman, who needs a magical cap (cohuleen druith) in its possession in order to travel between deep water and dry land. In the land of the ancient Celts, they were described as beautiful mortal women swimming in the sea. However, the surface of the water hid the fish-like tails of these strange, supernatural creatures.
Sailors and fishermen found the Merrow irresistible, especially when the sea fairies combed their silken hair. The comb was a magical symbol of feminine power in Celtic mythology. The term merrow applies to both the male and female of the species. They are said to dwell in Tír fo Thuinn, or “The Land beneath the Waves.” Merrow men were said to be hideously ugly to the point that the mermaids refused to take them as mates.
Little is known about merrow except that their bodies were covered in emerald scales with stunted limbs and green hair. It is said they are so bitter over their appearance and loneliness that they capture the spirits of drowned sailors and keep them incarcerated under the sea in a desperate attempt at revenge.
Merrow women, on the other hand, were beautiful, with long radiant hair and glistening scales on their tails. They preferred the company of the human men to those of their hideous species. Many human men have been seduced by these mystical creatures over time. Those with the surnames of O’Flaherty and O’Sullivan in County Kerry and County Clare are believed to descend from such unions.
It was said that in order to keep these beautiful creatures on land, a human mate would need to take the merrow’s magical cap before she could enchant them with her song, or their soul was captured forever to be held in a cage beneath the waves. When this cap was taken from her and hidden she could not return to the sea. To possess her cap meant you held a great power over her and the human could persuade her to marry them. However the yearning was so strong that these creatures would find their cap and return to their land below the waves, the cap holds the power of the merrow and enables them to live under the ocean. Such unions with humans were destined to be short-lived and the merrow would drag her suitor back with her beneath the waves.
Written accounts of the merrow women luring unsuspecting Irishmen date back to the ancient Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland, also known as the Annals of the Four Masters. Indeed, even the all powerful demi-gods of chaos known as the Fomorians were not immune to their charms. Legend tells that at Killone Abbey in County Clare, a merrow swam up to the lake to enter the crypts and steal wine from their cellars. She was caught and killed, but before she died, she dragged herself back to the lake where it is believed that every 40 years the water turns red with her blood. The lake has red clay, which can give it it’s red tinge, but I like to believe it is the merrow mermaid reminding us of the injustice done to her.
In the 1960s, there was a reported sighting of merrow women at Kilconly Point, Kerry, and in 1936 in Renvyle County Galway, there were reported sightings of the more elusive merrow men. Two fishermen, Martin Heanue and Thomas Regan, were approached by him in a cove and the bearded creature grabbed at their curragh, or scabbard. One of the fishermen went to hit the creature with his oar, but the other man stopped him, for superstition dictated that the man who struck a merrow with his oar would die within the year.
Selkies are another form of the ancient folklore. They are part human and part seal and can appear as seals in the water and once on land, they remove their skins to reveal their human form, when they can be seen dancing on the beaches at night. The selkie stories are more common in the northern coastal counties, in Scotland, and in Scandinavian folklore. If a human was to steal her skin, she was bound to stay with them, unable to return to the sea.
There are many more accounts of these mythical creatures and their interactions with us in our Irish folklore. These tales, though not as well known in modern times, are a testament to life on this island. The Irish are a nation of sea travelers and have relied on it for our survival for thousands of years. And, we are a nation of superstitious people with an love of storytelling. But, I like to believe as I walk our beaches listening to the song of the sea, that somewhere out there in the water is a beautiful song being sung by the alluring and mystical creature known as the Celtic merrow.
In Greek mythology, the Siren (Ancient Greek: Σειρήν (Seirḗn)) was a dangerous creature that lured nearby sailors with their enchanting music and singing voices to shipwreck on the rocky coast of their island. Although they lured mariners, for the Greeks, the Sirens in their "meadow starred with flowers" were not sea deities. Roman writers linked the Sirens more closely to the sea, as daughters of Phorcys.
Roman poets placed them on some small islands called Sirenum scopuli. In some later, rationalized traditions, the literal geography of the "flowery" island of Anthemoessa, or Anthemusa, is fixed: sometimes on Cape Pelorum and at others in the islands known as the Sirenuse, near Paestum, or in Capreae. All such locations were surrounded by cliffs and rocks.
According to the Greek Neoplatonist philosopher Proclus, Plato said there were three kinds of sirens: the celestial, the generative, and the purificatory/cathartic. The first were under the government of Zeus, the second under that of Poseidon, and the third of Hades. When the soul is in heaven the sirens seek, by harmonic motion, to unite it to the divine life of the celestial host; and when in Hades, to conform the soul to eternal infernal regimen; but when on earth their only job to "produce generation, of which the sea is emblematic".
The world as you know it - all that you see, taste, feel and touch, comprises only about 5% of all of the stuff of the universe. The other 95% is what we have considered "nothing" or the "firmament" or dark matter or the heavens or mystic Other Worlds. This 95% is multi-dimensional and consists of potential realities that may be perceived.
A single thought...a mere whisper, ...... barely upon a breeze that catches a spark... all is tinder before the firestorm... and yet.
ONLY that whisper
ONLY that thought
the world is forever changed beyond the fears and dreams of cardboard men.
Freedom and change starts within:
It is encouraged by truth and courage of people who love
Built by the respect of true beings standing as one before each other.
Lets us cross every man made borders
without fear stare into eyes and hearts of all our brothers and sisters: within our words without shouting,or force to hold each to our truths; and let us without fear freely share what works...
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