Fairy Cairn at Dunloy (Co. Antrim)

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cairn fairies

It is a mistake to suppose that because fairies are never or, at least, rarely, to be found connected with graveyards, that they had not connection with graveyards, that they had not connection with ghosts or spirits. Many fairy beliefs had, no doubt, their origin in pre-Christian days and so would have no place in sites associated with Christianity. And we do find them associated with pre-Christian burial sites. I was told by a man who lives in Templepatrick that his mother, who was brought up at Dunloy, remembered that children were forbidden to play in the vicinity of some old stones because ‘the fairies lived there.’ What the stones were, or why the fairies lived among they had no idea. A few years ago these stones were found to be a prehistoric burial cairn, known now as ‘Doey’s Cairn.’ The country people knew nothing about archaeology, but the place was sacred to the fairies. This, incidentally, is a point in favour of those who oppose the theory that folk-memory is short, and seldom goes farther back than two centuries. (Foster, Ulster, 82-83)

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