The Sidhe and Celtic Fairies: Aos Sí, the Púca, Cat Sidhe and the Bean Sidhe

The fair folk of Ireland, Scotland and Wales: who the Sidhe are, how to say their names, the Púca, the Cat Sidhe, the Bean Sidhe and the old customs of respect still kept at Samhain

Long before fairies became tiny winged figures in children’s books, the people of Ireland and Scotland spoke of something older and far more powerful: the Sidhe, the people of the mounds. They were tall, beautiful and unpredictable, with music that could steal a whole night away. Their doors were said to open at Samhain. Here is who they are, the names you will meet, the customs people kept to stay on good terms with them, and the honest history behind the stories.

The Sidhe at a Glance

• Who: the fairy people of Irish and Scottish folklore, also called the Aos Sí, “the people of the mounds”
• How to say it: Sidhe is said SHEE. Aos Sí is said EES SHEE
• Where they live: in fairy mounds, hills and ringforts, in an Otherworld that sits alongside our own
• Known for: music, dancing, beauty, enchantment, and a strong sense of their own rules
• Other names: the Good Folk, the Good People, the Gentry, the Other Crowd, the Good Neighbours
• Their night: Samhain, 31 October, when the veil is said to be thin. This year that is Saturday 31 October 2026
• Traditional offerings: milk, bread, butter and a little of the first of the food

Who Are the Sidhe?

The word sídh in old Irish means a mound or a hill, the grassy humps and ancient earthworks that are scattered all over the Irish countryside. The people who were believed to live inside them became known as the aos sí, the people of the mounds. Over time the name of the place and the name of the people blended, and today “the Sidhe” is used for both.

In Irish mythology the Sidhe are a distinct race, separate from humans, who live in the Otherworld, a place that lies right beside ours. They are described as tall, fair and radiant, with a glow about them that no mortal has. They love music, poetry and dancing, and anyone who hears their music may be drawn in and lose track of time altogether. One night with the Sidhe can turn out to be a hundred years in the human world.

Many tellings link them with the Tuatha Dé Danann, the old gods of Ireland. When new people came to rule the land, the old gods are said to have gone into the hills and mounds rather than leave Ireland. In this way gods such as Aengus and the Dagda became lords of the fairy hills, and the Sidhe kept something of their divine nature.

Kind, but not to be taken lightly

The Sidhe can be generous. They might help a family in hard times or teach a fiddler a new tune. But they keep their own code, and they can be mischievous or even vengeful if their rules are broken or their places disturbed. The old advice is simple: show respect, be careful, and do not assume their goodwill.

Fairy Mounds and Fairy Forts

Across Ireland there are tens of thousands of round earthworks known as raths or ringforts. In folklore these are fairy forts, the homes and meeting places of the Sidhe, and for generations farmers would not plough them, cut their trees or carry away their stones. A lone hawthorn growing in a field was treated with the same care. It was a fairy tree, and harming it was thought to bring bad luck to the whole household.

That respect still runs deep. In 1999 the route of a new road in County Clare was adjusted after the folklorist Eddie Lenihan spoke up for a fairy bush at Latoon that stood in its path. The bush is still there.

Samhain: The Night the Veil Is Thin

The Sidhe were thought to come out of their mounds at certain times of year, and Samhain was the most important of all. On the night of 31 October, as the old Celtic year ended and the dark half began, the doors of the fairy hills opened and the boundary between worlds grew thin. The Sidhe rode out across the land, and the dead walked close to the living.

That is why so many Samhain customs are about care and protection: keeping a light in the window, staying away from crossroads and lonely places after dark, and leaving something out for the Good Folk. Beltane, on 1 May, was the other great night when the Sidhe were close. You can read more about the festival itself in our guide to Samhain meaning and traditions.

Customs of Respect

Folk tradition in Ireland, Scotland and Wales is full of small, everyday ways to stay on good terms with the fair folk. Many are still kept today.

Not naming them directly

People were careful not to say “fairies” out loud, in case it was heard as rude or drew their attention. Instead they used kind, careful names: the Good Folk, the Good People, the Gentry, Themselves or the Other Crowd. In Scotland they were the Good Neighbours, and in Wales the Tylwyth Teg, “the fair family”.

Offerings of milk and bread

A little milk, a piece of bread or a knob of butter was left out at night, especially at Samhain and Beltane. The first drop of milk from the churn or the first of a fresh loaf might be set aside for them. Food left out for the Sidhe was never taken back in. Once given, it was theirs.

Leaving their places alone

Fairy forts, lone hawthorns and certain paths were left undisturbed. Some houses were even built with a corner cut away so as not to block a fairy path.

Iron and other protections

Iron was believed to keep unwanted fairy mischief away. A horseshoe over the door or an iron nail in a baby’s cradle were common. Turning your coat inside out was said to help if you found yourself lost, perhaps after stepping on a fóidín mearaí, a “stray sod” that leads walkers round in circles.

The Fair Folk and Their Names

The Sidhe are only one group in a crowded Otherworld. Here are some of the beings most often searched for, with how to say their names.

Name	Say it	Where	In short
Sidhe, Aos Sí	SHEE, EES SHEE	Ireland	The tall, radiant people of the fairy mounds
Sìth, sìthichean	SHEE, SHEE·ich·an	Scotland	The fairy folk of the Highland hollow hills
Púca	POO·ka	Ireland	A shapeshifter, often a black horse, linked with harvest and Samhain
Cat Sidhe	KAT SHEE	Scottish Highlands	A large black fairy cat with a white mark on its chest
Bean Sidhe	BAN SHEE	Ireland	The fairy woman whose keening is heard before a death in the family
Leanan Sidhe	LAN·awn SHEE	Ireland	The fairy lover and muse of poets
Gwyllion	GWILL·ee·on, with the soft Welsh ll	Wales	Mountain spirits who lead travellers astray
Grogoch	as spelled	Ireland	A small, hairy, playful guardian of old places
Leprechaun	LEP·re·kawn	Ireland	The solitary fairy shoemaker with his pot of gold

The Púca

The Púca, also spelled Pooka or Phouka, is one of the great shapeshifters of Irish folklore. Most often it appears as a sleek black horse with burning eyes, but it can also take the form of a goat, a dog, a hare or even a person. Meeting it can be a blessing or a curse. Sometimes it brings luck or good advice. At other times it plays tricks, or takes a rider on a wild gallop through the night and drops them in a ditch at dawn.

The Púca is closely tied to the harvest and to Samhain. It could protect the crops or spoil them. An old saying warns that you should not pick blackberries after Samhain, because the Púca has spoiled them. In some places 1 November was known as the Púca’s day. Many writers think the mischievous Puck of English folklore and of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream shares the same root.

The Cat Sidhe

In the Scottish Highlands, the Cat Sidhe (in Scottish Gaelic, Cat Sìth) is a fairy cat as big as a dog, jet black with a single white spot on its chest. It was said to roam at Samhain. A saucer of milk set out for it on Samhain night could bring a blessing on the house, while a home that left nothing might find its cows’ milk dry up.

Old stories also say the Cat Sidhe could take a soul from the body of someone who had just died, before it could pass on. So the dead were watched over by family and neighbours, night and day, until burial.

The Bean Sidhe

The Bean Sidhe, or banshee, is the “woman of the fairy mound”. She is not a monster. She is a fairy woman attached to certain old Irish families, and her keening, a high, sorrowful wail, is heard at night before a member of the family dies. She may appear as a young woman, a stately lady or an old woman, often combing her long hair.

In Scotland a close cousin is the bean nighe, the washer at the ford, who is seen washing the clothes of those about to die. That image reaches back to the Morrígan, the Irish goddess of fate, who appears in the old tales washing the armour of warriors at a river crossing before battle. Read more in our post on the Morrígan.

The Leanan Sidhe

The Leanan Sidhe, the “fairy sweetheart”, is a fairy woman who becomes the lover and muse of a poet or musician. She brings dazzling inspiration, but the gift comes at a cost, and those she loves were said to burn bright and live short lives. Much of her popular image comes from the poet W. B. Yeats, who wrote about her in the 1880s and 1890s. Older Irish and Manx tradition does speak of fairy lovers, but the Leanan Sidhe as most people know her today owes a great deal to Yeats and his circle.

Gwyllion, Grogoch and the Leprechaun

In Wales, the Gwyllion are female spirits of the mountains and remote roads. They are said to appear as old women in grey or green, and to lead travellers astray in mist and storm.

The Grogoch is a small, red, hairy fellow with wild hair and ragged clothes, fond of practical jokes. He is linked with old trees, ruins and sacred places, which he guards, and he is mischievous rather than harmful.

The leprechaun is the best known Irish fairy of all, a solitary shoemaker with a pot of gold. The name may come from the Irish luchorpán, “small body”. The cheerful figure in green on St Patrick’s Day is a much later picture. Older stories give a craftier, more prickly character.

Scotland’s Water Folk: Kelpies and Selkies

Scottish lore adds its own beings of water. The kelpie is a shapeshifting spirit of lochs and rivers, usually a beautiful horse that tempts a rider onto its back before plunging into deep water.

The selkies are gentler. They are seal folk of Orkney and Shetland who shed their skins to take human form on land. If a skin is stolen, the selkie cannot return to the sea.

The Honest History

The Sidhe are genuinely old. They appear in medieval Irish literature, written down from older tradition, and the belief that the mounds were homes of a powerful hidden people runs deep in Irish and Scottish life. In the nineteenth century collectors such as Alexander Carmichael in the Highlands, and Lady Wilde and Yeats in Ireland, found fairy belief still strong in rural communities.

Archaeology adds another layer. Most of the ringforts we call fairy forts were in fact the farmsteads of early medieval families, and great mounds such as Newgrange, said in the stories to be the home of Aengus, are thousands of years older still. Over time, as the builders were forgotten, people came to see these places as homes of the Sidhe. And because no one dared disturb them, many have survived to this day.

The small, winged, sparkling fairy is mostly a creation of Victorian art and literature. The Sidhe of the old stories are human sized or taller, and treated with both warmth and caution.

A Simple Samhain Offering for the Good Folk

If you would like to honour the old custom this Samhain, here is a gentle way to do it on the evening of Saturday 31 October 2026.

1. Prepare the offering. Pour a little fresh milk into a small dish and set a piece of bread or oatcake beside it. A little butter or honey is a kind touch.
2. Light a candle indoors. Set a white candle in a window that faces out towards the garden or the street, as a sign of welcome and protection.
3. Take it outside at dusk. Place the dish on a step, a stone or at the foot of a tree.
4. Speak kindly. Say a few words such as “For the Good Folk, with thanks and respect. May there be peace between us this night.” There is no need to name them more directly than that.
5. Leave it be. Go back inside and do not take the offering in again. Snuff the candle before bed.
6. Return it in the morning. Pour what remains onto the earth or add the bread to the garden.

Some people like to keep a small piece of hematite, an iron rich stone, by the door at Samhain, in the spirit of the old iron horseshoe. Black obsidian is another favourite for the threshold on this night.

Questions People Ask

What does Sidhe mean?

Sidhe comes from the old Irish word for a fairy mound or hill. The fairy people who lived in those mounds were called the Aos Sí, the people of the mounds, and today the Sidhe is used for both the mounds and their people.

How do you pronounce Sidhe?

Sidhe is said SHEE. The same sound appears in Bean Sidhe, BAN SHEE, and Cat Sidhe, KAT SHEE. The dh is silent.

What is a Cat Sidhe?

The Cat Sidhe is a fairy cat from the Scottish Highlands, as big as a dog and black with a white spot on its chest. A saucer of milk was left out for it at Samhain to bring a blessing on the house.

Is a banshee a fairy?

Yes. Bean Sidhe means “woman of the fairy mound”. She is a fairy woman linked with certain old Irish families, whose keening is heard before a death. She is a mourner, not a monster.

Why is Samhain linked with fairies?

Samhain was the night the old Celtic year turned and the doors of the fairy mounds were believed to open. The Sidhe rode out, the veil between worlds was thin, and people left offerings and lit lights for protection. Read more in our guide to Samhain.

What is a Púca?

The Púca is an Irish shapeshifter, usually a black horse but sometimes a goat, dog, hare or person. It can bring good or bad luck, and it is closely linked with the harvest and Samhain.

Keep reading: Samhain Meaning and Traditions · The Morrígan · A Protection Spell for Your Home · Celtic Gods and Goddesses