Darby O'Gill is a fictional Irishman who appears in the writings of Irish author Herminie Templeton Kavanagh, including her books Darby O'Gill and the Good People (1903) and Ashes of Old Wishes and Other Darby O'Gill Tales (1926).
In 1959, the Walt Disney adapted Kavanaugh's works to the silver screen under the title Darby O'Gill and the Little People . In the film, O'Gill is an aging groundskeeper who engages in a friendly battle of wits with a leprechaun king, and is played by the actor Albert Sharpe. [1]
One of the VeggieTales videos, The Wonderful Wizard Of Ha's, has a protagonist whose name is Darby O'Gill (played by Junior Asparagus), but the story itself is mainly a retelling of The Wizard of Oz.
At least two American Irish-music bands have taken O'Gill's name under which to perform. Darby O'Gill operates in Portland, Oregon, while Darby O'Gill and the Little People center their performances in Las Vegas. Apart from the use of the name, the two bands have no connection.
Irish mythology is the body of myths indigenous to the island of Ireland. It was originally passed down orally in the prehistoric era. In the early medieval era, some myths were transcribed by Christian monks, who heavily altered and Christianised the myths. Irish mythology is the best-preserved branch of Celtic mythology.
A leprechaun is a diminutive supernatural being in Irish folklore, classed by some as a type of solitary fairy. They are usually depicted as little bearded men, wearing a coat and hat, who partake in mischief. In later times, they have been depicted as shoe-makers who have a hidden pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician, judge and barrister who served as the fifth president of Ireland from December 1974 to October 1976.
Darby O'Gill and the Little People is a 1959 American fantasy adventure film produced by Walt Disney Productions, adapted from the Darby O'Gill stories of Herminie Templeton Kavanagh. Directed by Robert Stevenson and written by Lawrence Edward Watkin, the film stars Albert Sharpe as O'Gill alongside Janet Munro, Sean Connery, and Jimmy O'Dea. It was released on Walt Disney Home Video via video cassette in October 1981.
James Augustine O'Dea was an Irish actor and comedian.
The púca, pucapwca, pooka, phouka, puck is a creature of Celtic, English, and Channel Islands folklore. Considered to be bringers both of good and bad fortune, they could help or hinder rural and marine communities. Púcaí can have dark or white fur or hair. The creatures were said to be shape-changers that could take the appearance of horses, goats, cats, dogs, and hares. They may also take a human form, which includes various animal features, such as ears or a tail.
Herminie Templeton Kavanagh was an Irish writer, most known for her short stories.
Oisín, Osian, Ossian, or anglicized as Osheen was regarded in legend as the greatest poet of Ireland, a warrior of the Fianna in the Ossianic or Fenian Cycle of Irish mythology. He is the demigod son of Fionn mac Cumhaill and of Sadhbh, and is the narrator of much of the cycle and composition of the poems are attributed to him.
John Joseph MacGowran was an Irish actor, known for being one of the foremost stage interpreters of the work of Samuel Beckett, as well as his film roles as Professor Abronsius in The Fearless Vampire Killers (1967), Juniper in How I Won the War (1967), and Burke Dennings in The Exorcist (1973), in which MacGowran died during production.
The Galway hooker is a traditional fishing boat used in Galway Bay off the west coast of Ireland. The hooker was developed for the strong seas there. It is identified by its sharp, clean entry, bluff bow, marked tumblehome and raked transom. Its sail plan consists of a single mast with a main sail and two foresails. Traditionally, the boat is black and the sails are a dark red-brown.
Slievenamon or Slievenaman is a mountain with a height of 721 metres (2,365 ft) in County Tipperary, Ireland. It rises from a plain that includes the towns of Fethard, Clonmel and Carrick-on-Suir. The mountain is steeped in folklore and is associated with Fionn mac Cumhaill. On its summit are the remains of ancient burial cairns, which were seen as portals to the Otherworld. Much of its lower slopes are wooded, and formerly most of the mountain was covered in woodland. A low hill attached to Slievenamon, Carrigmaclear, was the site of a battle during the Irish Rebellion of 1798.
Denis O'Dea was an Irish stage and film actor.
Kieron Moore was an Irish film and television actor whose career was at its peak in the 1950s and 1960s. He may be best remembered for his role as Count Vronsky in the film adaptation of Anna Karenina (1948) with Vivien Leigh.
Elements of the supernatural and the fantastic were an element of literature from its beginning, though the idea of a distinct genre, in the modern sense, is less than two centuries old.
The Irish folk song "Muirsheen Durkin" tells the story of an emigrant from Ireland who goes to mine for gold in California during the California Gold Rush, 1849. The song is about emigration, although atypically optimistic for the genre. The name "Muirsheen" is a good phonetic approximation to the pronunciation of "Máirtín" (Martin) in Connacht Irish; it could alternatively be construed as a diminutive of "Muiris" (Maurice). A pratie is a potato, the historical staple crop of Ireland. "America" is pronounced "Americay", as was common among Gaelic peoples around Ireland.
Brendan O'Dowda was an Irish tenor who popularised the songs of Percy French.
The death coach is part of the folklore of Northwestern Europe. It is particularly strong in Ireland where it is known as the cóiste bodhar, also meaning "silent coach", but can also be found in stories from British and American culture. It is usually depicted as a black coach being driven or led by a dullahan.
Albert Sharpe was a Northern Irish stage and film actor.
Knocknashee is a 276-metre (906 ft) Marilyn in the Ox Mountains, County Sligo, Ireland.
Nora O'Mahoney (1912–1989) was an Irish actress and lay missionary, known for Molly Malloy in Darby O'Gill and the Little People (1959) and as Godmother in Wanderly Wagon (1967–1982).