In his book A Field Guide to Irish Fairies, Bob Curran attempts to identify the fairies that one is "most likely to encounter." He cautions against examining them too closely, however, because of a warning once given Irish poet W. B. Yeats by the Queen of Fairies, through a Dublin medium.  "Be careful, and do not seek to know too much about us!"

Following are nine Irish fairies for whom one has to be on the watch:  The Grogoch, the Grey Man, the Sheerie, the Changelings, the Pooka, the Merrow, the Banshee, the Leprechaun (sometimes described as Ireland's National Fairy) and the Dullahan.

Fairies can be "wilful and capricious creatures, easily offended and quick to anger."  There was a time when they were so feared that one did not speak the name "fairy."  More flattering terms were used, such as the Gentry and the Good People.
As March 17 approaches, use caution and be aware!

* Published by Chronicle Books, 1997.