The Fairy Hare

Two men caught a hare and put it into the pot to boil. When stirring the soup with a fork they heard a voice from the pot saying “Do not stick me, do not stick me.”

Collector: Unknown

Informant: Unknown

Place: Garbally, Co. Galway

Footnote: Duchas, ‘The Schools’ Collection’, www.duchas.ie

A man who went hunting one day shot a hare which he took home and skinned and put into the pot to boil. When he lifted the lid to take out the boiled hare, a little woman jumped out and took her place at the table to eat with the man. He ran in terror to a neighbour’s house and when the neighbours returned with him they saw the hare running from the house. The next day he got a severe headache and his head split in two and he died.

Collector: Unknown

Informant: Unknown

Place: Garbally, Co. Galway

Footnote: Duchas, ‘The Schools’ Collection’, www.duchas.ie

A man named Woods who lived in Ballinamona threw a stick at a hare which he found milking his cow one day and wounded her on the leg. The hare however managed to reach the shelter of a nearby uninhabited cabin. When the man entered, he discovered an old woman nursing a bleeding leg. He pulled her out but she took the form of a hare and escaped.

Collector: Unknown

Informant: Unknown

Place: Garbally, Co. Galway

Footnote: Duchas, ‘The Schools’ Collection’, www.duchas.ie