PÚCA (Ireland)
The púca puca (Old English for goblin) pwca, pooka, phouka, puck is a creature of Celtic, English, and Channel Islands folklore
Púca have big piercing golden eyes that shine in the dark of night. He lives high in the mountain lakes of Ireland or lurks on beaches and bogs which he wanders at night.
The Púca is known to sit with lone strangers offering advice or foretelling their future. They love an “aul yap”, a chat, and are quite adept at it. The Puca most often takes the shape of a horse offering a weary night traveler a ride that’s terrifyingly scary as the Puca jumps hedges, galloping at great speeds enjoying every moment of its passengers’ terror.
The Púca loves to have a “craic”, the Celtic word for a good time, by scaring a person he meets in the dark of the night.
Maryellen Heller, who wrote the poem PÚCA BOO for our anthology, describes the Puca as a sly shapeshifter taking different forms: an old or young man or woman, a dog, goat, rabbit, fox, and horse among others.
Púca. (2023, October 13). In Wikipedia.
Have you had any encounters with this hidden creature?
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