The Monstrefact: Abhartach, the Irish Vampire

and monsters. In time, Count Dracula was Irish, or at least that's the case made by various historians and folklore's now Certainly to be sure, the novel Dracula places the character's origins firmly in Transylvania and famously draws on the legacy of historical fifteenth century Wallachian ruler Vlad the Impaler. But on the other hand, Dracula's author, Bram Stoker, was himself an Irishman. As pointed out by Celtic historian Bob Curran in was Dracula and Irishman, published in the Journal

History Ireland in two thousand. Stoker never visited Eastern Europe, but he certainly would have been exposed to various Irish legends of evil, blood drinking kings and chieftains, including tales of Irish vampire king Our Tuck. As is often the case with such tales, the details of Our TuS evil varies from telling to telling, it may be more accurate to think of him as a tribal chieftain rather than

a king. He would have reigned in the fifth or sixth century CE in the district of Glenuland in northern Ireland. He is often described as a dwarf, or as possessing a physical deformity that sets him apart from other men. He was also a powerful and evil wizard, so when life finally managed to kill him, undeath was the natural next step. Some accounts say that our Tech fell to his death while jealously creeping about the ledges of his

castle's towers, trying to spy on his own wife. In other accounts, his people were so terrified hide of the chieftain's evil that they convinced or hired a rival chieftain, Kathan, to assassinate him. Either way, Once dead, his people buried Our Tuck upright in his grave, as was befitting a man of his rank. But you know what happened next. Our Tuck returned from the grave, and with a thirst for blood, he demanded his people bleed for him, filling

a great drinking bowl. Horrified by his return, Our Tucks people had him murdered or re murdered, depending on the telling by a hero, rival or assassin. They buried him, and once more he returned for blood. This cycle repeated itself, and finally the would be slayer consulted with a local druid or priest and learned the secret of what must

be done to keep our tuck dead. First skewer the undead creature's heart with a would sword, then bury them upside down in the grave, head toward hell, and cap the grave with thorns, ash twigs, and a great stone. And so it was done. But if the stone were ever removed, we are told this blood drinking dwarf more than a millennium dead, would once more rise to quench his evil thirst. As Karen explains in his article, there are other tales of Irish vampires, and several standout tales

involve blood drinking nobles. Uniquely Irish spins on the global vampire myth often entail the mixture of blood and oats, a reference to famine ara recipes, as well as traditional Celtic venerations of the dead. These various tales would have likely been known to brohm Stoker, infusing his iconic vampire Lord with Irish traditions of the undead. Even the name Dracula calls to mind the Irish word dracola, which means bad or tainted blood. Tune in for additional episodes of

The Monster Fact or The Artifact each week. As always, you can email us at contact at stuff to Blow your Mind dot com. Stuff to Blow Your Mind is a production of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts for my heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.