Abhartach (;

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

for 'dwarf'), also Avartagh, is an early

legend A legend is a Folklore genre, genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived, both by teller and listeners, to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human valu ...

, which was first collected in

Patrick Weston Joyce Patrick Weston Joyce, commonly known as P. W. Joyce (1827 – 7 January 1914) was an Irish historian, writer and music collector, known particularly for his research in Irish etymology and local place names of Ireland. Biography He was born i ...

's ''The Origin and History of Irish Names of Places'' (1870). Abhartach should not be confused with the similarly named Abartach, a figure associated with

Fionn mac Cumhaill Fionn mac Cumhaill ( ; Old and mga, Find or ''mac Cumail'' or ''mac Umaill''), often anglicized Finn McCool or MacCool, is a hero in Irish mythology, as well as in later Scottish and Manx folklore. He is leader of the ''Fianna'' bands of ...

Legend

Alternate Version

In some modern versions of the story Abhartach rises from his grave to drink the blood of his subjects, while the chieftain who slays the

revenant In folklore, a revenant is an animated corpse that is believed to have been revived from death to haunt the living. The word ''revenant'' is derived from the Old French word, ''revenant'', the "returning" (see also the related French language, F ...

is named as Cathain. The hero variously consults an early Christian saint instead of a druid, and is told that Abhartach is one of the ''neamh-mairbh'', or walking dead, and that he can only be restrained by killing him with a sword made of yew wood, burying him upside down, surrounding his grave with thorns, and placing a large stone on top of the grave.

Alternative origin of Dracula

Since 1958, it has been frequently claimed that the vampiric antagonist of

Bram Stoker Abraham Stoker (8 November 1847 – 20 April 1912) was an Irish author who is celebrated for his 1897 Gothic horror novel '' Dracula''. During his lifetime, he was better known as the personal assistant of actor Sir Henry Irving and busine ...

's novel ''

Dracula ''Dracula'' is a novel by Bram Stoker, published in 1897. As an epistolary novel, the narrative is related through letters, diary entries, and newspaper articles. It has no single protagonist, but opens with solicitor Jonathan Harker taking ...

'' was extensively based on the person of

Vlad III Vlad III, commonly known as Vlad the Impaler ( ro, Vlad Țepeș ) or Vlad Dracula (; ro, Vlad Drăculea ; 1428/311476/77), was Voivode of Wallachia three times between 1448 and his death in 1476/77. He is often considered one of the most im ...

, ''

Voivode Voivode (, also spelled ''voievod'', ''voevod'', ''voivoda'', ''vojvoda'' or ''wojewoda'') is a title denoting a military leader or warlord in Central, Southeastern and Eastern Europe since the Early Middle Ages. It primarily referred to the me ...

'' (

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...

) of

Walachia Wallachia or Walachia (; ro, Țara Românească, lit=The Romanian Land' or 'The Romanian Country, ; archaic: ', Romanian Cyrillic alphabet: ) is a historical and geographical region of Romania. It is situated north of the Lower Danube and so ...

, also known as ''Vlad Țepeș'' ('the Impaler') after his favoured method of punishment and execution. This theory was the central theme of Radu Florescu and Raymond McNally's best-selling 1972 book, ''In Search of Dracula'', and the notion that Vlad III and

Count Dracula Count Dracula () is the title character of Bram Stoker's 1897 gothic horror novel '' Dracula''. He is considered to be both the prototypical and the archetypal vampire in subsequent works of fiction. Aspects of the character are believed by som ...

are one and the same has been utilised in a number of cinematic adaptations of the novel. In 1998, however,

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

Elizabeth Miller published an essay in her book, ''Dracula: The Shade and the Shadow'', which challenged this notion, pointing out that Stoker's research notes for ''Dracula'' do not indicate that he had detailed biographical knowledge of Vlad III. She explains that while Stoker copied some information from William Wilkinson's ''An Account of the Principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia'' regarding Vlad III's patronymic, his campaign against the Turks, and his treasonous brother (Radu III, incorrectly named by Wilkinson as "Bladus"), there is no current evidence that Stoker had information regarding Vlad III's reputation for cruelty, his use of impalement as a punishment, or even his full name. An alternative inspiration for Stoker's story was put forward by Bob Curran, lecturer in Celtic History and Folklore at the

University of Ulster sco, Ulstèr Universitie , image = Ulster University coat of arms.png , caption = , motto_lang = , mottoeng = , latin_name = Universitas Ulidiae , established = 1865 – Magee College 1953 - Magee Un ...

Coleraine Coleraine ( ; from ga, Cúil Rathain , 'nook of the ferns'Flanaghan, Deirdre & Laurence; ''Irish Place Names'', page 194. Gill & Macmillan, 2002. ) is a town and civil parish near the mouth of the River Bann in County Londonderry, Northern I ...

, in the Summer 2000 edition of ''History Ireland'', a peer-reviewed journal edited by historians, where he suggested that Stoker may have derived his inspiration from the legend of Abhartach. Curran is also the author of ''Vampires: A Field Guide to the Creatures That Stalk the Night'' (2005), which recounts a more detailed version of the legend than that collected by Weston.

Recent folklore

Abhartach's grave is now known as Slaghtaverty Dolmen, and is locally referred to as "The Giant’s Grave". It comprises a large rock and two smaller rocks under a

hawthorn Hawthorn or Hawthorns may refer to: Plants * '' Crataegus'' (hawthorn), a large genus of shrubs and trees in the family Rosaceae * ''Rhaphiolepis'' (hawthorn), a genus of about 15 species of evergreen shrubs and small trees in the family Rosace ...

.''(PDF sample)'' The dolmen is located in the

townland A townland ( ga, baile fearainn; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a small geographical division of land, historically and currently used in Ireland and in the Western Isles in Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of Gaelic origi ...

of Slaghtaverty (

: ''Sleacht Aibheartaigh''), just north of

Maghera Maghera (pronounced , ) is a small town at the foot of the Glenshane Pass in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. Its population was 4,220 in the 2011 Census, increasing from 3,711 in the 2001 Census. It is situated within Mid-Ulster Distric ...

County Londonderry County Londonderry ( Ulster-Scots: ''Coontie Lunnonderrie''), also known as County Derry ( ga, Contae Dhoire), is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the thirty two counties of Ireland and one of the nine counties of Ulster. B ...

, Northern Ireland.

Modern depictions

Abhartach serves as the antagonist in the 2021 Irish film '' Boys from County Hell'' where he is depicted as a tall vampire-like figure who can drain people of their blood just by being within a certain proximity of them and who was famously defeated by the chieftain

Ó Catháin The O'Cahan (Irish: ''Ó Catháin'' 'descendants of Cahan') were a powerful sept of the Northern Uí Néill’s Cenél nEógain in medieval Ireland. The name is presently anglicized as Keane, O'Kane and Kane. The O'Cahan's originated in Lagga ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abhartach Aos Sí Irish folklore Fantasy creatures Fairies Irish legendary creatures Tuatha Dé Danann Revenants