This month I’m focusing on the Irish version of the mermaid – the merrow – and she is a far cry from Princess Ariel. In some stories, merrows resemble the sirens of Greek myths in that they sing a song that lures sailors to their death. In other stories, they are more like the selkie, another creature from Irish myth and folklore that I covered in a previous post.
The merrow is a gorgeous woman from the waist up and fish-like from the waist down. Her lower body is covered in greenish-tinted scales. She also has green hair which she grooms with a comb. She has a delicate webbing between her fingers which is supposed to resemble the skin between an egg and its shell. It’s interesting that her lower body is described as “fishlike.” In some sources, and popular culture, she has a fish tail. In other stories, she has two legs with feet like fins – which could resemble a fish tail, I suppose, if they were together.
In most stories, merrows are gentle and affectionate and have been known to marry human men. There is a case of such a marriage taking place in Bantry, in southwestern Ireland, that resulted in hybrid children who were covered in scales and had webbed fingers. Merrows were also supposed to be in possession of a garment that allowed them to take human-form and live on land, much like their selkie cousins. In some stories, it’s a cap – probably like a diving cap. In others, they literally remove their skin to take human form then put it back on when they’re ready to return to the sea.
Like the selkie, if a human man takes the merrow’s cap (or skin), they can control the merrow. After years of such captivity though, instincts give out, and the merrow will return to the sea. Although , without their cap or skin, I can’t help but think this might be a form of suicide. In some stories, the merrow will take their human lover with them. Perhaps, this is a punishment. The man would most likely drown without some sort of magical intervention.
Then there are stories where the opposite is true. The merrow will actually kidnap a human sailor and force him to live with her underwater – with the help of a magical enchantment. Unfortunately, in these stories, the merrow is possessive and will go into a jealous rage if their human suitor tries to flee. They might even eat them.
The merrow appears to have been taken very seriously by the Irish. Many human men were supposed to have been seduced by them over the centuries. It’s believed that men and women with the last names of O’Flaherty and O’Sullivan in County Kerry and County Clare are supposed to be descended from these marriages. I’m assuming the webbed hands and scaly skin was rather subtle or perhaps disappeared over the generations.
The female merrow or merrow-maiden definitely preferred human males to their male counterparts, the merrow-men, who were supposed to be quite hideous. Descriptions vary, but they sound like something out of an H.P. Lovecraft story. They aren’t very fond of human men, jealousy no doubt, and have been known to abduct sailors and force them to live underwater, through magical means, as slaves.
