Tales of the Irish Hedgerows by Locke Tony

Author:Locke, Tony
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780750982993
Publisher: The History Press

26

THE BAT

(Laltóg)

FEARED AS CREATURES OF the night associated with death, sickness and witchcraft, bats were made famous as the familiars of vampires by the cinema. The learned folklorist Joseph Jacobs said, ‘He that is neither one thing nor the other has no friends.’ In Ireland if a bat was seen near the house it was taken as a sign of an impending death for a member of the household.

Revulsion towards them, however, is far from universal, and their quizzical faces have often inspired affection. Bats have often been identified in folk belief with the souls of the dead. As a result, in cultures that venerate ancestral spirits, bats are often considered sacred or beloved. When spirits are expected to pass on rather than return, bats appear as demons or, at best, souls unable to find peace.

A common bat seen in and around hedgerows at dusk is the pipistrelle bat. Their Irish name is Laltog Fheascrach, which means ‘bat of the evening’.

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