Merfolk

One other example of fey, one that has escaped the snare of Irish land, was the Merfolk. The Merfolk were particularly elusive because the water was their domain. Once they were trapped in the lochs of the British Islands, but somehow they escaped, traversing through the oceans to find new territory. For the Celts, there were three types of Merfolk, two of which were benevolent: the Mermaid, the Selkie, and the Merrow.

Mermaids

The first was the Mer, often called Mermaids (for females) or Mermen (for males). They had lower bodies similar to a salmon and upper bodies resembling humans. Their songs were pleasant to the ears of Galway. One notable ancestor to them was the benevolent Li Ban, a beautiful woman descended from the kings of Ulster. She was blessed by the fey Dana with her transformation as she was overcome by a flooding loch in Lough Naugh, in order to save her life. She would be baptized by Saint Comgall, and many Mermaids try to retain her example of goodness and repentance.

Selkies

The Selkie, which were mystical women who dressed in seal pelts to become like seals, a blessing from Maclir for them to have ultimate freedom. They were often benevolent creatures, but the men of Ireland liked to steal their pelts. Truly, the Selkie just wanted to be left alone.

Merrows

Related to both, the Merrow were often malevolent merfolk. Wearing caps called "cohulen druith" that allowed them to transform from woman to merfolk, they preferred to find joy in lust, power, and possession, drawing the men of the seas toward them to own. Instead of tails, Merrow had long fingers and toes with film in between them, creating disturbing fins with their hands and feet. Their skin was speckled like salmon and had hair as green as kelp.
Despite these characteristics, they were seen as beautiful in their youth, and their magic songs were the most pleasant to the ears, out matching even the Mermaid’s. However, their songs would lead men into trances, so they could prey on their possessions or keep them as reluctant husbands. (For the male Merrow, called “Macamore”, are ugly. Their eyes were pig-like and they had big red noses, and beards like kelp. Thus, the Merrow preferred handsome men.)
The merrow were forced to keep their caps to retain their forms as merrows, a curse for their wicked bloodline. As such, many clever sailors stole their caps as keepsakes and kept the merrow as resentful wives, who would rather have a degree of control. Of course, there was always a chance that a merrow could look past their temptations and become a force for good, staying beautiful and youthful until the end of their days. Those who remain selfish and evil (which are most merrow, unfortunately) turned ugly into their old age, becoming terrible hags, a punishment for their vileness.

Genetic Ancestor(s)

• Fey

Conservation Status

Very rare.