Irish Dream Folklore
What dreams were said to mean in Irish tradition, and where those beliefs were written down.
In Irish tradition, a dream could be a message. Older people in many parts of the country treated certain dreams as omens, and a few of those beliefs were written down by collectors in the 19th and 20th centuries. This guide sets out what two of those records say, the dream at the heart of one of the best-known tales in Irish mythology, and how to read all of it today.
Two records of Irish dream beliefs
Lady Wilde, 1888. Jane Francesca Wilde, writing as "Speranza", included a short list of dream interpretations in her book Ancient Legends, Mystic Charms, and Superstitions of Ireland. It reads as a set of sayings she gathered rather than a systematic study.
The Schools' Collection, late 1930s. Between 1937 and 1939, pupils in primary schools across the country were asked to write down local folklore from their families and neighbours. The material is now held by the National Folklore Collection and is searchable at Dúchas.ie. One page from a school in Tóin an tSeanbhaile, County Mayo, records what the older people there said dreams meant.
What the dreams were said to mean
| Dream | Said to mean | Recorded in |
|---|---|---|
| A horse (modern reading: Horse) | Very lucky | Lady Wilde, 1888 |
| A priest (modern reading: Priest) | A bad omen | Lady Wilde, 1888 |
| The Devil | Better than dreaming of a priest | Lady Wilde, 1888 |
| A wedding (modern reading: Wedding) | Grief and death | Lady Wilde, 1888; Mayo, late 1930s |
| A hearse with white plumes | A wedding | Lady Wilde, 1888 |
| A man kissing you (modern reading: Kissing) | Friendship | Lady Wilde, 1888 |
| A woman kissing you (modern reading: Kissing) | Deceit | Lady Wilde, 1888 |
| A dead person (modern reading: Dead relative) | News for the living | Mayo, late 1930s |
| Death (modern reading: Death) | A birth | Mayo, late 1930s |
| A pig (modern reading: Pig) | Good news | Mayo, late 1930s |
| A duck | News of a birth | Mayo, late 1930s |
| Shaking hands | Disappointment to follow | Mayo, late 1930s |
A few of these meanings are opposites of what you might expect: a wedding warns of death and dreaming of death promises a birth. That pattern of reading by contraries shows up across the two lists, and it is worth keeping in mind when you see a "bad" dream in one of them.
Two small customs
Lady Wilde also records that a dream should not be told while fasting, and that it should be told first to a woman named Mary. They are a reminder that dream-telling was a social habit with its own etiquette, as well as a way of reading omens.
The dream of Óengus
The best-known dream in Irish mythology belongs to Óengus, the young god of love. In the medieval tale Aislinge Óenguso ("The Dream of Óengus"), he dreams of a beautiful girl who appears at his bedside and vanishes, and he falls ill with longing for her. His family search Ireland for her, and she is found: Caer Ibormeith, who takes the form of a swan. Óengus changes into a swan too, so the two can be together. It is one of the few Irish stories in which a dream is the engine of the whole plot, and it gives the swan a place in Irish dream imagery. You can read about the swan in our dream dictionary.
Samhain and the night
The night has its own place in Irish tradition, above all at Samhain, the old festival marking the start of winter, which falls around 31 October. The Samhain guide on Gods of Ireland explains the festival and the folklore creatures said to roam after dark, such as the Dullahan and the Sluagh.
How to read this today
These are beliefs people held, recorded as they were told. They are good evidence for how people in Ireland thought about dreams and not evidence that a dream of a horse brings luck. If you want a modern reading of a dream symbol, the dictionary entries linked in the table give the traditional and psychological meanings side by side, and our guide on whether dream interpretation is backed by science is a good place to set your expectations.
Frequently asked questions
Did people in Ireland really believe dreams predicted events?
Folklore collections say so. Lady Wilde in 1888 and school pupils collecting from older neighbours in the late 1930s both wrote down lists of dreams and what they were said to foretell. These are recorded beliefs, not evidence that dreams predict anything.
Why does dreaming of a wedding mean a death in these sources?
Both records give it, and both also pair other opposites, such as dreaming of death meaning a birth. Folk dream-reading often worked by contraries, where a happy dream warned of sorrow and a sad one promised good news. That pattern is an observation about the lists, not a rule found in either source.
Is there an Irish dream dictionary I can read?
There is no single traditional Irish dream dictionary. What survives is scattered: lists in collections such as Lady Wilde's, local beliefs written down in the Schools' Collection at Dúchas, and dream scenes in medieval stories such as the Dream of Óengus.
Should I take these meanings seriously today?
Treat them as part of Irish cultural history. Modern research does not support predicting future events from dreams, and our guide on whether dream interpretation is backed by science explains what the evidence does and does not show.
Sources
- Jane Francesca Wilde, Ancient Legends, Mystic Charms, and Superstitions of Ireland (1888), section on dreams, as reproduced at Library Ireland.
- The Schools' Collection, Tóin an tSeanbhaile, County Mayo, at Dúchas.ie (National Folklore Collection, UCD).