Was Dracula an Irishman?
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Transcript of Was Dracula an Irishman?
When most people hear the name Dracula they think of Transylvania & the castle of the 15th Century Transylvanian ruler Vlad Tepes, also known as Vlad Dracula.
Dracula’s author Bram Stoker was born in Dublin, Ireland in 1847 & never actually visited Romania. He had no detailed knowledge of Vlad Tepes and relied heavily on tourist accounts of the region and his own research.
Some historians, suggest that Stoker received his inspiration from Irish folklore & particularly the story of Abhartach.
Dracula could have come from the Irish word droch-fhola, pronounced droc‘ola, meaning “bad blood“
Abhartach Ireland’s Vampire Chieftain
Abhartach was a brutal 5th-century chieftain who ruled the town of Slaughtaverty, Co. Derry. Descriptions of him vary, some say that he was a dwarf, others that he was deformed in some way, but most agree that he was a powerful wizard and was extremely evil.
The people he ruled over were so terrified of him that they wanted to kill him but were too afraid to do this themselves so they asked the neighboring chieftain Cathán, to help them. Cathán killed Abhartach and he was buried in a standing position in an isolated area.
The next day Abhartach rose from his grave and returned to the town to demand a bowl of blood from the veins of the townspeople in order to sustain him. Once again Cathán killed Abhartach burying the corpse as before but he returned the next day demanding more blood. Cathán on hearing this consulted the local druid as to why Abhartach could not be killed.
The druid told Cathán that Abhartach was now one of the “un-dead” and a and a dearg-diúlaí, a drinker of human blood. He could not be killed but he could be restrained in his grave if he was killed with a sword made of yew wood, buried upside down, thorns & ash twigs sprinkled around him and a heavy stone laid on top of the grave.
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.
In 1997 attempts were made to clear the land where the grave was located and to cut down the hawthorn tree. The brand new chainsaw malfunctioned three times without reason; when they tried to lift the great stone from the grave the steel chain broke cutting one of the workmen, his blood soaked the ground around the grave.
We will never know for sure where Bram Stoker’s inspiration came from but it seems likely it came from the Irish stories he heard as a child in Dublin.
