Tradition places Lough Gur under the aegis of Aine, the fairy love-goddess who was believed to tempt mortals into acts of passion. Maurice Fitzgerald, the first Earl of Desmond, is said to have one day encountered her as she bathed in the Lough’s ice cool waters. Having taken her cloak, an action that magically placed her under his power, he was able to lay with her and from their union was born an enchanted son, Geroid Iarla. Although Maurice raised the boy at his castle on the shores of Lough Gur, Aine warned him that if he ever showed surprise at anything their son did, then the boy would be compelled to return to her world.
As a young man Geroid showed great promise in the art of poetry, and is said to have been able to compose "witty and ingenious" verses in Gaelic. He also excelled in magic, as befitting one who was half god. One day, (some say it was in 1398), during a banquet at his father’s castle, Geroid became involved in a competition of magical prowess with a young woman. Determined to surpass her skills, Geroid leapt in and out of a tiny bottle. On seeing his son perform such an impossible feat, Maurice let out a cry of impressed astonishment. Suddenly, a cold breeze blew through the hall and Geroid left the feast and walked slowly to the shores of the lake. Turning to wave farewell to his father, he went into its waters and, as he did so, was transformed into a goose. His heartbroken father watched as the bird drifted toward Garrett Island, where it slowly faded into nothingness.
When the waters of Lough Gur are tranquil and still, it said that Geroid Iarla’s enchanted castle is occasionally glimpsed deep beneath the surface. Here he lives waiting for the day when he can return to the world of mortals. But once every seven years, when a full moon bathes the Lough in its eerie hue, he emerges from its depths riding a white horse and leads a fairy cavalcade onto the land where, having encircled the shores, they dance and weave their way back onto the lake and sink once more into its mysterious depths.
Lough Gur is a special place that has been sacred to those who dwell upon its magical shores since long before Christianity came to Ireland. The rich abundance of well-preserved cromlechs, dolmens, tumuli and other archaeological treasures scattered about its shores and surrounding countryside bear proud testimony to its mystical past. To come here in the silence of an early morning, when the suns first rays sparkle upon its glassy surface, and the breezes are heavy with the fresh scent of the new day, is to feel that all things are possible and that the gods and fairies truly do walk amongst us.
