Case file · Fairy lore
The Latoon fairy bush
Folklorist Eddie Lenihan campaigned to save a whitethorn tree on the route of a new motorway in County Clare, warning that fairies met there.
1999 CE · 52.83, -8.92 · status: account
The account
Lenihan said the tree was a meeting place for the fairies of Munster and that destroying it would bring death and misfortune to motorists. The press covered the campaign worldwide, the road plans were adjusted, and the bush was spared in May 1999. It still grows beside the M18.
The sceptical view
Planners said environmental factors also shaped the decision; the episode shows the living power of fairy-tree taboos in Ireland.