Am I Irish Quiz
Questions: 16 · 10 minutes
1. Night travellers hear hoofbeats and encounter a rider carrying his own head. Which folkloric figure have they met?
The dullahan
A clurichaun
A pooka in the fixed form of a stag
A merrow
2. In a traditional tale, a family hears an otherworldly woman keening before news of a relative’s death arrives. How is this figure best understood?
As a banshee whose lament foretells a death rather than causes it
As a selkie calling someone to live beneath the sea
As the Morrígan guaranteeing victory in battle
As a leprechaun protecting concealed treasure
3. Why is Samhain often described as a liminal time in Irish tradition?
It marked the formal crowning of every high king at Tara
It marked a seasonal threshold when boundaries with the otherworld were thought more permeable
It celebrated the spring return of cattle to upland pasture
It commemorated the Tuatha Dé Danann’s first arrival by sea
4. What happens to the children in the traditional story of the Children of Lir?
They are sent underground to guard a magical cauldron
They become deer and join the Fianna
They are transformed into swans and condemned to wander for centuries
They are placed under an enchanted sleep inside Newgrange
5. A mysterious creature appears as a dark horse, gives a frightening ride, and changes shape in another version of the story. Which being best fits these clues?
The banshee
The púca
The selkie
The dullahan
6. A visitor wants to see the Neolithic passage tomb whose inner chamber is illuminated by sunrise around the winter solstice. Where should they go?
The Rock of Cashel
Emain Macha at Navan Fort
Newgrange at Brú na Bóinne
Dún Aonghasa on Inis Mór
7. A hero must obey a personal prohibition, but another duty pressures him to break it. Which concept from Irish heroic literature is central to this conflict?
A geis, meaning a binding obligation or taboo
A sídhe, meaning an entrance to an otherworldly dwelling
A rath, meaning the defensive bank of a ringfort
An aisling, meaning a poetic vision of Ireland
8. Oisín returns from Tír na nÓg after what feels like a short stay. He is warned not to touch Irish soil. What follows when he falls from his horse and touches the ground?
He loses his memory and immediately returns to Tír na nÓg
The years catch up with him, and he becomes an aged man
He turns into a swan until someone speaks his name
He gains Cú Chulainn’s battle frenzy and challenges the Fianna
9. A traveller enters a beautiful otherworld where youth does not fade and time passes differently from the mortal world. Which place best matches that description?
Emain Macha
Teamhair, or Tara
Cruachan
Tír na nÓg
10. A farmer in a folktale refuses to cut down an old thorn growing on an ancient ringfort. What traditional belief most directly explains the caution?
The thorn is believed to mark the burial place of a Fenian warrior
Every ringfort is considered a former royal court of the high kings
Cutting such a tree is believed to release the Salmon of Knowledge
Fairy forts and their trees are associated with the sí and should not be disturbed
11. Which description most closely matches the leprechaun in much Irish folk tradition?
A communal host of warriors who ride out from ancient burial mounds
A household spirit whose main role is completing farm work overnight
A seal-person who can remove a skin and walk on land
A solitary fairy often linked with shoemaking and hidden treasure
12. Two storytellers disagree about their heroes: one describes the leader of the Fianna, while the other describes Ulster’s champion in the Táin. Which pairing correctly identifies them?
Fionn mac Cumhaill leads the Fianna; Cú Chulainn is Ulster’s champion
Conchobar leads the Fianna; Diarmuid is Ulster’s champion
Cú Chulainn leads the Fianna; Fionn mac Cumhaill is Ulster’s champion
Oisín leads the Fianna; Lugh is Ulster’s champion
13. A story centres on a dispute over the great Brown Bull of Cooley and a raid led by Queen Medb. Which work is being described?
The Voyage of Bran
Táin Bó Cúailnge
The Pursuit of Diarmuid and Gráinne
The Second Battle of Mag Tuired
14. In the Mythological Cycle, who are the Tuatha Dé Danann?
Monks who preserve pre-Christian stories in a single hidden library
A warrior band led by Fionn mac Cumhaill on hunting expeditions
The human defenders of Ulster during the Táin
A supernatural people associated with divine arts who later dwell within the sídhe
15. A librarian is shelving a retelling of the Táin Bó Cúailnge, featuring Queen Medb and Cú Chulainn. Which mythological cycle is the right section?
The Fenian Cycle
The Mythological Cycle
The Ulster Cycle
The Historical Cycle
16. A young Fionn burns his thumb while cooking a wondrous fish and then gains wisdom after putting the thumb in his mouth. What fish was he preparing?
The Eel of the Shannon
The Trout of Transformation
The Salmon of Knowledge
The Herring of Prophecy