The Irish 'Boogie Man'
The "
phooka" (
singular form and
plural) were
phantoms which were believed to cause injury to or carry off belated
travellers,
wayward children and other
unlucky citizens. The myth of this particular phantom was active in Southern
Ireland up to as recently as the late
19th century.
The Irish phooka would most often take the shape of a
horse, which would then
induce children or lost travellers to
mount him. After sucessfully
luring his
prey, the phooka would then
dart off into the
horizon, or plunge over a
precipice, dissipating during the fall causing great
injury to the unlucky passenger
alone.
The phooka were very numerous in times long ago. The
peasantry of Southern Ireland would usually ascribe
accidental falls and late
guests to the
agency of the phooka. Often otherwise
innocent dark coloured horses riding at
dusk near a small
hamlet or
village would be chased after by the
locals, as to warn the phooka that the
villagers would not be
fooled by the its
evil overtures.