Dearg-Due: The Irish Vampire

The Dearg-Due

The Dearg-Due is a terrible, infamous monster with a tragic origin which is remembered in Ireland. The name is pronounced (DAH-ruh-guh DU-ah) in Irish. Translated, it means “red-blood sucker.” She was a woman who lived around 2,000 years ago. This woman was incredibly beautiful and she was recognized far and wide for her blood-red lips and silver-blonde hair. More magnetic than even her legendary beauty was her pure heart, and she was beloved by all for her kindness and gentle spirit which brought joy and light to everyone around her. She is now remembered for what she eventually became rather than for who she was, so her name in life is no longer spoken or remembered. Her tale is known to many, and the people of Ireland have recalled the terror that she now brings and the tragedy which birthed her, but her name has disappeared from memory.

The legends say that this beautiful and innocent woman fell in love with a peasant in her village, who was as kind and beautiful she. Unfortunately for the hopeful young lovers, his station in life was that of an impoverished and lowly farmhand. The woman was born to noble blood, and so it was unthinkable that she be wed to a filthy stable boy of ignoble birth. How could she be expected to start and support a respectable home and family with a man without a penny to his name? When her father found out that she had fallen in love with this peasant, he acted quickly to ensure his daughter’s hand in marriage to a man more worthy of her. This man was unfortunately much older than…