Pot of Gold Trivia Quiz

The picture is of an Irish Lyre, one of many Irish musical instruments.

Like other members of the Tuatha De Danann clan, Abcan was a dwarf, poet and a musician. The music of the Tuatha De Danann was so angelic that it inspired Irish heroes like Bran to set out on adventures, and beckoned Saint Brendan to learn the wisdom of the birds.

According to Willem McLoud and others, the Tuatha De Danann was an ancient tribe of Celts that may have come from Greece, who, apart from being poets and musicians, were warriors, craftsmen and herbalists possessed of supernatural powers. They were overcome by the next invaders of Ireland (thought to have come from Spain), and disappeared into the hills, thus becoming creatures of myth.

The picture is of vampire bat.

Abhartach (sometimes also spelled Avartagh) first appeared in an 1870 work by Patrick W. Joyce called 'The Origin and History of Irish Names of Places'. The story goes that the Abhartach, a villainous dwarf, was killed and buried outside the village. However, he reappeared the next day and killed everyone he could by drinking their blood, thus associating him with vampires.

The Abhartach was again caught and killed, and reburied. However, he reappeared yet again, slaying more people, including children, and any beast he could find.

The villagers (well, any who were left) caught him again and the chieftain finished him off with a sword made of yew wood. This time, to vanquish his magical powers and keep him in the ground, they buried Abhartach head down. It seemed to have worked, as nothing more was heard of him.

The picture is of a water horse, one of the manifestations of the kelpie.

The kelpie appears in Celtic folklore, found in both Irish and Scottish legend. Living in rivers, lakes and other waterways, they are malignant water spirits who appear as a black, grey or white horse or cow with deformed back legs.

It is thought that this legend was perhaps told to teach children not to go near the water's edge, as the kelpie entices a child onto its back, and once there, the kelpie swims underwater. It takes its victim with it, much like the fox giving the gingerbread man a ride to the other side of the river.

The picture is of a Rolls Royce Phantom emblem; a phantom is one of the ways The Morrigan appears.

The Morrigan is also known as Morrigu, or Mir-Rioghain in Modern Irish. Her name can be translated as 'Great Queen', or 'Phantom Queen'. She is another member of the Tuatha De Danann (an ancient tribe of Celts), a warrior godess sometimes called 'the fiercest Goddess in Irish myth'.

In some lore, she is a shape-shifter, appearing variously as a beautiful woman, a crow, a wolf, an eel, or hornless heifer. According to the Irish Pagan School, The Morrigan is always 'ready to spread fear and confusion among our enemies'.

The picture is of a dragon, the way this serpent appears!

Thought to dwell in the river Shannon or other waterways of Ireland, the name 'Oillipheist' derives from Irish Gaelic. 'Oil' means 'great' and 'peist' means 'worm' or 'serpent.' This huge fearsome creature is said to be capable of causing floods, storms, and other natural disasters. It is also said to be capable of lurking under the water's surface to drag unwary swimmers under, or even to swallow ships whole.

One tale says that the oillipheist heard St Patrick coming for it (after having already dispatched all the snakes), so it cut off the route to the Shannon, which it inhabited.

The picture is of a headless person, recalling the short story, Sleepy Hollow, written by Washington Irving.

The Dullahan, known to be the harbinger of death, is one of the more terrifying Irish mythological creatures. The Dullahan is usually depicted as a headless horseman or coachman who carries his own head, which has flaming eyes. He plucks out the eyes of anyone who sees him with his whip, and spirits off the soul of those ready for death. Oh, I should have mentioned that legends says his whip was made from a human spinal cord. Ew.

The picture is of a mermaid, which is the appreance of the Merrow.

The Merrow's name comes from the Irish 'muruch' or 'muir-oigh', which means 'sea' and 'maid'. The creature is part fish and part human and is said to have a very sweet nature. It possess a magical cap (cohuleen druith) that allows it to travel between deep water and dry land.

Like many creatures of this description, the merrow are irresistible to sailors and fishermen, especially when they comb their silken hair. That's a good thing (for the Merrow anyway), because merrows prefer to take human lovers, and carry their captives off to their underwater enchanted kingdoms.

The picture is of a three-headed monster. I hope you used your noggin to work this out!

A Celtic monster symbolic of destruction and chaos, the Ellén Trechend was a three-headed vulture-like beast that lived in the Cave of Cruachan.

Its appearance coincided with the Celtic festival of Samhain, when it emerged from the Cave to lay waste the whole of Ireland. The folklore says that it was killed by the warrior poet, Amergin mac Eccit.

The picture is of a lake monster like Nessie, of which the Muckie is one type.

The Muckie was a mysterious creature of Irish mythology said to inhabit the lakes of Killarney in Ireland, earning it comparisons with Scotland's Loch Ness Monster.

One of the lakes in which the Muckie is said to appear is the Muckross. While the creature itself is one of myth, in 2003 a 27-metre (88-ft) -long creature was spotted on a precision sonar during a study of fish populations in the area. Previously, reports of similar beasts were made in the Connemara and Lough Derg.

The picture is of an evil eye, a hint of a characteristic of Balor.

Balor was a leader of the anarchic and turbulent race of Fomoire. Balor acquired his evil eye as a boy, when he looked into a potion being concocted by his father's Druids. The fumes caused him to grow a huge eye that incinerated or petrified anything on which it gazed. It was kept shut, or was opened at need by Balor's by attendants.