dullaghan

See also: Dullaghan

English

Noun

dullaghan (plural dullaghans)

1. Alternative form of dullahan
   • 1870, Patrick Weston Joyce, The Origin and History of Irish Names of Places, page 186:

     Ballindollaghan in the parish of Baslick, Roscommon, must be a horrible place to live in, if the dullaghan that gave it the name ever shows himself now to the inhabitants. Every one knows that a ghost without a head is [horrible].

   • 1892, William Gregory Wood-Martin, History of Sligo, County and Town, page 382:

     His head is doubtless, as is usual with dullaghans, under his arm, but where are the heads of the four horses?

   • 2017, Doug Wilson, The Time Road: Part 2: the Changeling Warriors, Xlibris Corporation, →ISBN:

     They heard the sound of hooves – big beasts, galloping fast. As the three highwaymen slowly struggled to sit up, one turned and screamed. Coming towards them out of the night were two huge, fierce, fire-breathing black dullaghans, ...

   • 1909, The Irish Fairy Book, Library of Alexandria, →ISBN:

     The Pooka, who appeared in the shape of a horse, and whom Shakespeare has adapted as “Puck,” was a goblin who combined “horseplay” with viciousness. The dullaghan was a churchyard demon whose head was of a movable kind, ...