An Poc Sí - The Fairy Stroke

One of the most feared weapons of the fairies was the fairy stroke or poc sí, sometimes also called the fairy blast. There are several modern Irish expressions associated with this term including 'poc aosán' which is a term for a sudden illness, 'poc mearaidh' meaning a touch of madness, and 'buaileadh poc air' meaning to be elfstruck or bewitched (O Donaill, 1977). In Old Irish this might be