kaht SHEE
A large fairy cat, black with a white spot on its chest, tied to folklore surrounding the festival of Samhain.
The Cat Sídhe is described as the size of a large dog, entirely black except for a white spot on its breast. In some traditions it was believed capable of stealing a person's soul before burial, and it is associated with Samhain, when it was said that leaving out a saucer of milk on the doorstep might earn a household its blessing rather than its curse.
The cat sídhe is a fairy cat, usually described as large and black with a white spot on its chest. The name is most closely associated with Scottish Gaelic tradition, where it is the cat sìth, but Irish and Manx folklore have similar stories.
A widespread belief held that the creature could steal the soul of a corpse before burial, which is why watchers sometimes kept a vigil over the dead. Another practice was to leave out a saucer of milk at Samhain to win its favour, a custom that links the cat to the season when the boundary with the Otherworld was thought to be thinnest.
| Cycle | Entries here | Focus |
|---|---|---|
| The Mythological Cycle | 21 | The oldest of the four cycles, telling of the Tuatha Dé Danann and the successive invasions of Ireland. |
| The Fenian Cycle | 7 | Tales of Fionn mac Cumhaill and his band of warriors, the Fianna, set generations after the Ulster Cycle in a world of hunting, romance, and roaming adventure. |
| The Ulster Cycle | 12 | The heroic tales of Conchobar mac Nessa's court at Emain Macha, centered on Cú Chulainn and the great cattle raid of the Táin Bó Cúailnge. |
| The Historical Cycle | 1 | Also the Cycle of the Kings — legendary and semi-legendary tales of Ireland's High Kings, treated by medieval scribes as genuine national history. |
The Cat Sídhe (or Cat Sìth in Scottish tradition) is a fairy cat from Irish and Scottish folklore, described as the size of a large dog, entirely black except for a white spot on its chest.
Tradition held that leaving a saucer of milk out on Samhain night might earn a household the Cat Sídhe's blessing, while failing to do so risked its curse — one of several Samhain customs meant to appease Otherworldly visitors.
Some traditions claim it could steal the soul of the recently dead if allowed near the body before burial, which is why watches were sometimes kept over a corpse to keep cats away — a folk practice echoed in the general suspicion of black cats around wakes.