AN IRISH author and traditional story-teller has warned American company, West Pharmaceuticals, that they will face the wrath of fairies if they continue to build on the site of a fairy fort in Knockhouse, Co. Waterford.
Eddie Lenihan has written to the company warning that misfortune is almost certain to befall them should they continue with their plans.
The company has already begun development of a new factory on the site. It is expected to be completed in 2018 and bring 150 jobs to the area.
However, there were delays when local construction workers refused to remove the fairy fort, meaning outside workers had to be brought in.
"It’s not a matter of if [the factory] will close but when it will close," the Irish Examiner reports Lenihan as saying. "People will think you are a crank if you say something like this and there will be much laughter.
“I’d like it to be on the record anyway so that people can look back when something happens and see that they [the owners] were warned and didn’t pay attention.
“It will be more than bad luck, there are stories after stories of it. I’d be the first to be sceptical, I’m not one of those people who believes everything they hear.
“I’ve been collecting folklore for 40 years and a lot of the stories are bunkum, but not all. You can have one coincidence or two coincidences but after a while you realise that it can’t be a coincidence.”
Local historians have set up a Facebook page to protest against the destruction of the landmark.
A spokesperson for the group, speaking to The Irish Post, said: "A documented 5,000-year-old site is worth saving not just in pictures and a few museum items - it's the physical place that is what's so important. When it's gone it's gone."
Waterford City Council in a statement, acknowledged concerns about the loss of the site, but insisted the company have adhered to planning recommendations.
“The Knockhouse site is being addressed in accordance with best practice right throughout the process, and under supervision from this Council and the National Monuments Service, West Pharmaceuticals have acted responsibly at all times, and only in accordance with our advice as the planning authority.”
