![\"East\u00e1it](\"http:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/images\/blog\/eastaitnasi.jpg\")
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An interesting Irish expression I came across recently is East\u00e1it na S\u00ed<\/em> (“Fairy Estates”), which are known as Ghost Estates in English. These are housing estates full of empty houses that nobody can afford thanks to the disappearance of the Celtic Tiger. <\/p>\n The Irish version refers to the S\u00ed<\/em> (fairies or little people) from Irish folklore. The writer of the article suggests a solution to this problem – making the empty estates into new Gaeltachta\u00ed [source<\/a>]. <\/p>\n The old spelling of s\u00ed<\/em> is s\u00eddhe<\/em>; in Old Irish it’s s\u00edde<\/em>; in Scottish Gaelic it’s s\u00ecth<\/em>, and in Manx it’s shee<\/em>, and the English word banshee comes from the Irish bean s\u00ed<\/em> (fairy woman).<\/p>\n The fairy folk are often referred to be other names and it is consider unlucky to call them fairies. Instead they might be known as wee folk, good folk, people of peace, fair folk, good neighbours or little people in English. In Welsh they’re known as the tylwyth teg<\/em> (fair tribe), in Manx they’re the mooinjer veggey<\/em> (little people), and in Cornwall they’re known as piskies or the pobel vean<\/em> (little people).<\/p>\n