The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
Harry Potter and the witch of Hag’s Glen
EVERYONE knows about Kerry’s connection to the Star Wars galaxy but now The Kingdom has become part of J.K Rowling’s Harry Potter universe.
Ahead of the release next November of the latest Harry Potter film – spin off ‘Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them’ – Rowling has released a new short story and animated video to explain its back story.
The new film is set in 1920’s New York and involves the American version of Hogwarts, the wizard school that provided the back drop for the Harry Potter books.
Rowling’s new story concerns the founder of that US school – named Ilvermorny – and it turns out she’s a Kerry woman.
According to the new Rowling story – which was published just last week on her Pottermore website – the American school for wizards and witches was founded by Isolt Sayre who was born in 1603 in Coomloughra valley in the foothills of Carrauntoohil.
Rowling’s story reveals that Isolt was a descendant of Irish witch Morrigan a well known figure from Irish pagan mythology.
The story sees a young Isolt eventually move to nearby Hag’s Glen with her aunt – the villain of the piece – before fleeing to England and eventually on to America aboard the Mayflower.
Kerry’s place in the latest Harry Potter story raises some interesting possibilities for the county. The upcoming ‘Fantastic Beasts’ film is to be the first in a trilogy – with Rowling co-writing the screenplays – and the movie is predicted to be a major commercial hit.
Plans for the sequels are currently the subject of much speculation among Potter fans but it is expected that they will delve into the past of the American Hogwarts and its newly unveiled founder.
Should the future films examine the story of Isolt Sayre then what better place to film the story than in the spectacular surrounds of Hag’s Glen and Carroauntoohil. Kerry may well be set for a starring role in another major film franchise.