A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

Overview

The giant’s dwelling is placed within the cliff of Carrigmahon, reached by the rock formations called the Giant’s Stairs. Local tradition in the story attributes strides over houses and mile-long bounds to him. After Philip Ronayne disappears at seven years old, he eventually comes to the blacksmith Robin Kelly in a dream and says that Mahon has kept him as a page for seven years. The dream leaves Robin with a horseshoe mark on his forehead, prompting him to seek the hidden entrance.

At midnight a large illuminated porch opens in the cliff. Robin passes through a winding passage into a chamber where giants sit silently around a stone table. Mahon’s beard has grown into the slab over ages; when he rises abruptly at Robin’s arrival, pulling it free shatters the stone. He then leads the visitor past hundreds of identically dressed children apparently all seven years old. Robin may take Philip, but a mistaken selection will cost his life. Mahon wears iron clothing which clanks as he walks.

When the giant offers a handshake, Robin substitutes his plough-iron. Mahon twists it as easily as a plant stalk, causing the children to laugh; amid that laughter Robin hears his name and identifies Philip. The hall goes dark and the rescuer wakes at the stairs holding the boy. Philip has not visibly aged during his seven-year captivity, yet later lives to old age. His adult metalworking skill is reportedly attributed to apprenticeship with Mahon. The child’s rescue does not entail the giant’s death or liberation of all the other pages, whose fate is left unreported.

Cliff-hidden courtBeard rooted in a stone tableIron clothingGreat physical strengthChild pages who do not visibly age
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Origins & earliest records

T. Crofton Croker, Fairy Legends and Traditions of the South of Ireland, condensed new edition, Philadelphia: Lea and Blanchard, 1844; XL, The Giant’s Stairs, pp. 240–245. The edited local legend names Carrigmahon, Philip Ronayne and Robin Kelly, without identifying an individual oral narrator.

02

Records & interpretation

The complete story supplies the cliff court, stone-rooted beard, iron clothing, strength test and single-child rescue. Local reports about giant strides and Philip’s later training are attributed within the narrative, rather than treated as independently measured facts.

Selected bibliography

Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.

  1. 01

    Fairy Legends XL: The Giant’s Stairs, pp. 240–245

    T. Crofton Croker · 1844

    Complete narrative through Philip’s later life; the following farewell poem on246 is separate from the giant’s encounter.

Family & connections

A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.

References

Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.

  1. Primary edited folklore collectionCroker’s Fairy Legends, 1844 edition transcriptionResearch access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

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