The story of Dearg Due

Dearg Due

This is Dearg Due, Ireland’s original vampire! Well one of them anyway. Its said that Dearg Due was torn away from her lover and married off to a cruel man of wealth against her will. Whether she died of a broken heart, mistreatment or suicide is up to the storyteller but a year after her death she rose from the grave consumed with the need for vengeance. She drained the blood of her old husband and his new wife and then her father for selling her off in the first place. Some stories suggest shes looking for her lover and so drains peoples blood to stay alive so she can find him. Others say its not the blood that sustains her but the pain her torture inflicts on her victims. Pretty dark stuff, but that’s Halloween for ya! . 'Dearg' is red, but 'due' is a conundrum for me. Its supposed to mean Red Bloodsucker but I cant find 'due' in any Irish dictionary.