Review: The Irish Fairy Door Company


Do you believe in fairies? My 5 year old doesn’t even question that the magical world of little people is real so when we were offered a fairy door to review I thought it would be a lovely way to start the new year.

A girl on the floor peering at a pink fairy door, with stepping stones and a key from the Irish Fairy Door Company
Setting Up The Fairy Door


The box from the Irish Fairy Door Company of course includes a fairy door, but it also contains: a key in a bottle, stepping stones, a lease agreement (between fairy and family), a mini notepad and a Fairy Welcome Guide. I thought if a fairy ever came to live with us the door would just appear one day, but the pack explains that Queen Kate of the fairies worked with the Irish Fairy Door Company to create the doors which (after registering online) a fairy would move into. They attend Fairy school so they know exactly what to do.

A 5 year old girl looking at the box from the Irish Fairy Door Company

M excitedly opened the package, looked at all the contents then we read the story in the welcome guide about a brother and a sister who are given fairy doors. We chose to name our fairy “Maisie” and M set up her door, stepping stones and the magical key in her room before signing the lease agreement and leaving that next to the door as well. Finally we went to register her on the website.

A shadow of a young girl in front of a MacBook showing a website to register the fairy
Registering our fairy
At bedtime M was full of excitement about getting her own fairy. I explained numerous times that she wouldn’t actually get to see it (seeing the fairy takes away some of their magic) but this didn’t seem to sink in as she talked about trying to wake up in the night to meet Maisie.

Now I’m not saying fairies aren’t real, more that they don’t really want to move from their special fairy kingdom into the messy bedroom of a 5 year old, so overnight I had to do a little bit of sneaking about. I removed the key and used my smallest writing to forge Maisie’s signature on the lease before managing to leave M’s room in near silence.

Close up of the fairy lease agreement and a young girl writing her name with a pink pen
Signing the lease
The next morning I was woken up by loud knocking and the call of “Maisie, Maisie, come out!”. For some reason the little fairy wasn't tempted to come out, possibly because she had a headache from all the noise. Over the course of the day M mentioned her numerous times and was also to be found playing with the door. I reminder her that she shouldn’t try and see her fairy and that moving the door around might make Maisie feel unwell (I also made a mental note to attach the door to the wall over night).

The second night M left a note for Maisie outside the door. Maisie came out at some point while M was asleep, took the note and left one of her own a long with a small gift.

A young girl in a Frozen night dress reading a book (the Fairy Welcome Guide from the Irish Fairy Door Company)
Looking through the welcome guide
M didn’t notice the present the next morning when she woke up and she was downstairs for much of the day. Her little sister had managed to bring down a couple of the stepping stones so at the point in the afternoon where M was repeatedly requesting television I asked her to take the stepping stones upstairs. It took a while to persuade her, but eventually she went upstairs and I heard a shriek of delight. The present was found, and after a bit of prompting the small note too. M was amused for the next hour playing with the little toy and declared it the “best toy ever”, which was less to do with the toy and more that it came from her fairy.

It’s been a couple of nights now and although M has mentioned Maisie several times there hasn’t been anymore messages from her fairy. I suspect that might have something to do with M not writing a 'Thank You' note to her, but we’ll see how it goes.


A few things you might want to know before buying a fairy door


  • Children should be encouraged to leave drawings or letters for their fairy so they can get to know them better. This is a great way to encourage their imagination, but you need to be prepared to reply just in case the fairy has been too busy.
  • The guide has a story in which siblings are given a door each, so you might need an explanation if you plan to share one fairy with multiple children.
  • The door can be placed anywhere (inside or outside) but try to place it where younger children or pets won’t disturb it e.g. a windowsill. Ours has been moved around a fair bit.
  • The door doesn’t come with adhesive so you might want to find a way to attach it to the wall. It suggests blue tac as an option, but I went with double sided sticky squares.
  • You have to choose the name of your fairy which I found a bit confusing, my partner explained one with that name will move in, which makes more sense to me than the fairy having no name until you choose it.
  • You get sent regular emails with ideas and there is a website to explore. Some of the contents may ruin the illusion of magic so if your child can read you will need to be careful when you open them.
  • The approach and activities will depend on the age of your child. Children can probably appreciate the magic best from age 3, but will grow out of it at different ages. You know your child best.
  • You can buy additional accessories and wall art to make your fairy feel more at home.

A fairy door in packaging from The Irish Fairy Door Company

What we thought of the fairy door from the Irish Fairy Door Company


The Fairy door isn’t a toy, it’s not something you give to a child to play with for a few days before they lose interest. With a careful approach and encouragement your child and the fairy can be friends for years. They don’t need to communicate every day, or even every week, but it’s a relationship to be nurtured. If they start to lose interest you can suggest terminating the lease so the fairy can return to Fairy Valley and her friends. This is a special magical gift, but it is a commitment for both child and parents.


M is very excited that she has her own fairy and I’m hoping we can maintain her excitement for the long term. She is just learning to write (although her spelling can be a little confusing) so leaving messages is a lovely way for her to practise.

2 comments

  1. I love these little fairy doors, my MIL had one on a tree in her garden. The fairies would often leave little treats for the grandchildren whenever we visited - so cute

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for your comment (unless it's spam in which case, why?)