What I know on the subject of faeries, gnomes, and brownies

I grew up in a house with house faeries. they are real. And yes my mother is part Irish, but I do not think it has any baring on this. Ours house faeries were a family. the teen boy (the only one I ever saw) was around 5-6 inches tall and looked quite like the movies of good house faeries. I have personally only seen him. My mother said there was a family, the parents a small child and a teen boy and suspected by now there was a baby as the last time she had seen the mom she was with child. That shatters the illusion that they are non producing and nonsexual as I have seen in some movies. Or at least for house faeries, this holds true. She also said they do not age like us and seamed to maintain at an age for many years. My mother made doors into the walls for them in each room. My dad wasn't happy. If you find small things missing you most likely have them. Ours would steal stick pins, safety pins, thread, loose buttons, and anything miniature sized like my tiny micro tea set and pieces of fabric. And for some odd reason, shiny things. The one I saw had meg-shift mountain climbing gear made from string and a bent safety pin. The cutest thing was the ears shaped like elf ears in the Santa movies, pointy on the end and hung up over the hat it was wearing. I felt that once it was seen it felt it was going to be in trouble with it's parents, Actually I felt it was the mother that it feared reprisal from. It had froze when I saw it hoping I had missed it but it was maybe 1 foot from me. Once it understood it was seen it moved fast, faster than I could of and it slid down between furniture and when I checked it was gone. I could feel it's thoughts but it did not speak.
This is the closest picture I have ever found to the boy I saw only his face was that of a boy maybe 14 or so.

A few years ago I lived in the woods. They were thick and lush woods that had not been used much by man. Every year I invited in the faerie folk to winter over in front of a nice warn hearth, while conveying that only those who do not mean mischief need to come in. from that the first year I got a gnome, about 2-3 feet high and stubby or maybe wide is a better word., not fat but jolly and quiet. He would some times be seen sometimes not, usually from the corner of your eye. When we was seen he would tip his hat and smile and continue on his way. Never spoke.

I believe that "The non speaking thing" is simply language barrier. They seam to connect more intuitively "thought" vs words. Yet you can understand quite well. My Gnome seamed to not mind my huskies (5 at that time, all inside dogs).

When I was young the house faeries never conveyed a word at least to me, only a feeling of his parents were going to be mad at him for being seen. I could understand their worry, they were safe with myself and my mother but my little sister or dad would of caught them and cashed in.

As for the gnome or possibly brownie, he was quite old like a grandpa with a full gray beard and stooped slightly forward he walked slowly like he was putting along throughout his day. He was pleasant even to our dogs who seamed to leave himalone as well. I realy couldn't find a good picture of something that looked like it but this is as close as I could get. Just add a long white beard and crop the ears some, his hair was also grey and seamed to flow into his beard.  He wore a hat like the gnome that is a statue and is seen in pictures as the gnome was here or there

I was told long ago that we make our own reality. I believe that is to simplified. I believe we are faced with only what we can handle. Those with the wrong attitude or maybe it is as simple as frequency, do not see what others with a more accepting frequency or attitude can see.
I grew up in a house where spirits were seen. All of us did. Not all of us still do as adults. My mother never lost it, nor did I, or my daughters. However my sons and my three sisters did loose that ability as they grew. Since my one sister's stroke, she now sees again but can not hear spirits. But only my mother, myself, and my husband, as far as people I know can see the fae world. I believe there is a huge trust issue with the fae and our kind. Either way we are a select and very small group that has had contact with them.