Bob Curran - Leprechauns: The Myths, Legends, & Lore

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Adams Media

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Copyright 2019 by Bob Curran.

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information address Adams Media Subsidiary Rights Department, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.

First Adams Media hardcover edition February 2019

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Interior design by Katrina Machado

Interior images Getty Images/ANGELGILD, geraria, olenadesign, MarinaMariya, maodesign, Druzhinina, Nastasic, whitemay, Pimonova, MorePics, Morphart, la_puma, Grafissimo, mrtom-uk, MarinaVorontsova, DenPotisev, Pimonova, neildev, song_mi, clu, ZU_09, duncan1890, VeraPetruk, Stymie924, seamartini, Maksym Zakhariuk, eyewave, SongSpeckels, los_ojos_pardos; Clipart.com; Wikimedia Commons/W.H. Brooke, FrancisTyers~commonswiki, Bob Burkhardt, T.C. Croker

Cover design by Erin Alexander

Cover images Getty Images/Angelgild/Geraria/Duncan1890; Wikimedia Commons

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Curran, Bob, author.

Title: Leprechauns / Bob Curran.

Description: Avon, Massachusetts: Adams Media, 2019.

Includes index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2018024003 (print) | LCCN 2018031095 (ebook) | ISBN 9781507208922 (hc) | ISBN 9781507208939 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: Leprechauns. | Folklore--Ireland.

Classification: LCC GR153.5 (ebook) | LCC GR153.5 .C7694 2019 (print) | DDC 398.209417--dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018024003

ISBN 978-1-5072-0892-2

ISBN 978-1-5072-0893-9 (ebook)

Many of the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their products are claimed as trademarks. Where those designations appear in this book and Simon & Schuster, Inc., was aware of a trademark claim, the designations have been printed with initial capital letters.

Adapted from The Truth about Leprechauns published by The OBrien Press Ltd (2017). Originally published as The Truth about the Leprechaun by Wolfhound Press (2000). Text copyright 2000, 2019 by Bob Curran.

Typesetting, layout, design, and editing copyright 2019 by Adams Media, an Imprint of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

INTRODUCTION

Up the airy mountain,

Down the rushy glen,

We darent go a-hunting,

For fear of little men.

William Allingham, The Fairies

Who doesnt love a leprechaun? Clad in green, with tall hats and puffing on curved pipes, they are inseparable from Ireland. Theyre cheerful but elusiveif youre lucky enough to catch one, he may reveal to you his pot of gold, but beware! Hes tricky and clever.

Thats the popular image of these legendary creatures. But they have a darker, more sinister side. Theyre willing and able to take revenge on any they think have wronged them, and often their mischief is malicious and harmful. Leprechauns on the whole are extremely spiteful; they are as likely to perform an evil trick on the unwary mortal as a helpful or kindly one.

In this book, well explore the world of the leprechaun. Well meet many humans who have come into contact with these strange beings and have either gained or lost from the encounter. And well learn some of the dark truths behind the fairy stories.

Leprechauns are fairies who belong to the Otherworldan ill-defined realm that exists just beyond mortal sight. They coexist with humankind throughout the rural countryside, but generally remain invisible to human eyes. Collectively, they are referred to as the Sdhe (meaning dwellers of the moundsthe word s or sdh originally meant a mound) or Tuatha d Danann (meaning followers of Danu, a goddess); but through the years, they became known in country folktales simply as the little people.

As to the origins of Irish fairy beings, stories are many and varied. Some people believe at one time they were as tall as any human. In those days they were gods, but as people stopped worshiping them, they shrank to their present size. Others say that they are angels who refused to take sides in the great conflict between God and Lucifer. For this, they were not wicked enough to fall into Hell but not good enough to sit in Heaven.

Whatever the truth of the matter, Irishparticularly those living in the countrysidehave learned that leprechauns must be taken seriously. Now lets begin our journey to discover more about this strange, magical race of beings.

T he leprechauns origins in folklore are complex. As a character, he is a walking contradictionhe is stupid but at the same time crafty and scheming; he is kind and will work for nothing, but at the same time he is grasping and greedy; he is helpful, but at the same time surly and dismissive. How can all these attributes be reconciled?

The answer is that the leprechauns origins may lie in a multiplicity of folk beliefs. He may have started out as a vague and ill-defined folk memory of some diminutive race that once coexisted with the early Celts. The leprechauns origins may lie partly in Scotland. But they may also lie elsewhere in the Celtic world. In Brittany, for instance, there is still a strong belief in fes tiny creatures who dwell in rocks and gullies. These creatures try to avoid humans as much as they can; however, once again, they are not above playing tricks on or acting maliciously toward humans when their fancy takes them. It may well be that stories about them also influenced Irish folktales, as well as the imagery of the leprechaun. These memories may have mingled with the folk beliefs of other peoples, which also contained legends of small races and solitary dwarves, to create a kind of fairy stereotype that found its way into the general corpus of Irish folklore. These, of course, are only speculations, for any definitive answer concerning the origins of the leprechaun are lost in the mists of time and myth.