You may end up being the luckiest person alive if you ever manage to catch a leprechaun, but there again, it could bring more trouble than what its worth. A leprechaun is a smart, devious little thing who will do anything to escape capture even if it means turning you into a frog. They are the exception in the faerie realm as they are the only Faerie that has a trade other than cattle trading. They are shoe-makers.
Who Are the Leprechauns of Ireland? As part of Irish mythology and folklore the leprechauns are part of our faerie folk, called by some as the "wee folk". As a cousin of the clurichaun, they are known to have inhabited Ireland well before the arrival of the Celts. Small enough to sit comfortably on your shoulder, they are very smartly dressed in tiny suits with waist coats, hats and buckled shoes. As mischievous and intelligent folk, they are generally harmless to the general population of Ireland, although they are known to play odd trick on farmers and the populace of villages and towns. It is said that every leprechaun has a pot of gold, hidden deep in the Irish countryside. To protect the leprechaun's pot of gold, the Irish fairies gave them magical powers to use if ever captured by a human or animal. Magic an Irish leprechaun would perform to escape capture would be to grant three wishes or vanish into thin air! Leprechauns are also very keen musicians who play tin whistles, the fiddle and even the Irish Harp and various other Irish traditional instruments. They are known to have wild musical sessions at night, which in Ireland, are known as Ceili's, with hundreds of leprechauns gathering to dance, sing and drink. The leprechaun is fond of drinking poteen (moonshine), but must not be mistaken by their Irish cousins the cluricauns, who are drunken creatures who love to cause chaos around Ireland at night time, a headache for us humans. William Butler Yeats once said, "... because of their love of dancing they (the Fae) will constantly need shoes." He goes on to tell the story of a woman who had been spirited away by the Faeries and returned seven years later minus her toes. She had danced them off!!! The famous 1959 movie Darby O'Gill and the Little People show us a great example of who the leprechauns are and how we envision them.
Catching a Leprechaun. It's no easy task to catch a leprechaun as they remain very well hidden from humans. But if you get lucky and manage to catch one, you must outwit him or else you will be easily tricked, which can have unpleasant consequences. Never take your eye off him or he will vanish. A captured leprechaun will grant you three wishes or a gold coin to bribe his way to freedom, but this is when things can go terribly wrong if you make the wrong decisions. Many an Irish man who thought he could outsmart a leprechaun selected the three wishes and would either go insane trying to think of what to wish for or his wishes would backfire. One common story is that of Seamus in County Mayo who wished to be the richest man on a tropical island, but when his wish came true, he found himself on an unpopulated island where there were no shops or pubs in which to spend his money. Seamus became bored after a few hours on the island and had to waste his third wish to return to Ireland. Perhaps this is how the phrase "Luck of the Irish" originated. One of the most important tips an Irishman can bestow is to never listen to what the Irish leprechaun says, no matter what. Leprechauns are great mind players and will say anything to confuse a human into making the wrong wishes. Many insist angry leprechauns are more common than those that are friendly, however, this is untrue. Irish leprechauns are, indeed, friendly, but tend to dislike humans who always seem to chase them for wishes and pots of gold. A good rule of thumb is that if you spot a leprechaun, pass him without notice because you could end up in big trouble. Unfortunately, with cities in Ireland expanding, the poor wee leprechauns are being driven farther underground and farther away from, taking their rainbows and gold with them.
Source: YourIrish.
