Leprechauns & Fairies
Innocent bedtimes stories and childish superstitions.. or are they? According to legend, the victims of these “make believe” characters are always the nonbelievers. I had the chance to learn all about them at the Museum of Leprechauns in Dublin (which, yes, does sound like a tourist trap designed to make the foreigners believe) but also from the stories of the people I met while visiting.
I’ve always fancied leprechauns because Lucky Charms were one of my favorite cereals as a kid. I assumed all leprechauns were bright and cheery like the one on this General Mills cereal box. In contrast to that, Hollywood painted a negative picture of the red bearded men in the horror/comedy film series “Leprechaun”. Regardless, these red-headed mascots of Ireland are believed to be short, angry Irish men who have pots of gold at the end of rainbows and use magic to harass humans that they come into contact with. It is said there are different kinds of leprechauns and their appearance depends on where in Ireland you find them. Despite the difference in appearance, there is one thing that stays consistent: all of them like to spend their time alone and have the job of making or mending shoes.The old fables offer morals that warn against the folly of trying to get rich quick and take what’s not rightfully yours.
There’s also a legend that if you catch one, you can take his gold for yourself or granted three wishes. One way you can attempt to catch a leprechaun is going to a secluded, quite place in Ireland where you can listen for him making shoes. It is said if he’s distracted, he will be easier to catch. Just be aware! They are very slick and will try to find a way to escape by using magic to trick you. The reason why people think these little little guys are associated with pots of gold are from war times. Legend said the Danes who once conquered Ireland, buried pots of gold around the country and put the leprechauns in charge for safe keeping.
When I asked locals what they thought about leprechauns, a few said they were hesitant to believe in the them BUT were, in fact, believers in fairies. Not fairies like Tinkerbell and the Tooth Fairy though; an encounter with these fairies could end in abduction, mental illness and even death. Many farmers will say that any single Hawthorn tree that stands lonely on their land, a ring of mushrooms, upright stones and old forts should be avoided at all costs. Should you mess with them, you’d be stricken with the fairy’s wrath. Fairy Trees are not to be messed with or cut down or else years of bad luck will follow. It is not uncommon to travel through out Ireland and see a perfectly cultivated field with a fairy tree standing in the center, untouched - evidence of a farmer unwilling to risk his luck. These trees have been left in their place even though they sometimes cause a major inconvenience for construction purposes. There have been stories of people that go missing regularly that people have thought to be because of the fairies. Also, if businesses fail, it is said to be that it’s probably due to the destruction of a fairy tree.
On my visit at a horse breeding facility in Kildare, we came across many small, colorful, wooden houses - small like bird house - hidden on the trees within the grounds. For years, fairy doors have been known to be magical portals to their world.
Luckily for me, I did not get to come in contact with these magical creatures. Real or not, belief in leprechauns and fairies have been spread across all of Emerald Isle and the stories will continue to entertain people for generations to come.
