In Irish mythology, a leprechaun (Irish: leipreachán) is a type of male faerie said to inhabit the island of Ireland. They are a class of "faerie folk" associated in Irish mythology and folklore, as with all faeries, with the Tuatha Dé Danann and other quasi-historical peoples said to have inhabited Ireland before the arrival of the Celts.

Leprechauns and other creatures of Irish mythology are often associated with "faerie forts" or "faerie rings" — often the sites of ancient (Celtic or pre-Celtic) earthworks or drumlins.

They usually take the form of old men who enjoy partaking in mischief. Their trade is that of a cobbler or shoemaker. They are said to be very rich, having many treasure crocks buried during war-time. According to legend, if anyone keeps an eye fixed upon one, he cannot escape, but the moment the gaze is withdrawn, he vanishes.

Power & Weaknesses

Music, dancing, fox hunting, and drinking Irish whiskey are said to be the Leprechauns' favorite pastimes. Once a leprachaun begins dancing to a human's song, it is said that he cannot stop until the tune ceases. His exhausted state may cause him to make outlandish offers, including his crock of gold, if you will please only allow him to stop dancing. Other means of finding his gold include looking at the end of a rainbow, which may lead him offer 3 wishes in exchange for his treasure. His promises of gold alway proves hollow, as the Leprechaun always employs clever tricks in his granting of wishes, often resulting in the embarrassment or injury to the one who expected a bounteous reward.

According to legend, If caught by a mortal, he will promise great wealth if allowed to go free. He carries two leather pouches. In one there is a silver shilling, a magical coin that returns to the purse each time it is paid out. In the other he carries a gold coin which he uses to try and bribe his way out of difficult situations. This coin usually turns to leaves or ashes once the leprechaun has parted with it. However, you must never take your eye off him, for he can vanish in an instant.

According to legend, if anyone keeps an eye fixed upon one, he cannot escape, but the moment the eye is withdrawn he vanishes.

Etymology

There are a number of possible etymologies of the name "leprechaun". One of the most widely accepted theories is that the name comes from the Irish Gaelic word leipreachán, defined by Dinneen as "a pigmy, a sprite, a leprechaun; for luchorpán"; the latter word Dinneen defines as "a pigmy, a leprechaun; 'a kind of aqueous sprite'"; this word has also been identified as meaning "half-bodied", or "small-bodied".

An alternative derivation for the name, and the one quoted by the Oxford English Dictionary, is leath bhrógan, "Leith bhroyan" or "Leith phroyan" meaning shoe-maker — the leprechaun is known as the fairy shoemaker of Ireland and is often portrayed working on a single shoe. Originally coined by Thomas Keightley in The Fairy Mythology (1850)

Another derivation has the word "leprechaun" deriving from luch-chromain, meaning "little stooping Lugh", Lugh being the name of a leader of the Tuatha Dé Danann.

The word leprechaun was first recorded used in the English language in 1604 in Thomas Middleton and Dekker's The Honest Whore as lubrican. The original meaning was of some kind of spirit and not specifically associated with the Irish mythological character.

"As for your Irish Lubrican, that spirit Whom by preposterous charms thy lust has raised."

Description

Solitary dwarf male faery wearing an emerald green frock coat and green tri-cornered hats and bestowed with the knowledge of the location of buried treasure, often in a crock of gold. Infamous hoarders, they are loathe to spend a single penny, which probably explains their poor appearance in spite of their great wealth.

The leprechaun originally had a different appearance depending on where in Ireland he was found. Prior to the 20th century, it was generally agreed that the leprechaun wore red and not green. Samuel Lover, writing in the 1831 describes the leprechaun as,

... quite a beau in his dress, notwithstanding, for he wears a red square-cut coat, richly laced with gold, waistcoat and inexpressible of the same, cocked hat, shoes and buckles.

Yeats, in his 1888 book entitled Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry describes the leprechaun as follows:

He is something of a dandy, and dresses in a red coat with seven rows of buttons, seven buttons on each row, and wears a cocked-hat, upon whose pointed end he is wont in the north-eastern counties, according to McAnally, to spin like a top when the fit seizes him.

In a poem entitled The Lepracaun; or, Fairy Shoemaker, the 18th century Irish poet William Allingham describes the appearance of the leprechaun as:

...A wrinkled, wizen'd, and bearded Elf,

Spectacles stuck on his pointed nose,

Silver buckles to his hose,

Leather apron - shoe in his lap...

The three wishes

I caught me a Leprechaun,

and you know what that means!

I got me three big wishes,

and I wanted so many things.

I wanted silver and I wanted gold,

and riches beyong my place,

And castles all in clover,

and love a beautious face.

"So what it be, your wish number one?"

asked the Leprechaun all in green.

"I wish I might have beauty,

the most bewitching ever seen."

"Done!" said the green little Leprechaun,

with a wave of his hand.

"And I wish," I said, "to have riches,

the greatest in this land."

With a flourish and a flutter they did appear,

great beauty and my gold,

And then I wished for a lover fair,

all that my heart could hold.

Bedazzled I was when I saw him there,

my knight in armored bob.

"Thank you, Leprechaun," I gushed with glee,

"You've done a most splendid job."

But the Leprechaun stood near me, seeming unanxious to leave.

"I'm glad you know your mind, lass.

So many waste wishes, you see."

So enraptured I was with my bounty

that I hardly noticed when

That wee little, green little Leprechaun

began chattering away again.

"Tis a bonnie day, is it not, my lass?

Don't you wish, lass, it would bid

To stay like this all year long?"

And I replied ... I did.

The little Trickster laughed with mirth,

and then my face did fall.

"The rules be, lass, if a fourth wish you make,

then you lose them all!"

"The Three Wishes" by Mark Shapiro