leprechaun

leprechaun, leprecaun, lepracaun, leipreachán [cf. MidIr. luchorpán, small body; ModIr. leipreachán, luprachán]; parallel regional and archaic forms: lochramán, loimreachán, loragádán, lubrican, luchragán, luchramán, luprecan, lúracán, lurgadán, lurikeen. Male, solitary fairy, a guardian of hidden treasure, of Irish literary and oral tradition whose original identity is now hopelessly obscured by two centuries of commercial and sometimes artistic transmogrification far from the roots of Gaelic culture. Contrary to popular perception, the leprechaun is by no means representative of the entire realm of the Irish fairy nor is he its most striking instance within Irish tradition. Obscured also are the now archaic regional variations, mostly pre-dating the mid-19th century. The leprechaun's dominance as perceived from outside Irish tradition derives from the great popular reception of the works of T. Crofton Croker, especially Fairy Legends and Traditions of the South of Ireland (1825), and prestigious literary adaptations, notably William Allingham's poem ‘Lepracaun’ (c.1870), Lady Wilde's Ancient Legends… of Ireland (1887), James Stephens' Crock of Gold (1912), and the American musical partially based on Stephens, Finian's Rainbow (1947).

The earliest anticipation of the leprechaun comes in the depiction of the water sprites, luchoirp or luchorpán, depicted in the 8th century text Echtra Fergusa maic Léti [The Adventure of Fergus son of Léte]. In the narrative Fergus is sleeping in his chariot by the seaside when the sprites lift him up, separated from his sword, and carry him over the water. When he seizes hold of three of them, they promise to share their skills in swimming as a condition of their release. This portrayal, coupled with earlier glossaries stressing north Leinster spellings, suggests that initially the leprechaun was an aquatic or at least amphibious creature. But several comparable terms from different parts of Ireland suggest other associations. From elsewhere in Leinster: loimreachán, lúracán. From Connacht: lúracán. From Munster: luchragán, lurgadán. From Ulster: luchramán. Perhaps contributing to these conceptions are the monstrous lupracánaig of the pseudo-history Lebor Gabála [Book of Invasions], begotten by the biblical Ham as a result of the curse put upon him by his father Noah.

From the time of Crofton Croker's Fairy Legends (1825) the leprechaun has often been confused with two other solitary fairies known by Hiberno-English names, the cluricaune, who drinks, smokes, and haunts cellars, and the mischievous far darrig. Abundant evidence now exists to demonstrate that the leprechaun flourished in oral tradition before the 19th century. There are allusions to the figure in the place-names Knocknalooricaun [hill of the leprechauns] near Lismore, Co. Waterford, and Poulaluppercadaun [pool of the leprechaun] near Killorglin, Co. Kerry. The anglicization lubrican appeared in 1604. The leprechaun recovered from Irish tradition lacks the high spirits and insouciance of his literary and commercial simulacra. Instead, he (there are no females) is often dour, even saturnine. Ugly and stunted with a face like a dried apple, the leprechaun may be querulous, sottish, and foul-mouthed. In his single best-known story, known in many variations, the leprechaun while busy shoemaking is seized by an ordinary mortal, demanding to known where the crock of gold is kept. If the mortal can keep his eyes on the leprechaun without being distracted, the gold will be his. The wily leprechaun, however, can always distract the mortal, often by appealing to his cupidity or gullibility so that the loser blames himself. Other motifs, such as the leprechaun's sitting on a toadstool, red Galway beard, green hat, etc., are clearly inventions, but some are borrowings from European folklore, especially the German household spirit, the kobold. Some portrayals of the leprechaun's adventures in the household may have entered Ulster folklore from the brownie of Scottish settlers. See also GANCONER. Folk motifs: D1455; D1470; D1520; F369.4; F451.0.1; K415.

Bibliography

See D. A. Binchy , ‘The Saga of Fergus, Son of Léti’, Ériu, 16 (1952), 33–48;
‘Echtra Fergusa maic Léti’, in Irish Sagas, ed. Myles Dillon (Cork, 1968), 40–52;
James Carney , Studies in Irish Literature and History (Dublin, 1955), 103–10;
Diarmaid Ó Giollán, ‘An Leipreachán San Ainmníocht’, Béaloideas, 50 (1982), 126–50;
‘The Leipreachán and Fairies, Dwarfs and the Household Familiar: A Comparative Study’, Béaloideas, 52 (1984), 75–150.