Leprechaun

In Irish mythology, a leprechaun is a type of elf said to inhabit the island of Ireland.

The leprechaun in modern popular culture

Movies, television cartoons, and commercials for the breakfast cereal Lucky Charms have popularized a specific image of leprechauns which bears scant resemblance to anything found in the cycles of Irish mythology. The modern image of a leprechaun is almost invariant: a diminutive old man, usually no larger than three feet tall, wearing a cocked hat called a tam o' shanter, leather (work) apron, woolen waistcoat, knee breeches, long stockings and silver-buckled brogues. They are always bearded and are usually pipe smokers and shoemakers. Leprechauns are often depicted wearing emerald green frock coats.

Related Topics:
Breakfast cereal - Lucky Charms - Feet - Leather - Wool - Silver - Pipe smokers - Emerald

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One well-known representation is the University of Notre Dame's mascot, wearing his distinctive green three-piece suit and cocked hat. The Notre Dame Leprechaun is portrayed live at university events by a student.

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A Leprechaun is used for the Boston Celtics Logo.

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Other features popularly associated with leprechauns are the knowledge of the location of buried treasure, often in a crock of gold.

Related Topics:
Treasure - Crock - Gold

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The 1959 Walt Disney film, Darby O'Gill and the Little People concerns a wily old Irishman's attempts to outfox the Leprechaun King. While playing on American stereotypes, it sneaks in many references to genuine Irish mythology and history. It also features a very young Sean Connery.

Related Topics:
Walt Disney - Darby O'Gill and the Little People - Sean Connery

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Many Irish people find the popularized image of a leprechaun to be little more than a series of offensive Irish stereotypes and a trivialisation of Ireland's rich and ancient mythology.

Related Topics:
Stereotypes - Mythology

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Leprechauns have also been the subject of several low budget horror movies, the only notable one being Leprechaun, starring Warwick Davis as the titular creature and featuring Jennifer Aniston in a pre-Friends role.

Related Topics:
Leprechaun - Warwick Davis - Jennifer Aniston - Friends

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According to popular children's fiction Artemis Fowl, by Eoin Colfer, "leprechaun" is the human representation of LEPrecon - Lower Elements Police Reconnaissance, made up of elves and centaurs alike.

Related Topics:
Artemis Fowl - Eoin Colfer

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In Neil Gaiman's 2001 novel American Gods, a leprechaun named Mad Sweeney appears as an associate of Mr. Wednesday (Odin) and his disparate mythical allies.

Related Topics:
Neil Gaiman - 2001 - American Gods - Odin

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In an episode of The Simpsons, Bartender Moe Syzlak suggests to Homer Simpson that he use a Leprechaun to get rid of a curse, claiming that they arrive in the U.S. in the wheel-wells of the aircraft of Irish airline Aer Lingus.

Related Topics:
The Simpsons - Moe Syzlak - Homer Simpson - Aer Lingus

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The leprechaun is the emblem for the Wagga Brothers.

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• John Franklin Bardin: The Deadly Percheron (1946) (ISBN 1841950130 or ISBN 1890208108 ).

Harry Potter

In Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, at the Quidditch World Cup the Irish National Team Mascots are leprechauns. They're described as "tiny little bearded men with red waistcoats". According to Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them the leprechaun is found only in Ireland, up to six inches tall and green in colour. It is more intelligent than the fairy (able to speak) and less malicious than the pixie, but nevertheless mischievous. The leprechauns in the Harry Potter series "produce a realistic gold-like substance that vanishes after a few hours". (This substance is often referred to as "Leprechaun Gold")

Related Topics:
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them - Ireland - Fairy - Pixie - Harry Potter

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