The legend of leprechauns explained

Like most legendary beasties, leprechauns as we know them today come to us courtesy of a generations-long game of cultural telephone. Starting with their name, Britannica tells us that “leprechaun” comes from the old Irish luchorpan, or “little body,” an on-the-nose moniker if ever there was one. Legends paint them in various shades of mischievousness — sometimes they’d show up and fix a person’s shoes. Sometimes they’d steal a baby and replace it with a shapeshifter. They were a mixed bag. Interestingly, they traditionally wore red instead of green which, if nothing else, would’ve made them easier to spot against Ireland’s verdant rolling hills, assuming you weren’t rocking some deuteranopia.

Then along came the 20th century, and a new wave of leprechaun appreciation. Thanks to a couple of turn of the century books like 1912’s The Crock of Gold and the 1903 story of Darby O’Gill, Ireland’s fairy folk got a second chance at life, albeit one requiring a more verdant set of clothes and, eventually, the memorization of the names of all those marshmallow shapes.

It’s important to note that leprechauns have become an outlet for Irish stereotypes, which is, we can all agree, just plain wrong. If anything, that sort of negativity should be attached to the Clurichaun, the legendary cousin of the leprechaun differentiated solely by its crippling alcoholism.