Happy St Patrick’s Day!

Image courtesy of debspoons/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net

When I think of St. Patrick’s day. I think of the day I think of the color green, green beer, parades, silly hats and the Irish. Now I wasn’t conscious of the day or the celebrations when I was growing up. This is because I grew up in the Caribbean. Which meant the 17th of March was two days before my birthday. Which means St Patrick’s day still sneaks up on me, just like it did this year.

For some reason I just keep thinking about Irish fairy folk. The wee people. More specifically Leprechauns. I don’t usually associate Leprechauns with Saint Patrick ’s Day but, today I find myself curious.

Who is the wee man in the green jacket? The one who stores his gold in a pot at the end of the rainbow? And, who delights in making mischief?

What I knew of Leprechauns as I grew up came solely from cartoons and the advertisements for Lucky Charms (yes I’m referring to the cereal). Then came the movies, their genre; horror. (They kept getting progressively worse. I may have watched the first movie)

In my very recent research I’ve discovered not only was the leprechaun a little mischief maker who stored his gold where an occasional human could get to it at the end of a rainbow. He was also to grant three wishes in order to get it back. (Is this where humans learned about ransoming items/ people?)

They were also neither good nor bad. And too my understanding they only messed with you if you messed with them. What I find most fascinating, (thank you Wikipedia) is that a leprechaun’s primary occupation is the making and mending of shoes. Who knew the little devils were magical wealthy cobblers, with a penchant for hiding their money in well known, difficult to get to places.