The leprechaun has become the standard image of Irish kitsch, a being with a rosy face, boozy demeanor and green attire, the stuff of Saint Patrick's Day parades the world over. But leprechauns have a far more ancient lineage and are a race far removed from the popular images of cheery wish bestowing fairies. A confusion arose between Luchorpán and the solitary fairy being of Ireland known as the Cluricaune who is a cunning spirit who haunts cellars, drinks, smokes & plays tricks. This came about possibly due to the publication of Crofton Croker's "Fairy Legends" (1825). Since that time, leprechauns seem to be entirely male and solitary. Before merging with the green-clad Cluricaune, leprechauns wore red--an odd color for a water Spirit. One long-established tradition makes the leprechaun a cobbler who is found & seized by a human & made to show the way to the crock of gold. Leprechauns were not originally toadstool sitters, with red Galway beards & green hats, but that is how they survive in the imaginations of today -- a mixture of Cluricaune, brownie and European fairy. Their reputation as cobblers is perhaps the oldest thing about them, for it has been suggested that their original name derives from the Irish god, Lugh, and that they should be known as Lu-chorpan (Lugh-bodies). The Welsh variant of Lugh, Lleu, is known as one of the
"3 Golden Shoemakers". It may be that a partially forgotten myth associated
them with shoe making & the finding of gold. Perhaps the Lu-chorpan wore red?
