Admit it, when you young lads and lasses first heard the tale of the Leprechaun you tried to capture one yourselves, if just to see whether he would lead you to the fabled pot of gold.

The Leprechaun is one of Ireland’s better-known myths, usually taking the form of an old man with red hair and a beard. A shoemaker by trade it is said that you can tell if a Leprechaun is near by the slight tapping of their hammer.

The namesake of the fabled Leprechaun is widely accepted to come from the Irish word leipreach’aacute;n meaning “pygmy.”

The belief in Leprechauns comes from the Celtic belief in fairies. In Celtic folklore leprechauns are known for being tricky and mysterious usually protecting their fabled pot of gold.

The Leprechaun of Irish lore is not the one that most Americans know of. In 1959 the film “Darby O’Gill ‘ the Little People” released by Disney, showing the cheerful, happy little man with a pot of gold that we all know today.