A long time ago when the giants walked the land of Ireland, the fairies (also known as the wee folk) lived in the underworld, a land known as the Tir na Nog (the land of eternal youth).
The fairies were considered to be the most beautiful of all the spirits of this land. The fairy women are always born beautiful, but on occasion a fairy man may be born ugly (some say this is often a result of the union between a human man and a fairy woman). Whatever the reason, the ugly male offspring is considered to be unfitting for the fairy kingdom, and the male baby is cast out and left to fend for itself. This cast-off is known as the Leprechaun. And these, along with all the other wee folk lived long after the giants disappeared.
In the northeast corner of County Louth lies the small and incredibly beautiful Cooley Peninsula. Here in the principle town of Carlingford, which sits in the shadow of Slieve Foy, is a local pub known as H O’Hare. The owner of this pub was a leprechaun hunter and would often go into the hills in search of the little men. According to local folklore, the leprechaun is a vagabond and due to being cast off as a child, would devise all manner of devious, mischievous methods to survive. This included stealing food, clothes and gold and treasure from people’s homes. If captured, you might be able to force him to give up the location of his hidden treasures.
The pub owner went out one day way back in 1946 and captured a little rascal called Sean Og. He took him back to his pub and forced him to live in captivity, letting him out occasionally to entertain the drinkers with his music. For years he tried to coerce the wily little fellow to give up the secret of his treasure, but Sean proved too clever for his captor and always managed to talk his way around it, often sending his captor on a wild goose chase. 55 years later, Sean finally made his escape, sneaking out one evening in 2001 after luring his capture into a night of wild music and drinking. Once the owner was suitably inebriated, Sean slipped quietly out the back door.
The pub retained many of Sean’s clothes and now offers a reward for his re-capture. Every night the owner goes out in search of him, but Sean is too clever to be captured a second time.
On a nearby road that heads up into the Cooley mountains is a phenomenon known as Magic Hill. Many people have driven this seemingly nondescript section of road and passed by without ever knowing what was there. But those who have stopped have suddenly found that their car will roll back up the hill when the brake is released. The scientific community have called this an optical illusion where it looks like the hill is sloping upwards, but is actually sloping down. Many of the locals think otherwise. They believe it to be the work of powerful fairy magic. Could it be that this is yet another devious trick by the wily Sean Og; a ruse to distract the traveller who dares to stop there and may discover him and his hidden treasure? I tried, but his magic is so strong that all I could do was roll up and down the hill in my van in childish fascination at this strange phenomenon. Once I had overcome the powerful force of his magic it was too late, as Sean had managed once again to escape the clutches of his potential captor. Perhaps others will have more luck, for a grand reward awaits the intrepid explorer who manages to outwit this wily Leprechaun.
For more folklore check out my new travel guide to ancient Ireland:
Deemed One of the Top 10 indie Fantasy releases of 2010 by Fantasy Book Critic, and listed in the first ever Publishers Weekly Indie Select issue, the original 235k word epic title was written in longhand in a Texas prison cell by M. R. Mathias.
Swamp Alley is a portal between this side and the other side. The Wizard is destined to save the land from the Ugly Babies in the Land of Lack Luster on the other side. With the help of Madame Plume and her magic wand, can they save the magical doll
The fairies were considered to be the most beautiful of all the spirits of this land. The fairy women are always born beautiful, but on occasion a fairy man may be born ugly (some say this is often a result of the union between a human man and a fairy woman). Whatever the reason, the ugly male offspring is considered to be unfitting for the fairy kingdom, and the male baby is cast out and left to fend for itself. This cast-off is known as the Leprechaun. And these, along with all the other wee folk lived long after the giants disappeared.
