The Rise of Leprechauns in Popular Culture

While it was once thought that the leprechaun derived its name from the Irish god of many talents, Lugh, it now seems more likely that the word has its origins in the Latin, Luperci, a reference to a group of Ancient Roman priests who were misunderstood to be a race of supernatural beings.

However, despite their name having a potentially Latin origin, leprechauns are still an Irish invention. And there is a through-line we can follow from their first appearances in Irish mythology to their modern portrayals in popular culture.

Pssst. You can watch a video summary of this article here. (Text continues below.)

The First Leprechauns

Admittedly, in their very first appearance, in the Saga of Fergus mac Léti, leprechauns are a bit different from what we’re used to.

These first leprechauns are portrayed as water-sprites, of a sort, but when the diminutive beings are seized by the eponymous Irish king Fergus mac Léti (after attempting to drag him into the sea) and they begin bartering for their lives, their leprechaun-ness (leprechaunishness?) shines through.

The leprechauns grant the king three wishes in exchange for their freedom. But they also leave the king with a warning: to stay out of the waters of Loch Rudraige (modern day Dundrum Bay), for beneath them is the location of their fairy home. A home, as the king will unfortunately discover, that is guarded by the great Irish sea-monster known as the Muirdris.

P.S. You can learn more about the Muirdris and Fergus mac Léti in my article/video on Irish dragons.

But to be clear, these sea-dwelling dwarfs aren’t the only race of little folk in Irish mythology. Heck, they aren’t the only race of little folk in the Saga of Fergus mac Léti.

Meet the Faylinn

Earlier in the saga, we’re introduced to Iubdan and his wife Bebo, king and queen of the wee folk, sometimes called the Faylinn. And while not labeled “leprechauns” outright, they certainly share their penchant for mischief.

Case in point: Iubdan is captured after traveling to Ulster and falling in a pot of the king’s porridge. When Fergus mac Léti refuses to let Iubdan go, the wee folk arrive in Ulster en masse and, to quote T. W. Rolleston’s 1911 book Myths & Legends of the Celtic Race:

”On the king’s refusal they visit the country with various plagues, snipping off the ears of corn, letting the calves suck all the cows dry, defiling the wells, and so forth; but Fergus is obdurate. In their quality as earth-gods, dei terreni, they promise to make the plains before the palace of Fergus stand thick with corn every year without ploughing or sowing, but all is vain.”

The Faylinn here are essentially portrayed as land-based counterparts to the water-based leprechauns.

And moving forward, the association of leprechauns with water will largely fade.

Leprechaun Evolution

One only need read William Allingham’s 1865 poem, “The Lepracaun Or Fairy Shoemaker,” to understand that the leprechaun evolved into a pastoral figure, one more prone to the countryside than the seaside.

Allingham establishes this setting in the poem’s opening lines:

“Little Cowboy, what have you heard,

Up on the lonely rath’s green mound?”

Arguably, the poem did for the leprechaun what “A Visit from St. Nicholas” (a.k.a. “The Night Before Christmas”) did for Santa Claus: It helped codify his appearance and demeanor.

Just read this description Allingham gives of the leprechaun:

“A wrinkled, wizen’d and bearded Elf,

Spectacles stuck on his pointed nose,

Silver buckles to his hose, 

Leather apron-shot in his lap–”

Flash forward to nearly a century later, and this is more or less how the leprechaun is portrayed in the Boston Celtics logo, which debuted in 1950, as well as in the 1959 film Darby O’Gill and the Little People, which I wrote about in my list of the top 10 Irish mythology movies. Then there’s the Lucky Charms cereal mascot from 1963 and the University of Notre Dame’s Fighting Irish mascot from 1964.

Why Do Leprechauns Wear Green?

The one element that remains unaccounted for in this lineup of modern leprechauns is their signature green color.

Remember, traditionally, leprechauns always wore red.

The explanation? It’s pretty simple really:

Leprechauns have long been associated with Ireland, and since at least the mid-17th century, the national color of Ireland has been green. And I’d argue the color green (for better or worse) has only grown more synonymous with the Emerald Isle over time.

Thus, when illustrating a leprechaun, what better way to show that it is a leprechaun, from Ireland, and not a gnome or what have you, than by giving it green attire?

The same thing happened with Saint Patrick, who, in his earliest depictions, is always adorned in blue. He even has a shade of blue named after him.

But apart from sticking a shamrock in his hand and a snake at his feet, how does an artist show that Patrick is Patrick and not some other bishop?

Make him green.

Visually, it’s shorthand for Irish.

Unlike St. Patrick, however, leprechauns haven’t just been “green-washed,” they’ve also been cute-washed, a clear attempt by advertisers to make leprechauns appealing to children.

The Leprechaun Film Series

Leprechauns from Irish folklore and mythology are lots of things—but cute, they are not. That’s why, for all of its faults, I have to say: the Leprechaun horror-comedy film series, which kicked off in 1993, offers one of the more accurate portrayals of a leprechaun in the modern era.

For starters, dude is sufficiently wrinkled and decrepit looking. And his obsessions with shoes and treasure-hoarding are front and center in the plot, keeping in line with traditional depictions.

Speaking of, the idea that a leprechaun would kill to protect and/or retrieve his treasure is not that far-fetched. As W. Y. Evans-Wentz wrote in his 1911 book, The Fairy-Faith in Celtic Countries: 

“The leprechaun indicates the place where hidden treasure is to be found. If the person to whom he reveals such a secret makes it known to a second person, the first person dies, or else no money is found: in some cases the money is changed into ivy leaves or into furze blossoms.”

Yeah, leprechauns could get dark.

I also get the sense that the film’s writer was familiar with Alfred Perceval Graves’ The Irish Fairy Book, in which the leprechaun is described as carrying a sporan na sgillinge, or “purse of the (inexhaustible) shilling,” something that is loosely alluded to in the film.

And then there’s this notion that leprechauns can only be restrained by certain objects. In Graves’ book, a “plough chain or woollen thread” can do the job; you can tie him up with those. In the movie, a four-leaf clover is needed, which, I mean, sure.

But to clarify, leprechauns, as portrayed in Irish myth and folklore, aren’t purely evil.

They’re…complicated. Flawed, yes. Self-interested, to be sure. In other words, they’re quite human in nature. And that perhaps is one of the reasons people have grown so fond of leprechauns.

I’ll leave you now with this passage from D. R. McAnally, Jr.’s 1888 book Irish Wonders, in which he describes the nature of the leprechaun:

“Midway between the good and evil beings of all mythologies there is often one whose qualities are mixed; not wholly good nor entirely evil, but balanced between the two, sometimes doing a generous action, then descending to a petty meanness, but never rising to nobility of character nor sinking to the depths of depravity; good from whim, and mischievous from caprice.

“Such a being is the Leprechawn of Ireland, a relic of the pagan mythology of that country.”

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