Leprechauns!

[Masty]

If I ever found one of those wee-cunts roaming 'round my back garden, I would kick him 6 feet in the air.

[brigadier Biggles]

http://www.moonbattery.com/archives/leprechaun.jpg
http://www.scaryhorrormovies.com/leprechaun.jpg

this is actually masty btw after a night out :D :p.

[Masty]

http://www.scaryhorrormovies.com/leprechaun.jpg

this is actually masty btw after a night out :D :p.
All i can say to that is be thankful you've never met me then......

[Geist]

http://www.speakeasy.invisionzone.com/uploads/post-214-1163633286.jpg

[VAMPIR]

If I ever found one of those wee-cunts roaming 'round my back garden, I would kick him 6 feet in the air.
Every day I'm with Leprechauns. In my city we have Irish pub ''4 Leprechauns''.

[Ahknaton]

Rumour has it that Leprechauns are actually elves who escaped from Santa's North Pole sweatshops and fled south to Ireland.

[Geist]

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0b/Leprechaun_ill_artlibre_jnl.png

As the story here goes these lads were around before the modern Irish, and tended to live in forts of some sort. They often worked as cobblers, and shoemakers. The old gold thing comes from the myth that they used to hide all their cash during war :rofl:

From wiki:

By nature, leprechauns are said to be ill-natured and mischievous, with a mind for cunning. Many tales present the leprechaun as outwitting a human...

:viking:

[Jonathan]

This is another place where Irish traditions and Irish-Americans traditions seem to be at odds. When I was young there was very little talk of leprechauns, ever. I was told that their pot of gold was at the end of the rainbow, but that was it. The idea of meeting a leprechaun never came up. That exact opposite is true of the Sí (some of you may have heard of the Banshee - which comes from Bean Sí litterally meaning Woman Sí). They were the degenerate descendants of the Tuatha De Danann who had been defeated by the Clanna Mileadh (us - the Irish) in ancient times, but they still lived in the Ringforts (which just look like over-grown circular bushes in the middle of empty fields). You weren’t allowed to go near the Ringforts because they had pishogue (píseóg – magic curse) on them*. There was a story around here that an old farmer had cut down the bushes around a Ringfort one time and woke up the next morning bald (the Sí must have got him)! Also, if you were having bad dreams it was supposedly because the Sí were messing with your head. The cure was to thread a needle into your pyjamas when you went to sleep because the Sí were afraid of metal (the use of Iron was what gave the Clanna Mileadh the advantage over the Tuatha De Dananns in the first place). There are a few other stories around too.

*The real reason is probably because stillborn babies were often buried in them back in the old days (stillborns, because they’d never been baptised, weren’t allowed to be buried in proper Graveyards and could go to heaven, to stop them from going to Limbo, they could be given up to the Sí).

[Geist]

The Bean Sí is a far more common Irish story than the leprachaun. Its funny that even in a housing estate in Dublin the field beside us [in the middle of an industrial estate] was known as the banshee field! I think Americans associate Ireland with leprachauns because of Lucky Charms, and I mean that dead seriously.

[John Abney-Hastings]

Leprechaun literally means shoe maker. One of my ancestors used to run a shoe shop in Cashel (Galway, not Tipperary).

I have heard of a weapon called the Si-le-lagh. Possibly a quarterstaff used by monks.

[Jonathan]

The Bean Sí is a far more common Irish story than the leprachaun. Its funny that even in a housing estate in Dublin the field beside us [in the middle of an industrial estate] was known as the banshee field! I think Americans associate Ireland with leprachauns because of Lucky Charms, and I mean that dead seriously.
Yeah, I posted before (about 2 years ago or sometime) that most of the ideas about Irish identity have come from places outside of Ireland. The whole idea of the Irish being surly, fechless, drunkards (which we in Ireland have adopted en masse as our identity) was largely projected onto us by the British to justify their regime. After the British, the Irish-Americans have contributed the next most to our identity - all this leprechaun business for example, on top of that you've got all the stuff about "the land of One Hundred Thousand Welcomes", small, white-wash, thatched cottages, tennant-farmers, the famine, etc etc. We've taken all of that on board too.

These descriptions tend to miss some of the most salient elements to Irish life like fanatical loyalty to the GAA or Begrudgery or things like that, which are far more prominent in the day-to-day lives of Irish people but which don't recieve as much attention because the British and the Irish-Americans didn't notice them as much.

[Geist]

Leprechaun literally means shoe maker. One of my ancestors used to run a shoe shop in Cashel (Galway, not Tipperary).

I have heard of a weapon called the Si-le-lagh. Possibly a quarterstaff used by monks.

From wiki:

One of the most widely accepted theories is that the name comes from the Irish Gaelic word leipreachán, defined by Dinneen as "a pigmy, a sprite, a leprechaun; for luchorpán"; the latter word Dinneen defines as "a pigmy, a leprechaun; 'a kind of aqueous sprite'";[2] this word has also been identified as meaning "half-bodied", or "small-bodied". This is the etymology given in the Collins English Dictionary.

[Jonathan]

Leprechaun literally means shoe maker.
That's contested.

One of my ancestors used to run a shoe shop in Cashel (Galway, not Tipperary).
Congratulations. Statistically, Shoemakers had the second highest literacy rates (after Weavers) among the peasant class in the early modern period.

I have heard of a weapon called the Si-le-lagh. Possibly a quarterstaff used by monks.
From a related post on Shillelaghs.

The word Shillelagh comes from an small town in County Wicklow (east Ireland) which was famous for its Black Thorn "Walking Sticks". You see, in the 19th century, only those above the rank of Esquire could legally carry weapons, and for this reason the Irish reverted to using Black Thorn sticks rather than any other weapons.

These "Shillelaghs" became famous in the 19th century because of the growing phenomenon of "Faction Fights" (In 1836 alone, over 100 faction fights were reported in a single county -- Tipperary). Now there were three main types of faction fights...

http://www.thephora.net/forum/showpost.php?p=159475&postcount=85

To the English the Shillelagh was the sign of Irish violence. To the Irish the Shillelagh was the sign of an Irish gentleman (much like the English Esquire's right to carry a sword).

[VAMPIR]

The Bean Sí is a far more common Irish story than the leprachaun. Its funny that even in a housing estate in Dublin the field beside us [in the middle of an industrial estate] was known as the banshee field! I think Americans associate Ireland with leprachauns because of Lucky Charms, and I mean that dead seriously.
The Bean Sí is great story. I've heard of that thanks to one of my favourite bands ''Orthodox Celts'' from Belgrade. Band play Irish music, and play it so good. This is the band:

http://www.gitara.co.yu/data8/int-9c.jpg
ORTHODOX CELTS "Green roses"

http://www.wydawnictwo21.com/obrazy/europa_wsch/orthodox-green.gif
Yugoslavia 1999
Metropolis, MCD 026
Total time: 53 mins / 16 tracks

Celtic folk and folkrock in traditional arrangements.

[Geist]

I heard of ORTHODOX CELTS via Irish-nationalism.net. I could not believe such a band existed, but they seem to have taken to Ireland quite a bit to say the least!

[sugartits]

ARE leprechauns MIDGETS!?!

I could fit two of them in my backpack.

[VAMPIR]

I heard of ORTHODOX CELTS via Irish-nationalism.net. I could not believe such a band existed, but they seem to have taken to Ireland quite a bit to say the least!
Have you heard any song?

[shanemac]

This is another place where Irish traditions and Irish-Americans traditions seem to be at odds. When I was young there was very little talk of leprechauns, ever. I was told that their pot of gold was at the end of the rainbow, but that was it. The idea of meeting a leprechaun never came up. That exact opposite is true of the Sí (some of you may have heard of the Banshee - which comes from Bean Sí litterally meaning Woman Sí).

Did you keep a watch for the dead man's wind
Did you see the woman with the comb in her hand
Wailing away on the wall on the strand
As you danced to the Turkish song of the damned?

- Shanemac (the other one). :)

[Masty]

The Bean Sí is a far more common Irish story than the leprachaun. Its funny that even in a housing estate in Dublin the field beside us [in the middle of an industrial estate] was known as the banshee field!

In my youth in East Antrim theres a road that linked-up to a couple of estates. The catch being, the road cut through a few farmers fields. Its a country lane in-other-words. Always dark, no lamposts, lots of trees lining a winding lane. It was called "McClearies Lonen" for some unknown reason. It was rumoured Banshee's were there. I'll openly confess i never walked that stretch of road at night, but that may be pure co-incidence. :)

[Ahmadinebobina]

Have you heard any song?

Geist, you heard of them through me there. I LOVE them :D The lead singer is great, i truly want him to immigrate here. forever.

[Australian Power]

Irish Culture

http://i15.tinypic.com/2q8rbj4.jpg

Eat Me.

[Keystone]

I think Americans associate Ireland with leprachauns because of Lucky Charms, and I mean that dead seriously.
No, we don't.

I usually associate Ireland with the annoying, tooting music played ad nauseum at St. Patricks Day.

[Thomas777]

I associate Ireland with Mayor Daley, north side tough guys with bad tats, pale skinned, hard faced broads from Bridgeport, and U2 coverbands I am forced to suffer through on St. Paddy's day.

Oh yeah, they also dye the Chicago river green on St.Paddy's Day...except it just looks like toxic waste or some sort of radioactive agent...however, the drunk-ass Irish all seem to love it.

[Jonathan]

I associate Ireland with Mayor Daley.
Oh, that^'s one other thing, the Democrats. Most Irish-Americans are associated with the Democrats. In Ireland, that wouldn't happen, we'd be closer to the Republicans.

[Thomas777]

Oh, that^'s one other thing, the Democrats. Most Irish-Americans are associated with the Democrats. In Ireland, that wouldn't happen, we'd be closer to the Republicans.

Daley isn't a real Democrat...in terms of the national party platform.

Chicago Irish and Boston Irish are very Conservative people, but they take the side of labor over capital any day of the week.

Other than his wishy-washy stance on immigration and his gun control position (weapons banned within the city limits), Daley is a good mayor. He keeps the streets clean and safe.

[Geist]

In my youth in East Antrim theres a road that linked-up to a couple of estates. The catch being, the road cut through a few farmers fields. Its a country lane in-other-words. Always dark, no lamposts, lots of trees lining a winding lane. It was called "McClearies Lonen" for some unknown reason. It was rumoured Banshee's were there. I'll openly confess i never walked that stretch of road at night, but that may be pure co-incidence. :)

Odd that the banshee thing spread everywhere. Anyway it works cos you can interpet any slight screaming or noise as a banshee scream as a kid :rofl:

[Geist]

No, we don't.

I usually associate Ireland with the annoying, tooting music played ad nauseum at St. Patricks Day.

Thats another thing. Americans take paddys day far more serious than we do.

[Geist]

Geist, you heard of them through me there. I LOVE them :D The lead singer is great, i truly want him to immigrate here. forever.

True this. Funny lads alright. They need to move here on some EU plumber job shit, and we can hide them in our attics.

[VAMPIR]

Geist, you heard of them through me there. I LOVE them :D The lead singer is great, i truly want him to immigrate here. forever.
Aca Celtic
http://arhiva.glas-javnosti.co.yu/arhiva/2000/10/04/_slike/Seltik.jpg

[Geist]

Aca Celtic
http://arhiva.glas-javnosti.co.yu/arhiva/2000/10/04/_slike/Seltik.jpg

Legend.

:dance2: :dance2:

[Ahmadinebobina]

He has the best sideburns of all time. Love him.