The National Leprechaun Museum

Contributed by Eamon Darcy

On 12 July 1963, Seán Lemass, then Taoiseach, appeared on the cover of Time magazine alongside one of the most enduring images of Ireland (well, at least in American imaginations): a shifty-looking leprechaun, no doubt hiding something. Cynics amongst you would argue that the person over Lemass’s shoulder was just another member of Fianna Fáil protecting the whereabouts of their ill-gotten pot of gold and ‘lucky charms’. On closer inspection, the Leprechaun bears a striking resemblance to our favourite resident of St Luke’s. Indeed, his pot of gold has eluded the Mahon tribunal for a few years now. One could be tempted to urge Justice Mahon to grab him
and tickle him for a confession. Alas, this would inevitably fail; our guide at the National Leprechaun Museum warned us how crafty Leprechauns are, they may tell us where their gold is, but only through riddles and directions that can never be trusted.

A copy of this cover from Time hangs proudly in the foyer of the National Leprechaun Museum alongside other Leprechaun related artifacts – a mock Leprechaun uniform, a cartoon of Walt Disney in Ireland and, of course, the film poster advertising ‘Darby O’Gill and the Little People’. Our guide informed us that this museum was a ‘monument to our storytelling past’ and suggested that we too would hear a tale or two, ‘some true, some not so true’ but all a very important part of our heritage.