When you leprechaun trap kit through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. An unidentified man in a St. Patrick’s Day parade waving at the crowd wearing a green leprechaun hat and laughing March 17, 2012, Cork, Ireland. While leprechauns are mythical beings, a rare type of insulin resistance, sometimes called leprechaunism, is very real.

Sometimes they wear a pointed cap or hat and may be smoking a pipe. In their book “The Element Encyclopedia of Magical Creatures,” John and Caitlin Matthews trace leprechaun legends back to eighth-century legends of water spirits called “luchorpán,” meaning small body. These sprites eventually merged with a mischievous household fairy said to haunt cellars and drink heavily. Other researchers say that the word leprechaun may be derived from the Irish leath bhrogan, meaning shoemaker. Indeed, though leprechauns are often associated with riches and gold, in folklore their main vocation is anything but glamorous: they are humble cobblers, or shoemakers.

Shoemaking is apparently a lucrative business in the fairy world, since each leprechaun is said to have his own pot of gold, which can often be found at the end of a rainbow. Leprechauns are usually said to be able to grant the person three wishes. But dealing with leprechauns can be a tricky proposition. In her encyclopedia “Spirits, Fairies, Leprechauns, and Goblins,” folklorist Carol Rose offers a typical tale of leprechaun trickery “concerning a man who managed to get a leprechaun to show him the bush in the field where his treasure was located. In the magical world, most spirits, fairies and other creatures have a distinctive sound that is associated with them. Some entities — such as the Irish fairy banshee and the Hispanic spirit La Llorona — are said to emit a mournful wail signifying their presence. In his collection of Irish fairy and folk tales, W.