Old Irish Legends

 

 

 

Old Irish Legends

 

The Legend of the Leprechaun
 

If you should be walking along a wooded path some moonlit night in Spring and hear the faint tap-tapping of a tiny hammer, you might be lucky enough to catch a glimpse of an Irish leprechaun, the elfin shoemaker, whose roguish tricks are the delight of Irish story-telling.

According to legend, the leprechaun has a pot of gold hidden somewhere, and he must give up his treasure to the one who catches him.  You'll have to step lively and think quickly to capture a leprechaun's gold though, because this sly little fellow will fool you into looking away for an instant while he escapes into the forest.

A story is told of the man who compelled a leprechaun to take him to the very bush where the gold was buried.  The man tied a red handkerchief to the bush in order to recognize the spot again and ran home for a spade.  He was gone only three minutes, but when he returned to dig, there was a red handkerchief on every bush in the field.

As long as there are Irishmen to believe in the "little folk," there will be leprechauns to reflect the wonderful Irish sense of fun, and many a new story of leprechaun shenanigans will be added to Irish folklore every year.

From the book:  Irish Blessings
 
 

The Legend of the Blarney Stone
 

For many centuries, as everyone knows, English monarchs tried to impose their will on Ireland.  Queen Elizabeth I, eager to extend the influence of her government, sent a deputy to Cormac MacDermot MacCarthy, who was Lord of Blarney, and demanded that he take the tenure of his lands from the Crown.  Cormac set out to visit the Queen and plead for his traditional right to his land, but he despaired of success for he was not fluent of speech.

Shortly after starting his journey, he met an old woman who asked him why he looked so forlorn.  He told her his story and she said, "Cormac,  when Blarney Castle was built, one stone was put into place by a man who predicted no one would ever be able to touch it again.  If you can kiss that stone, the gift of eloquence will be conferred upon you."

Cormac succeeded in kissing the stone and was able to address the Queen with speech so soft and words so fair that as long as he lived he never had to renounce his right to his land.