Fairy Myth: The Clurichaun

                                                        ~~~~~The Clurichaun~~~~~~



The Clurichaun closely related to the Leprechaun  they along with the other wee folk have inhabited Ireland even  before the Celts arrived – around 500 BC.

Other sources suggest that the word Leprechaun may have derived from the Irish versions of “leath mhrogan [shoemaker], still others would say its origins lie in the Irish word luacharma’n [pygmy or pixy].

There are many derivative names for the  Leprechaun  [Irish word leipreachán] – and a definition of this by Patrick Dinneen, for example, is that the Leprechaun is a “pygmy, a pixi, or sprite” and would suggest that the word Leprechaun is a corruption of middle Irish, and attests to the early influences of ecclesiastical Latin. Other sources would suggest that the earliest recorded instance of the word ‘Leaprachaun’ in the English language was in 1604, in  the comedy play ‘The Honest Whore‘ [Part 2] had a scene in it which reads: As for your Irish lubrican that spirit/ whom by preposterous charm thy lust hath rais'd/ in a wrong circle."

Lubrican and Logherymans  are other derivatives of Leprechaun. David Russell McAnally would suggest that the leprechaun is the son of an (evil spirit )and a  (degenerate fairy)  and is not  entirely  good nor completely evil.


The Clurichaun: (Klooreekahn) is said to be a wine loving House Faery.

He looks very similar to the leprechaun and is usually  solitary like him.

 He wears a red hat often made of a plants. He is a cheerful fellow, but short tempered and often
 very drunk.

He usually chooses a home with a wine cellar or a large basement with a reasonable amount of booze in it. He loves wine and will guard it from thieves. He keeps the wine from spoiling and can help it achieve a better taste.


But  if he feels offended by someone or something the Clurichaun will cause your wine to spoil and he will make a mess of your wine cellar or basement. If he feels disrespected enough  he will leave your home  never return and no other will be lured to your home afterwards .


Clurichaun are said to be always drunk, and are very surly. Many tales suggest that they go out at night wreaking havoc on the farmer and on the whole countryside, by tormenting the sheep and the dogs, riding them bareback and causing mayhem.

If clurichaun are mistreated in any way — they will wreak havoc on your home and wine-cellar. Born hypocrites, they are said to steal everything in sight, but if they see a dishonest servant or a human drunkard, they will torment them for there wicked ways.

=================================================================



 Scholars of folklore, however, disagree as to whether or not the Clurichaun is a distinct species, or a faerie, or if it is in fact  just a VERY drunk Leprechaun .

In the county of Cork, for example, the Clurichaun would appear to have haunted the cellar of a Quaker man  named Mr. Harris. Apparently, the cook would leave a meal for the Clurichaun, and, for this service, the Clurichaun would manage the cellar.

On one particular night , after an exhausting day, the cook only left a small amount of meat and some potatoes. So enraged was the Clurichaun that he marched upstairs and took the bewildered cook out of her bed, dragging her downstairs and beat her. Mr. Harris was so enraged about this that he was determined that he would rid the household of the Clurichaun once and for all.

Having been told that if he moved beyond a running stream, the household would be rid of the Clurichaun, Mr. Harris attempted to do just that by moving all the household furniture and cellar barrels and wines. However, the wily Clurichaun, knowing what was happening, wedged himself into one of the beer barrels and, as Mr. Harris began to move with his wagon-load of goods, he heard a noise. The wily Clurichaun called out, “Here we go, Master! Here we go all together!  “What,” shouted Mr. Harris; “dost thou go also?” – “Yes to be sure, master. Here we go, alt together.” “In that case,” replied Mr. Harris, “let the carts be unloaded, we are just as well where we are.” Mr. Harris died soon afterwards. It is said, however, that the Clurichand still haunts the Harris family.
=================================================================


In 1963 – John A. Costello, taoiseach from 1948 to 1951 and from 1954 to 1957, addressed Oireachtas [Ireland’s national Parliament] by delivering a scathing attack on all of the myths regarding Ireland’s tourist industry. “For many years, we have been afflicted with the miserable trivialities of our tourist advertising. Sometimes, it  has descended to the lowest depths, to the caubeen and the shillelagh, not to speak of the leprechaun and the clurichaun. … No more.”



---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The 19th century folklorist Nicholas O’Kearney,  in 1855 describes the Clurichaun as “… another being of the same class: He is jolly, red-faced, a drunken little fellow, and was ever found in the cellars of the debauchee, Bacchus-like [Bacchus is a comics character created by Eddie Campbell and based upon the Roman god of wine] astride of the wine butt, with a brimful tankard of wine in his hand, drinking and singing away merrily. Any wine-cellar known to be haunted by this sprite was doomed to bring its owner to speedy ruin.”