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often result in you accidentally wishing yourself away from the leprechaun and his pot of gold.

Rarely does someone succeed in getting a leprechaun to reveal his treasure. One story tells of a farmer who was not fooled by the leprechaun and was taken to his pot of gold which was buried under a bush. He had nothing to dig with so he took his red sock, tied it around to the bush and went home for a shovel. When he returned there was a red sock tied to every bush in the field and the farmer never found the pot of gold.

Leprechauns are often confused with their cousins Claricauns. Except for the rosy color of a claricaun's nose, they are almost identical in appearance. Claricauns hate to work and are never seen in an apron. Most often they are in the cellar of the house drinking wine and ale down to the very last drop. Or, they may be seen late at night riding sheep, goats or dogs through the fields. They are very mischievous creatures who like playing tricks on humans. Often you will hear an old woman blame the leprechauns for missing keys or some other valuable that had disappeared. Leprechauns hate this association and claim they have nothing to do with the claricauns and deny any kinship. Some believe that claricauns are just leprechauns on a drunken spree who deny everything once morning breaks.

Whether or not leprechauns actually exist is not a point up for debate. There is a magic in storytelling and Ireland is a place full of lore and legend. In that sense, Leprechauns will live on forever.

Learn more about this author, Amanda Giannaros.
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