Speaker 1: The Enagnatic Leprechaun, a figure of Irish folklore cloaked in the mystique of ages past. Draped in crimson or emerald, his cocked hat tilts with playful defiance. He is the sentinal of the hidden horde, a keeper of gold who wields mischief and cleverness as his shield. From the honeyed whispers of lionsters' forests to the untamed revelries of monsters' hills, these elusive tricksters have danced on the edge of chaos and wonder, their roots stretching back to the ancient echoes of the old Irish leucropan. What secrets do they guard and what riddles do they leave for those daring enough to seek their truth? Things are about to get strange. 

Speaker 2: Did you quit yawning? 

Speaker 2: Never. Hello all you ghouls and goblins, welcome to Conspiracy Weird where we talk about conspiracy theories and all things weird. I am your host, Molly, and with me is my husband, Joshua. Yo. How you doin'? Good. How are you? Sleepy. 

Speaker 1: As usual. 

Speaker 2: As usual. What are you munching on or drinkin' today? 

Speaker 1: Um, I don't know, my usual goobers and soda. 

Speaker 2: I am doing some string cheese from the gas station and an energy drink. 

Speaker 1: Very good. And you're still yawning. 

Speaker 2: Mind you business. Mind you business. I would like to talk real quick about our Patreon. Go join it. 

Speaker 1: If you want to support us, we would highly appreciate it. Even for as low as $5 a month, it will help keep the lights on and the podcast going. 

Speaker 2: And if you want more episodes. Yes. And we're going to be doing book clubs and I'm maybe doing some terror readings for y'all. Conversations. Like when we do our episodes that are more violent, I guess. More graphic. More graphic, I guess. The more graphic photos are going to be up on Patreon because you know. 

Speaker 1: We got to give it PG for the public. Behind closed doors we can show the rage at our stuff. Yes. 

Speaker 2: So I would like to do my book club. So please go join because I like books. 

Speaker 1: And she likes people regardless of what she says. People at least that are interested in the same things as us. So please join. So my wife has some friends. Yes, see. See my friends. Be weird like us. 

Speaker 2: Join us on Patreon. We may be doing. Oh, plus weird after dark. Weird after dark are many episodes. Yep. So join now. Be my friend. 

Speaker 1: So you join Patreon. We'll send you a free sticker. Yes. Or two. 

Speaker 2: So let's get into this. What are we talking about today? 

Speaker 1: Well, we're talking about leprechaun. But I do have to say we had a very sad excuse for an Irish festival by us. It was not. They weren't even playing Irish music. 

Speaker 2: I mean, how bad is that? It was in our downtown area. We got invited from one of our friends. We show up. We invited other people. They did show up and they're like, this is whack. We're going to leave. We're like, okay. 

And our friend that invited us didn't even show up. Looking at you, Pete. Pete. He was like an hour late, Pete. 

And they weren't even playing Irish music. We got like one lemonade because we were going to wait for him. If he was going to sell up and get a drink, possibly maybe. I don't know. We're not big drinkers and he didn't show up. He didn't even show up. So we went and got ramen. 

Speaker 1: Yes. But the festival itself was just lame. We should have gone through that a little longer. But anyway, we're going to be talking about leprechauns today on the subject of St. Patrick's Day. 

Speaker 2: Well, not St. Patrick's Day. 

Speaker 1: Just leprechaun. Just leprechaun in general. 

Speaker 2: But you know, I just stepped up as a leprechaun for Halloween linear. 

Speaker 1: And I have yet to see the photo. I need to find it. We will release it on Patreon if you want to. If I find it. If she finds it, it'll be on Patreon. 

Speaker 2: I don't want anybody seeing that photo. 

Speaker 2: But if you who join Patreon are the privileged few that get to see it, I haven't even seen it yet. 

Speaker 2: He hasn't. I have to go home and to my mom's house and find it. 

Speaker 1: That would be funny. I've never been a leprechaun for Halloween. I can tell you that. Well, you're not Irish. No. I am. I think you probably, I don't know. What? I was always a ninja. Typically. But I was a ninja turtle or a ninja or Batman. Yeah. Anyway, leprechaun. So, what is a leprechaun? Me? No, it's not. You're not a little man. 

Speaker 2: What? It's a subunit of supernatural being in Irish folklore. It's a, it's classified by some as a type of solitary fairy 

Speaker 1: by writer and amateur folk lorist William Butler. It is stressed that the leprechaun, though some may call it a fairy, is to be distinguished from the AOC, often spelled as A's to he, or simply referred to as the good people, a fairy, mounds and rats. 

Leprechauns are known to be solitary, but they also like to participate in pranks. They are usually depicted as little bearded men who are very mischievous. You got the mischievous, Parpe, but you're not a little bearded man. 

Speaker 2: But I am little and I'm mischievous. You're a little mischievous, yeah. They are typically wearing a coat and a hat. They have been depicted as being shoemakers who have a hidden pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. The Anglo-Irish word leprechaun is descended from old Irish lucrepawn from various forms such as lucrepawn or luprachaun. 

Speaker 1: Even though there are many regional variants, the current spelling used throughout Ireland is leprechaun, L-E-P-R-E-C-H-A-U-N. John O'Donovan, an Irish language 

Speaker 2: scholar, defines luprechaun as a sprite, a pygmy, a fairy of a diminutive size who always carries a purse containing a shilling. 

Speaker 1: The first instance of the word in the English language was in writer Thomas Decker's comedy, The Honest Horror, Part 2. 

Speaker 2: Well, how many honest whores are there? I said, there's a part 2. 

Speaker 1: A lot? I guess. Damn. It says, as for your Irish luprechaun, and actually as I'm reading this, all the spelling are different, so bear with me. But that spirit, whom by preposterous charms, by lust half raised, in a wrong circle, according to Yeats, the great wealth of these fairies comes from the treasure cross, buried of old in wartime, which they uncovered and appropriated. 

According to you, David Russell McNally, the leprechaun is the son of a degenerate fairy and an evil spirit, and is not wholly good, nor wholly evil. Sounds like me. That's about right. 

Speaker 2: The leprechaun originally had a different appearance depending on where in Ireland he was found. Before the 20th century, it was general knowledge that leprechauns were red, not green. Samuel Lover, I assume it's Lover, wrote in 1831 describing leprechauns as quite a bow in his dress, notwithstanding, for he wears a red square cut coat, richly laced with gold and inexpressibles of the same cocked hat, shoes, and buckles. According to Yeats, trooping fairies were green in the solitary fairies like leprechauns wore red jackets. The leprechauns jacket had seven rows of buttons with seven buttons in each row. He goes on to say that on the western coast, the red coat is covered by a freeze one. Freeze one. In an Ulster, the creature wears a cocked hat. 

Speaker 1: Just real quick. The freeze one is basically like a woolen extra layer of clothing. 

Speaker 2: When he is up to anything unusually mischievous, he leaps onto a wall and spins, balancing himself on the point of the hat with his heels in the air. 

Speaker 1: Sorry, he couldn't be a leprechaun. You don't have that much balance. 

Speaker 2: Just because it's true doesn't mean you need to put me on blast like that. 

Speaker 2: That's why I ordered two pairs of glasses yesterday, not one. They were on sale. According to McNally, the universal leprechaun is described as 

Speaker 2: he is about three feet high and is dressed in a little red jacket or roundabout with red breeches buckled at the knee, gray or black stockings and a hat cocked in the style of a century ago over a little old withered face. Round his neck is an Elizabethan ruff. Elizabethan. 

Whatever. And frills of lace are at his wrist. On the Wild West Coast, where the Atlantic winds bring almost constant rains, he dispenses with rough and frills and wears a freeze overcoat over his pretty red suit so that unless on the lookout for the cocked hat, he may pass a leprechaun on the road and never know it's himself that's in it at all. 

Speaker 1: The leprechaun's outfit could vary by region. In McNally's account, there were differences between the leprechauns and, oh boy, sorry for butchering it, logariamans? A type of leprechaun from Irish folklore who wears a red military coat, white breeches and a tall pointed hat from different regions. The northern leprechaun, or logariaman, wore these broad-brimmed high pointed hats on which he would sometimes stand upside down. 

Speaker 2: I only have one hand. I can't stand up on my hands like that. 

Speaker 1: The lugerre-gadon. I should have flipped up how to say it. The lugerre-gadon. 

Speaker 2: No, lugerre-gadon of super-arys wore an antique-flashed jacket of red with peaks all round and a jockey cap, also sporting a sword, which he uses as a magical wand. 

Speaker 1: The lugerre-gadon of Cary was a fat, Percy little fellow whose jolly round face rivals the redness the cutaway jacket he wears that always has seven buttons in each row. The lugerre-gadon of Monaghan wore a swallow-tailed evening coat of reddit with green vest, white breeches, black stocking, shiny shoes, and a long cone hat with a brim. 

Sometimes he uses weapons. The image of the leprechaun sitting on a toadstool having a red beard and a green hat is obviously a more modern invention and possibly borrowed from other European folklore. The most likely explanation of the modern-day leprechaun wearing green is that green is a traditional national Irish color dating back as far as 1642. 

Speaker 2: Best color ever. My favorite color. Green. 

Speaker 1: They're five claims of leprechaun. They usually don't mix with each other. What you need to look for is which part of the island you are on. The Leinster leprechaun, the one closest to what we think of when we talk about leprechaun, they are less extroverted and don't dress that flamboyantly. They really like honey. You hear that leprechaun? You like honey? 

I don't really like honey, but I like honey. The Ulster leprechaun, the shortest one, but don't bring it up. They usually wear pointed hats and built up heels to give them more height. They claim to be the best hurlers. I think that's me. The Mieze leprechaun, their selling point is diplomacy, which is a good trait. 

They tend to use 100 words to explain something when it could only require 10. No, that one's you. Make sure you have nowhere to go if you run into them. 

Speaker 2: You go into depth when explaining things, babe. 

Speaker 1: The Kamas leprechaun, they are industrious at both work and study. They take everything very seriously. They think that they are the best inventors and philosophers out of all the different clans. They are very reclusive, so you are less likely to see them. 

The Monster leprechaun, this is the wild partier of the crew. They are drinking habits that are made of legend. When they drink, they are horrible. When they are sober, they are super sweet. 

Speaker 2: A leprechaun's playful demeanor can mask deeper, more sinister intentants. This can lead to curses and misfortunes for those who try to outsmart them. The leprechaun's curse often manifests in different ways. It serves as a warning against greed and disrespect towards the supernatural. People who try to steal a leprechaun's treasure might find themselves plagued by misfortune or bad luck. That sucks. This illustrates the consequences of crossing the boundaries set by mythical beings. 

Speaker 1: You should be stealing all the people's things. 

Speaker 2: People stole my stuff out of my car at your mom's house. That was weird. 

Speaker 1: And you never tapped the curse on them. Not yet. 

Speaker 2: Psychologically, the curse can reflect the fears and anxieties of both communities and individuals. It serves as a metaphor for the consequences of greed and the importance of respecting the unknown. Common themes associated with the curse include isolation. Curses often lead to a sense of alienation from family, friends, and your community. 

Greed, the desire for wealth can lead one to fall. Deception, those who deceive the leprechaun can face horrible repercussions. Folklore is rich with stories involving curses and leprechauns. 

Often, they highlight moral lessons that resonate through generations. One tale involves a greedy man who captures a leprechaun. He hoped to capture the leprechaun's treasure. 

The man's relentless chase leads to a series of bad events culminating in his isolation and despair. These stories are moral lessons. These lessons include the importance of humility and caution when dealing with unknown forces, the understanding that not all treasures are worth pursuing, respect for the supernatural and consequences of greed. All wonderful moral lessons to learn, in my opinion. So let's get into a fun story of leprechauns found in Alabama. Mobile. 

Speaker 1: Alabama. 

Speaker 2: Why are we going to say it like that, though? There was a leprechaun that had been spotted in a tree in... Correcton. ...which is a neighboring town to Mobile and was caught on video. The community is divided by Spring Hill Avenue into North and South. Correcton. 

Yeah. They are bounded generally by Mobile Street, Daphine Street, and Interstate 65. The leprechaun was apparently seen in a tree on the Crenn Street near Bayshore Avenue. Local NBC affiliate WPMI TV was told about crowds gathering in... Correcton. 

...on March 14, 2006. Reporter Brian Johnson was sent to investigate. He had previously received numerous calls about possible leprechaun sightings and questions about it from friends from church and the barbershop. Anchor Scott Walker. What? 

Speaker 1: The barbershop's always a good source of information. 

Speaker 2: It really is. That's where you get all your information. 

Speaker 1: All the gossip. 

Speaker 2: All the gossip. You think beauty parlors and nail salons are bad? Go to a barbershop. Anchor Scott Walker later recalled that when the crew arrived, things sort of snowballed. Multiple people claimed to see a leprechaun in a tree. Makes me think of the adage. 

Speaker 1: If you see a turtle on a fence, you know, you didn't get there alone. 

Speaker 2: Nope. Resident Nina Thomas Brown submitted a crudely drawn sketch of the apparent leprechaun. A woman interviewed about the leprechaun stated that instead of it being a leprechaun, it could be a crackhead. 

Speaker 1: This is the U.S. of course it could be a crackhead. 

Speaker 2: It's very welcome to be a crackhead. 

Speaker 1: I mean, it could be anywhere. I wouldn't be surprised if this was Florida. 

Speaker 2: Hashtag Florida man. Here's one spass salt. 

Speaker 2: Florida man. On meth. Found in trees. Right. 

Speaker 1: Self-proclaimed Irish person DeMarco Morris that another person who was interviewed claimed that he had a special leprechaun flute that he claimed was thousands of years old. 

Speaker 2: Okay. Okay. He had become known as the Flute Man due to his appearance. 

Speaker 1: The reporter Brian stated, I actually saw what was sketched on paper. Some people say it is a shadow from some of the branches being too close in that there is moss on the tree that could explain it. 

Certainly I don't believe it's a leprechaun. The piece was aired twice. It aired once on the Nightly Newscast and again on WPMI's Morning Newscast. That version was the broadcast that went viral. 

Speaker 2: On March 17th, 2006, the video was posted on YouTube and went viral getting millions of views. The report received attention from Howard Stern, The New York Times and MSNBC. Political commentary Bill O'Reilly debated whether or not the video perpetrated racial stereotypes. Tosh 2.0 featured the clip in a web investigation segment in 2011. The Bob and Dan show on KTCK1310, the ticket, conducted a field investigation in 2014. They interviewed locals about the memories of the incident. Numerous witnesses identified the leprechaun as a local resident named Midget Saund. Midget Saund. As someone who is short in stature. 

Speaker 1: I mean, that's in the name. 

Speaker 2: Midget Sean.  The interviewers met the man. 

Speaker 2: He recounted the story as a prank played on the local community. He dressed in a leprechaun suit and climbed into the tree while his friends alerted others about a leprechaun sighting. Who is it? 

Speaker 1: It's him with his WPMI. Are you Midget Saund? Oh yeah. 

Speaker 2: Yeah, that's me. 

Speaker 2: Did you climb in a tree? 

Speaker 1: Yeah, that was a prank. It was a prank. I dressed up as a leprechaun and climbed the tree. 

Speaker 2: My friends helped me get up. That was too short. Can we please... 

Speaker 1: Midget Saund. We only got pictures of him. We can't find the pictures. See if we can find pictures of Midget Saund. 

Speaker 2: If you're listening to this, please email us. She got photos. You're gonna see it. Message of death on social media. 

Speaker 2: It is now time for... 

Speaker 1: What's that? Fun fact! We should get like a sound for that. You said. I was just thinking that. Oh, but then we have like not so fun facts. Doo doo doo doo. 

Speaker 2: Wah! 

Speaker 1: But these are fun facts. Every May 13th is... 

Speaker 2: Leprechaun Day! Leprechaun-like creatures rarely appear in Irish mythology. They only become prominent in later folklore. Yep. 

Speaker 1: Leprechauns are in the media in many different ways. One of the most notable ones is Lucky! The mascot of Lucky Charm. I love Lucky Charm. Did you know that was his name? Yeah. I didn't. But, go figure. 

Speaker 2: I love Lucky Charm! I don't even... The Notre Dame Leprechaun is the official mascot of the fighting Irish for Notre Dame. My brother played football for them. 

Speaker 1: Kate Jordan. That's right. Was that what's called? 

Speaker 2: Step back? Long snapper. 

Speaker 1: Long snapper. Swimmers. They step back in the type of clothing. 

Speaker 2: It's not a hat. 

Speaker 1: I don't know. Anyway, the Boston Celtics logo features the mascot of the team, Lucky and Leprechaun. In 2023, the National Leprechaun Museum in Dublin raised the Crickton Leprechaun News Report as one of the most significant pieces of documentary film over the last 20 years. Yep. 

They announced that they would certify the Crickton sighting as a genuine Leprechaun sighting. Yes, we need to go to that museum. So please subscribe to our Patreon so we can afford this trip. WPMI TV auctioned off the Leprechaun sketch for $1,100 on eBay, with the proceeds benefiting the American Cancer Society's Relay for Light. How nice. It's after the Leprechaun movies. Which are not genuine sighting. 

Speaker 2: Obviously. No shit sher lock. 

Speaker 1: Were they at least accurate to the folklore? 

Speaker 2: I don't know. I have a box now. I don't know. Do you believe in Leprechauns, babe? 

Speaker 1: I'm gonna say no. You're married? Come on. But if I see a pot of gold, I'm not gonna start stealing it. I'll tell you that. 

Speaker 2: No. 

Speaker 1: I'll take a picture of it. I'll probably start believing if I see a pot of gold and then I'll be like, well, I'm at a good time. I don't know if I should take the gold or not. 

Speaker 2: I'll be like, can I just get a handful, bro? Like at the Leprechaun. 

Speaker 1: I'll try to summon the Leprechaun and try to make a deal with it. Like, hey, buddy, I believe in you. Can you believe in me? Help me? Can we split this? 

Speaker 2: I'll be like, my grandpa was born in Ireland. I can get dual citizenship. Can I please have some so I can get to dual citizenship? Please. 

Speaker 1: I'm broke. What would you do if you ever saw one? Try to hug it. 

Speaker 2: If you think I'm joking, I would legit try to hug it. You would be running up to it and be like, hey, hey, hey. Are you a Leprechaun? I love Leprechaun. You want to be my best friend? You want to fix my life? 

Speaker 2: I love you. What would you do? 

Speaker 1: I don't know. 

Speaker 2: Can my wife meet you? I know someone that wants to meet you. She loves you. 

Speaker 2: She's a big fan of your work. She's a big fan of your work. She's a big fan. Well, that is our episode today, guys. Leprechauns. Leprechauns. And Happy St. Patrick's Day. Happy St. Patrick's Day. Please stay safe. Don't drink and drive. 

Speaker 1: Happy Leprechaun Day when it comes up in May. Yes. It's currently March, so we're amongst the Irish St. Patrick's Day festivals. And we'll have a good timing on this episode. Yes, I did good. You did great. Thank you. And I thank you all for listening. We love you guys. 

Speaker 2: Stay weird, y'all. Yeah. 

Speaker 2: Yeah. Like me, your leader. Really? Leader of Leprechauns. Leader of Leprechauns. Oh my God, I'm so tired. 

Speaker 1: We want to thank you for tuning in. You can find us on all your favorite social platforms by searching ConspiriWeird. Placing photos and details from each episode. Please consider keeping our tummies full by donating to the snack fund. Donations will be given a shout out on the podcast. Special thanks to Audionautics.com for the theme music. And remember, questions, everything.