Hi campers and families, Ellen here from the Loz!

This summer I have been telling you all about the leprechaun and fairy but for those campers and families who have missed part of the story/need to refresh themselves, I will be writing posts here to keep you updated.

Before we get started there are a few things you need to know about leprechauns!

Leprechaun Facts:

1. Leprechauns love to hang out at the end of rainbows. They usually try and sit on a nice tree stump with their pot of gold.
2. A rainbow appears after it rains and the sun comes out and it disappears once the gold has been taken off the leprechaun.
3. Leprechauns vary in size, ranging from 3 inches to 8 inches, depending on their age.
4. A leprechaun’s pot of gold is approximately half the height of the leprechaun and is made from delicate glass.
5. Irish leprechauns only speak Gaeilge (Irish). When you meet one, it will say ‘Dia duit’ [dee-ah gwitch] and you must respond with ‘Dia is Muire duit’ [dee-ah iss murah gwitch].
6. Once you’ve responded with the correct response, you have three seconds to take the pot of gold before the leprechaun and the rainbow disappear, otherwise it is gone forever.
7. A leprechaun must remain untouched, otherwise they disappear.
8. Rumor has it that the leprechauns live in a beehive hut in Tipperary. These huts are 1.5 meters (about 5 feet) high and have a narrow slit at the entrance. It cannot be proven that the leprechauns live there as if you touch a leprechaun, it disappears.
9. Leprechaun gold has magical powers. If you make a wish on leprechaun gold, you will receive good luck!
10. If you touch leprechaun gold, it will lose its magic and turn black immediately.

How I met the Leprechaun…

Just before Christmas, I was driving down the countryside with my Mam. It started to bucket down rain so we decided to pull the car over. Eventually, the rain stopped and, just as we were about to drive off, a beautiful rainbow appeared in the sky very close to where we were parked. I was so excited because I knew that when there is a rainbow, a leprechaun and a pot of gold appear at the end. We got there as fast as we could and parked near the rainbow. My Mam is really afraid of leprechauns but I managed to persuade her to come over with me. The two of us tip-toed over to the tree stump that was just beside the end of the rainbow. Sitting on top of the tree stump was … the leprechaun, AND his pot of gold! I was soooo excited to finally see a real leprechaun! I walked over to him and he said ‘Dia duit!’. I was so happy I knew how to respond to him, by saying ‘Dia is Muire duit’. His eyes immediately shot open wide as he didn’t expect me to be able to respond! He then opened his arms and showed me the pot of gold. My friend found a leprechaun before so I knew from her that I had just three seconds to get the pot of gold before it disappeared with the leprechaun and the rainbow. I reached in quickly and grabbed it nicely from him. At the same time, I asked my Mam to take a picture of the leprechaun with her camera so that I would always have a picture to remember him by. As you can see, he looks a little bit creepy!

Not all leprechauns look the same but they all have orange hair and a big beard! We ran back to the car as I was so excited to look at my gold. It was so shiny and sparkly. When I was planning my trip over to camp I told Miss Katie about my encounter with a leprechaun and she asked me to bring my gold over with me. I was afraid the lovely glass pot would break in my luggage so I scooped some of the gold out to put in a new container. Suddenly, the gold that I touched started to turn black!

My friend forgot to tell me that you absolutely cannot touch leprechaun gold as a human touch drains the magical powers from it and turns the gold black! Unfortunately, the gold that I touched is still black, but thankfully I had gold that I hadn’t touched and so could just pour into the container. This gold is now the gold that I can wish on to give me good luck! Another thing to look out for amongst the gold is the purple shell!!! All leprechauns love to play tricks and so they try to confuse people by putting a purple shell in with all the gold! If you wish on the purple shell, it will give you bad luck! Our very own counselor Aoife who works in the barn once wished on the purple shell and now she has a leprechaun stamp on her neck! Those trickster leprechauns!

Try and find some rainbows so you can have the chance to meet a leprechaun and get some gold!

Fairy time…

As well as leprechauns, we also have fairies who live in Ireland. These live in beehive huts just like leprechauns, except these huts are only 2 feet tall and there are always three or five of them together as these are magical numbers in Ireland. The fairies spend most of their time living in these huts, but also spend time living in Fairy Valley where they learn how to be the best fairy possible. Fairy Valley is run by Queen Kate and she trains and looks after all of the fairies until they are ready for their new home. When a fairy is ready for her new home, she has to listen really carefully for a fairy wish. This is done by humans who want a fairy to live near them. To make a fairy wish, you must cross your fingers on both hands, cross your legs and say ‘I wish a fairy lived here’ three times. The wish doesn’t always work and sometimes might need to be repeated. We made lots of fairy wishes in the Loz so we are really hoping that a fairy will move in soon! To tell if an Irish fairy has moved in, you have to look for the green fairy door with a shamrock. Along with the door you will find some stepping stones that your fairy uses to get into her house, a glass container with a tiny key, and a letter from your fairy explaining the fairy rules. Hopefully we will have our very own fairy soon!

Sióg is here!

The fairy has arrived! On Tuesday morning, I was walking to the Loz and I noticed that the main doors were open. This was very odd as I always close and lock the doors at night time. When I walked into the Loz, I was amazed to find a green fairy door, stepping stones, glass bottle, key and letter all down the very bottom of one of the walls. I couldn’t wait to show the campers during the day!

We read the letter from the fairy and it was a “Fairy/Family Lease Agreement”. It outlines the expectations and rules that both the humans and the fairy must follow to live happily together. We read through them and all agreed to the rules. Our fairy didn’t realise how many of us are now part of her family and so we couldn’t all sign our name on the agreement.

Instead, we signed our name on a big sheet of paper and left it beside the door over the weekend so that she could see it. The letter she wrote us said that once we have all signed the agreement, she will come back into the Loz, get the key out of its container and move all of her stuff into her new home. Hopefully when we come to camp next week she will have moved in and is ready to start writing us some letters. We also found out our fairy’s name – Sióg. It’s an Irish name and is pronounced [she-oe-g]. We are SO excited for our fairy to move in! Some of us even made some artwork to give to the fairy to make her feel at home!

Check back in next week to hear more updates on the fairy!