Leprechauns

Leprechauns are IRISH wee ones and have a close counterpart in the Lapp (or Sami) stallu aned Finnish talo, a mischievous sprite that likes to pull tricks. The Icelanders believe in creatures called hildufolk or "hidden folk" which are similar to leprechauns. The hildufolk myth is believed to have come to Iceland with the Irish slaves that the Vikings brought to the island over 1,000 years ago.

The Scottish have the KELPIE; a malevolent and supernatural shape-shifting water horse that purportedly haunts the rivers and streams of Scotland. Could be the Lock Ness??

The leprechaun plays several roles in Irish folklore; he is principally a roguish trickster figure who cannot be trusted and will deceive whenever possible. In her encyclopedia "Spirits, Fairies, Leprechauns, and Goblins" folklorist Carol Rose offers a typical tale of leprechaun trickery "concerning a man who managed to get a leprechaun to show him the bush in the field where his treasure was located. Having no spade (shovel), the man marked the tree with one of his red garters, then kindly released the sprite and went for a spade. Returning almost instantly he found that every one of the numerous trees in the field sported a red garter!"

HOW TO CATCH A LEPRECHAUN

If you get lucky and manage to catch a leprechaun you need to be smarter than him or else you will be easily tricked, which can have damaging results. Never take your eye off him or he will vanish.
A captured leprechaun will grant you three wishes or a gold coin to bribe his way to freedom, but this is when things can go terribly wrong if the wrong decisions are made.
Many of an Irish man who thought he could out smart an Irish leprechaun would either go insane trying to think of what to wish for or their wishes would back fire with something bad happening.
One common story was of Seamus in County Mayo who wished to be the richest man on a tropical Island but when his wish came true he suddenly realized that there were no shops or pubs on the island to spend his money or even people to talk with. Unfortunately Seamus became bored after a few hours on the Island and had to waste his third wish to return to Ireland. This could be how the phrase “luck of the Irish” originated from.
One of the biggest tips an Irish person can give anyone is to never listen to what the Irish leprechaun says, no matter what. The leprechauns are great mind players and will say anything, confusing you into making the wrong wishes. Although he is smart he can be fooled.
Irish leprechauns are devious little creatures and will do anything to escape from man, so they should never be trusted. Some say angry leprechauns are more common than a friendly one, but this is very untrue as Irish leprechauns are very friendly but tend to dislike humans who always seem to chase them for wishes and pots of gold.
If you ever spot a leprechaun you may be better off to pass him by without taking notice, you can end up in more trouble than it’s worth if you decide to chase them, as the people of Ireland know only too well. Unfortunately, with cities in Ireland expanding, the poor wee leprechauns are being driven further underground away from man, taking their pots of gold with them.