DUBHTOWN: THERE'S A MUSEUM FOR THAT

Mercedes has been keeping an eye out for leprechauns since she got off the plane in Dublin. When she heard that there was a museum of the leprechaun she just had to visit it. In all my years of visiting Dublin I have managed to avoid this "museum". But the "little people" worked their magic and Uncle Máirtín broke down and gave in.
Iontas na n-iontas, I really liked it. It was really a small museum of rural folklife and storytelling. The guide brought us through dark passageways into various lit areas where he told stories about the Little People and how they have captured the imagination of a very superstitious people. He began with the modern idea of leprechauns that was almost exclusively an invention of Walt Disney and Darby O'Gill (A touch o'Blarney ... A heap o'Magic ... A LOAD O'LAUGHTER). But he quickly moved into mythology and legend with stories of the Tuatha Dé Danann and the Fianna. There were very few props but everyone was spellbound by his way of telling the stories and the history. It was a great reminder that singing and dancing are not our only national arts.