Leprechaun Hunt!

This week, I got a recommendation that I should take the family up to Carlingford (map). Last night, I checked out their visitor's bureau online and I saw that they were having a Leprechaun Hunt . . . today! Hell Yeah!

The last time that there was a Leprechaun Hunt in Carlingford was about 20 years ago shortly after P.J. O'Hare (a local pub owner) found leprechaun clothes, some small bones, and some coins - which are the only leprechaun artifacts deemed "authentic." The tickets were 5 Euro each and the proceeds went to a local Children's Hospital and a local Hospice care. We were happy that the money was going to a good cause.

The hunt started out with some good craic (craic is Irish for fun - pronounced "crack") as we followed a bagpipe band out of town. However, the bagpipers weren't paid to make the trek all the way to the hunting grounds. There was a grueling uphill climb to get there and we almost didn't make it. When we started out, we were right behind the bagpipers. By the time we got to the hunting grounds, we had been passed by scores of leprechaun hunters. I think that the leprechauns' plans were to tire us out before we even could start looking for them. They're plan worked.

We only found one leprechaun, but we brought him with us (picture below). We didn't find any of the hidden leprechauns that were worth cash money. However, it was still a fun day (with more than the expected share of exercise) and we did get to keep our souvenir leprechaun hunting licenses.