The Last Leprechauns of Ireland
About
This one needs stating plainly, because visitors either love it or feel ambushed by it. Kevin Woods, who trades as Ireland's last leprechaun whisperer, runs a folklore attraction on Ghan Road on the lower slopes of Slieve Foye: an underground cavern you go into with a guide, a folklore park with sculptures of characters from local story, and roughly an hour of spoken storytelling that runs longer if the group joins in. It grew out of a genuine piece of Carlingford strangeness, a long-running local campaign around the leprechauns of the Cooley mountains that ended in a designated protected area on the mountain, and it is the reason a leprechaun hunt has run in the village. It is a performance and a piece of storytelling, not a museum, and it is best approached as such. Opening times vary; check before travelling.
Photos
Highlights
- ✓A guided underground cavern tour with the self-styled leprechaun whisperer
- ✓A folklore park with sculptures of characters from Cooley story, including the Brown Bull
- ✓Around an hour of storytelling rather than an exhibition
- ✓Rooted in a real local campaign about the leprechauns of the Cooley mountains
Tips
- →Opening times vary and were not published as a fixed schedule at the time of writing; ring before travelling.
- →It is up the Ghan Road on the lower slopes of the mountain, not in the village centre.
- →Go in expecting a storyteller's performance. If that is not your thing, skip it rather than being disappointed.
Best Season
More Attraction Activities
King John's Castle (Carlingford Castle)
The Norman castle above the harbour, begun around 1190 and named for King John's 1210 visit, reopened for guided tours in season after a long Office of Public Works conservation programme.
Carlingford Heritage Centre
A heritage centre in the restored medieval Holy Trinity church, and the organisation behind Carlingford's guided town and castle tours.
Taaffe's Castle
An early 16th-century fortified merchant's townhouse on the seaward side of the village, probably built as a trading depot. A National Monument, viewed from the street.