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In Irish legends, there is a character known as Lugh Lamfada. The story is that Ireland was inhabited by monsters, then a group of people collectively known as "Tuatha De Danann" came and dispatched the monsters. One of the main heroes of the story, Lugh, used a spear and a sling with great skill in battle and became a leader. According to some versions of the legend, he had a son, named Lugh Chorpan (roughly translated as "little Lugh") who was able to wield magic in order to trick his enemies. Lugh Chorpan became Lu-chorpan, which eventually became Leprechuan, and the description as a small magical man came to be taken literally. There likely was no Lugh, and no Lugh Junior, but it is plausible that these might have been real people who existed prior to written history and their exploits may have been exaggerated over a series of retellings, so in that case, the leprechuan is ultimately based on a human being.
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