Google Maps has replaced the yellow person icon in Google Street View with a Leprechaun to celebrate the St. Patrick’s Day.
In Irish mythology, a leprechaun (Irish: leipreachán) is a type of male faerie said to inhabit the island of Ireland. They are a class of “faerie folk” associated in Irish mythology and folklore, as with all faeries, with the Tuatha Dé Danann and other quasi-historical peoples said to have inhabited Ireland before the arrival of the Celts.
Leprechauns and other creatures of Irish mythology are often associated with “faerie forts” or “faerie rings” — often the sites of ancient (Celtic or pre-Celtic) earthworks or drumlins. Although the Leprechaun has a significant body of literature reaching back into the 19th century and perhaps beyond via oral history there is no direct reference to the Leprechaun in what are known as “ancient Irish tales”. One reference from the life of St. Brendan of Clonfert does mention an island of little people however, they do not have the cultural traits of the Leprechaun. [Wikipedia]
Google, Google Maps, Google Street View, Maps, Navigation, Leprechauns, Irish
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