The Monstrefact: The Clurichaun

In this episode of STBYM’s The Monstrefact, Robert discusses the Irish cellar dweller known as the Clurichaun…

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of iHeartRadio. Hi,
my name is Robert Lamb and this is the Monster Fact,
a short form series from Stuff to Blow Your Mind,
focusing in on mythical creatures, ideas and monsters in time.

(00:23):
Irish folklore and mythology is a rich well of wonder,
from the ancient wars of the Duapha Dadanan to the
blood cirdling Banshee and the cunning LEPrecon. But today I'd
like to talk about the Cluricon. The Cluricon has a
bit in common with its more well known kin. Both

(00:44):
it and the LEPrecon are a diminutive fairy folk with
a love of strong drink, magical powers, and a malicious
streak you want no part of. In some traditions, they
are both also tied to shoemaking and hidden treasure. Carol
Rose points out in Spirits, Fairies, Leprecons and Goblins, the

(01:04):
Cludcon looks like a little old man in a red
pointed cap, a red coat with silver buckles, blue stockings,
and buckled shoes. But accounts of this magical creature tend
to have more in common with traditions of the cellar
demon entities in medieval English monastic folklore who would guard
the provisions and wines in the cellars of wealthy houses

(01:26):
and monastic orders. So likewise, Rose explains that the Cludcon
makes its home in Irish wine cellars, tending to the
casts and making sure there are no leaks. Now, this
alone sounds like a pretty good deal, right, But the
added wrinkle is that the Cludcon staggers about in an
apparent drunken stupor all the time, frightening any household servants

(01:51):
who come near the wine casks at all in order
to prevent anyone from stealing the precious stuff. So at
the very least, the creature is over zeus and disruptive
in its protection of a household's libations. And sometimes it's
even worse. In the folk tale The Haunted Cellar, recorded
in eighteen twenty five by Irish author Thomas Crofton Croker,

(02:15):
the McCarthy household has a legendary wine cellar. It's stocked
with an enviable selection of fine wines and Irish whiskies,
if only anyone could fetch them. The vaults beneath the
mansion are old, dating back to a time when there
were places of refuge carved from the stone beneath an
ancient castle that once stood on these very grounds. A

(02:38):
cluracon haunts these depths, and while it respects the master
of the house and permits him to fetch wine and
whiskey on his own, all others are greeted with haunting effects,
such as trembling bottles and the sensation of things crawling
in the dark. In various other accounts as well, the
master of a curacon wine cellar cannot simply move away either.

(03:03):
For starters, moving the wines and whiskies might be difficult
if you had to do it yourself, and you don't
want to leave all of that stuff. And secondly, the
cluricon might just come with you, just as the one
in the Haunted cellar threatens to do. In other tales,
a household moves only to discover that the troublesome clucon
has stowed away in one of the wine casts they

(03:24):
took with them. Now, I want to point out that
to this day, the LEPrecon film franchise has eight movies
in it. Isn't it time that the Cluricon had to
go at it? Both legitimate Irish horror cinema and animated
Irish fantasy have risen strongly in recent years, and I
can imagine a dark or light hearted treatment of the

(03:45):
myth going over quite well. I'll leave you with this.
If you happen to visit any great Irish houses anytime soon,
maybe don't be too insistent on helping the host fetch
that next bottle unless you want to have a run
in with a clue racon to yourself. Tune in for
additional episodes of The Monster Fact each week. As always,

(04:08):
you can email us at contact at stuff to Blow
your Mind dot com. Stuff to Blow Your Mind is
a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from my Heart Radio,
visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen

(04:29):
to your favorite shows.