DLTK's Holiday Activities for Kids:  An Irish Fairy Tale
Molly Murphy and the Scorched Leprechaun

There was once a farmer named John Joe Murphy who lived with his wife on a hill. They lived within ten miles walking distance from the nearest town of Thurles in the County of Tipperary; also, they had a daughter named Molly.

Now, Molly Murphy – or as the kids in school called her, ‘Molly-Coddle’ – was a grumpy little girl. Not only was she hotheaded and fussy, she also had a short attention span and no patience at all. The more the kids in school teased her, the crankier Molly got. And the crankier Molly got, the more the kids in school teased her.

Whenever Molly was in a terrible mood (which was almost always), she would stomp over the hundreds of mushrooms that lay along the sides of her pathway on her way home.

One day, Molly had the most terrible day at school. As she walked home, she traipsed and stomped and plodded the ground beneath her. Along with her stomps and thumps came the destruction of the hundreds of pretty mushroom caps.

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