Mermaid at Termonfechin, Louth (1824)

Termonfeckin beach. CC image by Oliver Dixon.

The following article has appeared in the Drogheda Journal:--

"The declaration of GEORGE HOEY, parish clerk of Termonfechin, in the county of Louth, and of OWEN MAGUIRE and PATRICK TAAFFE of said parish, farmers, states that on Wednesday last, the 18th instant, as they were on the sea-shore, on the lands of MEAGH's farm, in the said parish, about half-past three o'clock in the afternoon, the tide being nearly in, they saw a Mermaid (as they believe from having seen it described in books), of the full human size, swimming in the sea and directing its course towards the river Boyne - that it was only about fifteen perches from them, and that they and several other persons saw it quite plain, and that they could not be mistaken - that its body was remarkably white, with long arms, which it frequently used to drive away the sea-gulls which were hovering over it - that its hair was very dark, and that its tail, which it frequently showed when plunging, was of a dark colour, and shaped like the tail of a fish. The body of the animal, which from the waist upwards was completely of the human form and size, was generally about three feet above the water. They state that they saw it for more than a quarter of an hour, and when they were leaving the place, it was still above the surface of the water.
"GEORGE HOEY.
"OWEN MAGUIRE.
"PAT. TAAFFE."

From the Morning Post, August 31st, 1824.

 

We (Drogheda Journal) questioned the above-mentioned persons on Saturday, relative to the extraordinary appearance of this phenomenon on our coast, and received such satisfactory answers as leaves no doubt on our mind of its identity - Editor.

(reprinted in British Press, 31st August 1824).