A HARVEST ENCOUNTER REPEATED.
The Irish Times prints the following from its correspondent at Clifden:-
The Renvyle, Connemara, merman has reappeared. Where he spent the winter no one knows, but one thing is certain and that is that he is very hungry. On Friday evening he suddenly broke the surface a few yards astern of a curragh near Fraughbaun Island, in the mouth of Ballinakill Bay, sniffed the air in a businesslike fashion, and made straight for the boat, using his favourite breast stroke.
The occupants of the curragh, Messrs. Thomas O'Toole and Michael Warde, said that when they first saw him coming towards them they thought he intended to climb aboard, and perhaps hurl them into the sea, so they picked up their oars and took flight. The merman continued to pursue them, but the curragh easily outdistanced him. Encouraged by their superior skill, the men waited until the merman was seen within a few yards of the stern, when Warde picked up a mackerel from the bottom of the boat and threw it to him. The merman snatched the fish eagerly with both hands and disappeared beneath the surface. When he reappeared a few moments later there was no trace of the mackerel. This time, however, he came up alongside the curragh, and O'Toole, fearing that he would catch the side and upset the craft, struck him with an oar, and the merman whined in pain and dived again, while the men lost no time in making for the shore.
The men's description of the monstrosity agrees with that of the two Renvyle fishermen who first encountered him near the same place last harvest. He had the same strawlike shaggy hair and beard, with very red lips and bushy eyebrows. He swam head and shoulders over the surface. He looked like a man of about 50 years of age. His skin seemed fair in front and blue on the back. The men believe that he was hungry, and having scented the fish in the curragh followed them for some.
From The Times, August 26th, 1937.
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| Renvyle, Connemara by Magnus Manske. |
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