Mystery
Animals of Ireland
In Pursuit of the Peiste and Ireland's
Other
Mysterious Creatures
"There are marten cats and
badgers and foxes in the enchanted woods but there are of a certainty,
mightier creatures, and the lake hides what neither line nor net can
take."
-William
Butler Yeats, The Celtic Twilight
Mighty creatures, the likes of which no mere line nor net can take,
have longed been reputed to inhabit lakes and rivers throughout Ireland.
Across the bog lands of Connemara horse-eels kept children and
turf cutters alike far from the shoreline in the evening. In the
mountains of Kerry wurrums were said to presided over lakes and
pools. Lakes in County Mayo were once reputed to harbor the murderous
dobhar-chu. And throughout the Shannon lurked powerful
peistes; capable of tearing nets apart and towing helpless
fishermen. Such beasts were at times revered as deities, detested as
pests; captured by accident in some instances and sought out and killed
in others. No matter what degree of familiarity farmers and fishermen
may have held of them it was never enough to warrent formal recognition
amongst the acedemic community.
From time to time newspapers report of a sighting of what was taken
to be a strange beast, usually by a visitor or tourist at particular
lake or river. A vague allusion may be made to previous stories or
traditions suggesting such incidences are by no means a recent
phenomenon. Yet in spite of their implications, such stories seldom are
followed up upon leaving the topic to settle back into the colorful
cache of the many Irish mysteries that show no sign of being solved any
time soon. But as Yeats indicated, these creatures, though mysterious
and often surrounded by fanicful folklore, would be as natural to the
various waters they lurk beneath as are the woodland animals that make
their homes in the forests
This website is part of an ongoing laymen effort to actively explore
the prospect of the continual existence of unrecognized species within
Ireland. The majority of data presented is sourced from the on-site
investigations by the late F.W. Holiday and Captain Lionel Leslie as
well as the in depth research conducted by Dublin author Peter Costello.
Also included are new findings made available through the field
investigations of the site's authors, Gary Cunningham of Newry and Nick
Sucik of Arizona.
