Updated: 10/04/04
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Reader Contributions Sightings
Map
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In Pursuit
of the Peiste |
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A Modern Mystery
"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." Written by William Bulter Yeats in The Celtic Twilight, such words would seem to ring just as true today as when they were written. 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 of the area suggesting such incidences are by no means a recent phenomena. 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 legendary 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. Few may realize how extensive the theme of lough monsters is across the Emerald Island. References can be traced back to the sagas of Finn and later amongst the chronicles of the early saints. These beasts of literary legends may have enjoyed some fanciful embellisments but to the peasent population there was little if any question as to their existence. Across the bog lands of Connemara the horse-eel 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. Yet 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. Despite the numerious scientific inqueries that were made into Loch Ness, the 20th century passed with only three considerably brief "expeditions", all by a foreign organizations, into Irish lakes reputed to harbor unknown creatures. This website
is part of an ongoing laymen effort to actively explore the
prospect of unidentified animals 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 Gary Cunningham of Newry and Nick Sucik, who presently resides
in the Navajo Nation located in northern Arizona.
Comments? Questions?
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