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The mysterious Dobhar-chú
 The mysterious Dobhar-chú: Ireland's answer to the Loch Ness monster The mysterious Dobhar-chú is one of Ireland's most fearsome cryptozoological beasts. The name translates as "Water-hound", an epiphet which falls short of befitting the evil nature of this fast-moving, flesh-eating amphibious monster also known as the Irish crocodile. Those fortunate enough to have seen it and escaped with their lives consistently describe it as white or grey with black ear tips, a dark stripe down its back and another stripe across its shoulders that form a black cross on its long and muscular body. It is said to resemble a giant otter or "half wolfdog and half fish" approximately seven feet long, able to move with great speed on land or in water. It is extremely aggressive. This creature is distinct from the more familiar selkie or the strange species of water-horses. The general consensus among researchers is that it could be a giant labyrinthodont amphibian, a mutant throwback from the prehistoric era - even though there is no fossil or other physical evidence that such a creature ever existed or presently exists in Ireland. While it has been almost as commonly sighted as its Scottish counterpart, Nessie, throughout the loughs of Ireland, the most concrete evidence we have of the Dobhar-chú is the gravestone of Grainne Ni Conalai in Glenade, County Leitrim, which bears a likeness of the creature stuck through with a spear. When she went to the lough to wash clothes and didn't return, her husband went after her and found her mangled corpse - with the Dobharchú asleep on top. Her husband slew the animal but as it died, it gave out a whistle and summoned its mate, which, after a perilous chase on horseback, was also killed. Another tale of the Dobharchú can be read in Roderick O'Flaherty's "A Description of West Connaught" from the year 1684 and the Lough Mask area. "...the man was passing the shore just by the waterside, and spied far off the head of a beast swimming, which he took to be an otter, and took no more notice of it; but the beast it seems lifted up his head, to discern whereabouts the man was; then diving swam under the water till he struck the ground; whereupon he run out of the water suddenly and took the man by the elbow whereby the man stooped down, and the beast fastened his teeth in his pate and dragged him into the water; where the man took hold of a stone by chance in his way, and calling to mind that he had a knife in his jacket, took it out and gave a thrust of it to the beast, which thereupon got away from him into the lake. The water about him was all bloody, whether from the beast's blood or his own, or from both, he knows not. ..Old men acquainted with the lake do tell there is such a beast in it..." According to folklore, the pelt of a Dobharchú has powerful protective properties against any kind of injury or attack. Those who believe it to be the King Otter hold that the Dobharchú is born as the seventh cub of an ordinary otter. Often it can be seen, in true kingly fashion, escorted by a fleet of regular otters. References: Echoes of a Savage Land - Joe McGowan www.americanmonsters.com Dobharchú illustration by Simon Winheld |
Hearthstone
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RECENT HIGHLIGHTS FROM BARDIC COLLEGE
From the Hall of the Red Poet Sir Kay: The Good, The Bad and the Ugly What's New at Ciclipéid Éire na gCeilteach Lugh's Arrival at Tara: A Futuristic Fable The Tradition of Hospitality A Brief History of Hurling CASTELL HENLLYS Caer Doward (Caer Guorthegirn) The Ceili: A New Musical Tradition The mysterious Dobhar-chú A Tour of Celtia's Cean Mor Districts Unique elements of Celtic tales Origins of Celtic Knotwork Traditional Samhain Yde Girl The Many Faces of Fionn Mac Cumhaill Bealtaine in Ancient Ireland An Introduction to the Red Branch (Ulster Cycle) Pronunciation Guide - Red Branch people & places The lore of the hazelnut Leannán Sidhe - The Irish Succubus Faoladh (Werewolf) Bio Welcome scroll Hogmanay 2011/12 First Foot Greeting Dún Ailinne |
