Creature record / 2003
Omey Island, Connemara. Spring 2003. About 3 a.m. Sean Corcoran and his wife were camping beside Fahy Lough when a strange yelping cry came from the dunes. They went to look with a torch. Two to three yards away stood an animal larger than a Labrador. Dark all over. Orange-red, flipper-like feet. It crossed the lake in what seemed a matter of seconds. It leapt onto a huge boulder and reared up on its hind legs, about 5 ft tall. Then came the most haunting screech. Then it was gone into the darkness. For Ireland's old legend of the dobhar-chú, the mysterious master otter, it was a modern chapter.
The dobhar-chú belongs to Irish folklore. As early as 1684, Roderick O'Flaherty's A Description of West Connacht described a "water-dog". The best known story comes from Glenade Lough in County Leitrim. In 1722, Grace Connolly was said to have been killed by the creature. Her headstone at Conwall cemetery carries a carving of it.