The Mermaid of Sligo

County Sligo

West of the bay of Sligo, lyes Tireragh. This is where once a chieftain fell in love with a mermaid. The mermaid was sitting on a rock combing her long and beautiful golden hair, when the chieftain first set his eyes on her. Every day thereafter, the chieftain would venture down to the shore to find her ~ and his love grew for her.

One day the chieftain noticed that the mermaid was asleep below her magic mantle. The chieftain knew that if he removed the magic mantle, the mermaid would lose her "fish body" and turn into a woman. With a measure of efficiency, he crept up to where the mermaid was resting, removed the mantle, and concealed it in amongst some rocks.

Without any such warning, the mermaid awoke to find no fish tail of her own, and a chieftain in close vicinity. She instantly fell in love with him. The chieftain somewhat surprised was not going to waste his opportunity, so he carried her away from the rocky seashore to be his loving bride.

They led a merry life and had no fewer than seven children. However, the chieftain knew he had to keep the mantle away from his wife's eyes, otherwise seeing the mantle would lure her back to the sea.

One fine day, when the youngest boy was in the region of four years of age, the chieftain foolishly decided to move the mantle to what he thought would be a more secret and secure hiding place. All the time the youngster's eyes were besotted by the mantle. The mantle seemed to be showing the youngster every shade and colour of the sea.

Excited by what he had witnessed, the boy rushed to inform his mother. For once though she did not share her son's sentiments, hence she did not laugh in her usual form.

She asked her son to take her to the place where he had seen the mantle. The moment she viewed the mantle, she had a longing sense to be back in the sea. So she quickly took her seven children in hand down to the shore, and touched each and everyone of them with the magic mantle. Shockingly, as soon as they were touched they turned into stone figurines. The mermaid did however turn back into her natural form as a mermaid, then she disappeared into the ocean, never to be seen again.