School: Mairnéulaigh
- Location:
- Inishcrone, Co. Sligo
- Teacher: Ann, Bean Uí Blachnaigh
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0164, Page 309
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- Legend of O'Dowd of Inniscrone Castle and the mermaid.
One fine Summer morning the O'Dowd was walking on the shore and he saw a beautiful mermaid asleep on the rocks. She had long golden hair and a red cloak beside her. O'Dowd took the red cloak and hid it in a stack of turf at the Castle. She woke up but as she had not her mermaid claok she was a mermaid no longer but was a woman. After this O'Dowd married her and they had seven sons. The mermaid made O'Dowd promise that he would not go to sea again. He broke the promise and went to sea. When he was gone one of her sons told her that he often saw his father looking at a beautiful red cloak. She knew it was her own and asked him where it was hidden. When she got it she made up her mind to "take" to sea and become a mermaid again. She could not bring her sons with her into the sea as there were half human beings so with a wave of her red cloak she turned them into seven rocks and so then returned to the sea. These rocks are to be seen in Scurmore woods and it is believed that these rocks bleed every seven years if they are tipped with something sharp.
- Collector
- Connie Carroll
- Gender
- Female
- Address
- Frankford, Co. Sligo
