Lough Ree Monster

Lough Ree, the long lake on the River Shannon where counties Longford, Westmeath and Roscommon meet, has its own resident monster — a creature reported, in one form or another, for centuries by people living along its shores. Descriptions vary, but the most consistent picture is of a long, dark, serpent-like animal with a small head, moving slowly through the water with little more than its neck and head breaking the surface.

The most celebrated sighting came in 1960, when three Catholic priests on a fishing trip near Glasson, close to Athlone, watched what they described as a strange object moving slowly across the calm water about eighty yards away. They reported a serpent-like head tapering to a point, and estimated the creature's length at over twenty feet — an account that, coming from clergymen rather than tourists, gave the story unusual credibility at the time.

Sceptics have suggested more mundane explanations, from large eels to floating debris, and one self-styled monster-hunter has claimed the Lough Ree creature is simply an oversized lamprey. But the lake's reputation has endured regardless, and 'the monster of Lough Ree' remains one of the best-known of Ireland's freshwater cryptids.