THE Ennistymon Púca may have been hitting the headlines all over the world, but Clarecastle & Ballyea Heritage & Wildlife Group believes it has fished out a magical tale to rival that. The local group has been compiling information about the once famous Mermaid of Newhall Lake, with the aim of bringing the mystical figure back into the public consciousness. As part of this members have gathered stories from various sources over centuries about the mermaid and made them available on the group’s website. There has also been a watercolour painting of the mermaid completed, and local composer Seán Lyons has recorded a song inspired by the legend. Eric Shaw of Clarecastle & Ballyea Heritage & Wildlife Group said, “Reading through the Clare section of the 1937 Schools’ Project now held in Dúchas, there are 92 stories of mermaids and 26 of these relate to our Mermaid of Newhall. “In the 1930s, most school children in Clare knew of the …
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