The Tale of Lí Ban, the mermaid of Lough Neagh
Mermaids seem to be more popular now that ever before so here is an Irish legend that is not
often told. I preface it with a quotation from an Oscar Wilde story unrelated but in similar vein.
"Her hair was a wet fleece of gold, and each separate hair as a thread of fine gold in a cup of glass. Her body was as white ivory, and her tail was of silver and pearl. Silver and pearl was her tail, and the green weeds of the sea coiled round it; and like sea-shells were her ears, and her lips were like sea-coral. The cold waves dashed over her cold breasts, and the salt glistened upon her eyelids."
detail from a mosaic wall at University of Limerick by
artist Desmond Kinney. Fabricated by Kinney Design.
It is said that Lough Neagh came into being on account of the giant Fionn mac Cumhaill.
He was in a mighty rage, tore up a huge chunk of earth and hurled it at his enemy, another giant, over in Scotland. The crater that was left filled up with water becoming Lough Neagh. Another legend mentions an underwater city deep in the lough that can be seen at certain times. This is similar to the french story of Ys which became submerged and features its own mermaid called Dahut.
Lough Neagh is renowned for eels which come there from the Sargasso sea.The landscape is beautiful and the waters are generally placid but sometimes storms can make them treacherous and many have drowned in its depths.
A young fisherman called Muirchiú was out in the middle of the lough one day hoping to catch eels. He was feeling melancholy,brooding on losing his girl to another man.
Suddenly his reverie was interrupted by a strong pull on his net. He hauled aboard a large fish he supposed, but infact it was a beautiful woman, as graceful as an eel with a silvery fishtail from the waist down. The fabulous creature could speak.
"I am Lí Ban" she announced "I am the daughter of Eochaidh mac Maireadha. I am of royal blood" and she had a haughty air as befits a royal princess.
Muirchiú desperately wanted to keep her, to never let her back into the dark depths. She read his thoughts. Lí Ban wriggled uncomfortably then settled back and said she would stay and talk while the lough remained calm. She told her strange history.
Once there was a magic well covered with a capstone to prevent it overflowing. One day by mistake the capstone was not replaced and the well overflowed, flooding all the land around, drowning the settlers, all except a young girl, Lí Ban and her dog. She found herself in front of the god Manannán who vowed to protect her. He turned her into a mermaid and her dog into an otter. She has roamed the sea and the rivers and lakes of Ireland for three hundred years.
Muirchiú yearned to kiss her but she resisted him saying "I am the daughter of a king. You are only a humble fisherman "
Yet within a short time they found themselves irresistably drawn into a passionate embrace. Muirchiú, the mortal man felt overwhelmed by the siren"s otherworldly spell.
He was held in a timeless state that he couldnt describe later when his friends found him back on dry land. They all were relieved that he had survived a terrible storm. "What storm?" asked Muirchiú. "The one that blew up suddenly out of nowhere and then just as suddenly disappeared" he was told. "A storm caused by a singing mermaid" was what local folk called it.
Muirchiú never saw Lí Ban again but he looked and listened for her often.
carving at Clonfert cathedral.15thcent
photograph by Andreas F Borchert
For a postscript I can suggest another tale, from the christian era. Lí Ban sang and swam for three hundred years more until her singing was heard by a monk called Beoán. He spoke to her and befriended her. The following year she was caught in a net by a monk named Fergus of Mulleague. An argument erupted between both monks as to should own her/convert her when an angel appeared and described two stags that would come and take the mermaid to a place ordained by God to be baptised. As with all supernatural beings in that distant world, once given christian baptism, the outcome proved fatal.
lÍ Ban promptly died.
St Brendan and the mermaid. He
founded Clonfert monastery.
In the medieval illustration above, note that the mermaid is clothed in christian modesty.
Its not decent, not for a siren.
Let me recommend a book "Legendary Ireland" by Eithne Massey, which includes many classics and this less well known story.
The quoted piece from Oscar Wilde is in "The fisherman and his soul" from "A house of pomegranates"
often told. I preface it with a quotation from an Oscar Wilde story unrelated but in similar vein.
"Her hair was a wet fleece of gold, and each separate hair as a thread of fine gold in a cup of glass. Her body was as white ivory, and her tail was of silver and pearl. Silver and pearl was her tail, and the green weeds of the sea coiled round it; and like sea-shells were her ears, and her lips were like sea-coral. The cold waves dashed over her cold breasts, and the salt glistened upon her eyelids."
artist Desmond Kinney. Fabricated by Kinney Design.
It is said that Lough Neagh came into being on account of the giant Fionn mac Cumhaill.
He was in a mighty rage, tore up a huge chunk of earth and hurled it at his enemy, another giant, over in Scotland. The crater that was left filled up with water becoming Lough Neagh. Another legend mentions an underwater city deep in the lough that can be seen at certain times. This is similar to the french story of Ys which became submerged and features its own mermaid called Dahut.
Lough Neagh is renowned for eels which come there from the Sargasso sea.The landscape is beautiful and the waters are generally placid but sometimes storms can make them treacherous and many have drowned in its depths.
A young fisherman called Muirchiú was out in the middle of the lough one day hoping to catch eels. He was feeling melancholy,brooding on losing his girl to another man.
Suddenly his reverie was interrupted by a strong pull on his net. He hauled aboard a large fish he supposed, but infact it was a beautiful woman, as graceful as an eel with a silvery fishtail from the waist down. The fabulous creature could speak.
"I am Lí Ban" she announced "I am the daughter of Eochaidh mac Maireadha. I am of royal blood" and she had a haughty air as befits a royal princess.
Muirchiú desperately wanted to keep her, to never let her back into the dark depths. She read his thoughts. Lí Ban wriggled uncomfortably then settled back and said she would stay and talk while the lough remained calm. She told her strange history.
Once there was a magic well covered with a capstone to prevent it overflowing. One day by mistake the capstone was not replaced and the well overflowed, flooding all the land around, drowning the settlers, all except a young girl, Lí Ban and her dog. She found herself in front of the god Manannán who vowed to protect her. He turned her into a mermaid and her dog into an otter. She has roamed the sea and the rivers and lakes of Ireland for three hundred years.
Muirchiú yearned to kiss her but she resisted him saying "I am the daughter of a king. You are only a humble fisherman "
Yet within a short time they found themselves irresistably drawn into a passionate embrace. Muirchiú, the mortal man felt overwhelmed by the siren"s otherworldly spell.
He was held in a timeless state that he couldnt describe later when his friends found him back on dry land. They all were relieved that he had survived a terrible storm. "What storm?" asked Muirchiú. "The one that blew up suddenly out of nowhere and then just as suddenly disappeared" he was told. "A storm caused by a singing mermaid" was what local folk called it.
Muirchiú never saw Lí Ban again but he looked and listened for her often.
photograph by Andreas F Borchert
For a postscript I can suggest another tale, from the christian era. Lí Ban sang and swam for three hundred years more until her singing was heard by a monk called Beoán. He spoke to her and befriended her. The following year she was caught in a net by a monk named Fergus of Mulleague. An argument erupted between both monks as to should own her/convert her when an angel appeared and described two stags that would come and take the mermaid to a place ordained by God to be baptised. As with all supernatural beings in that distant world, once given christian baptism, the outcome proved fatal.
lÍ Ban promptly died.
founded Clonfert monastery.
In the medieval illustration above, note that the mermaid is clothed in christian modesty.
Its not decent, not for a siren.
Let me recommend a book "Legendary Ireland" by Eithne Massey, which includes many classics and this less well known story.
The quoted piece from Oscar Wilde is in "The fisherman and his soul" from "A house of pomegranates"
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