Black Islands, Lough Ree
The Black Islands are a group of seven small islands on the Longford side of Lough Ree. Only one of the islands is now inhabited. In the past, a number of families lived on the islands but life was quite tough. This photograph, taken in 1940, shows cows being taken from one island to another, where there was fresh grass.
Black Islands, Lough Ree
Black Islands, Lough Ree
The Black Islands are a group of seven small islands on the Longford side of Lough Ree. Only one of the islands is now inhabited. In the past, a number of families lived on the islands but life was quite tough. This photograph, taken in 1940, shows cows being taken from one island to another, where there was fresh grass.
Lough Ree
Would you believe that one of the lakes on the Shannon is home to a monster? Whether you believe it or not, over the years some people have claimed that they have seen a strange creature on Lough Ree. Could this creature be Ireland's very own version of the Loch Ness monster?
On 18 May 1960, a warm summer's evening, Father Quigly, Father Murray and Father Burke were fishing off Holly Point. One of them noticed an unusual object in the lake about 100 metres away and drew the others' attention to it.
Here is how one of the priests described what he saw in a newspaper interview the following day:
'It was moving. It went down under the water and came up again in the form of a loop. The length from the end of the coil to the head was 6 feet. There was about 18 inches of head and neck over the water. The head and neck were narrow in comparison to the thickness of a good-sized salmon.'
Island Dwellers, Black Islands, Lough Ree
This photo from the 1940s depicts members of the Hanley and O'Hara families who lived on one of the Black Islands. The man third from the left is a writer called Richard Hayward. He wrote a book called Where the River Shannon Flows about a trip on the Shannon.
Island Dwellers, Black Islands, Lough Ree
Island Dwellers, Black Islands, Lough Ree
This photo from the 1940s depicts members of the Hanley and O'Hara families who lived on one of the Black Islands. The man third from the left is a writer called Richard Hayward. He wrote a book called Where the River Shannon Flows about a trip on the Shannon.
The story caught the imagination of the local people and even reached the international press. Other people came forward with stories of sightings of a creature in the lake. However, after some investigation, no evidence of a lake monster was found. What do you think? Do you believe in lake monsters?