The Lough Ree Monster
Three priests fishing on an Irish lake one May evening watched a dark creature with a snake-like head swim slowly past them, then dive.
What was reported
On the evening of 18 May 1960, three priests from Dublin were fishing on Lough Ree, a large lake on the River Shannon. They saw a creature in the water about 100 metres away: a flat, snake-like head on a long neck, and a dark hump behind, moving steadily before sinking out of sight.
They reported it to the Inland Fisheries Trust, and the sighting made news. Lough Ree has older stories of a water monster, or péist, too.
Explanations offered
Suggestions include an otter, a large eel, a swimming deer or a cormorant seen at a distance, as with many lake monster sightings. The priests' standing made the report unusually credible at the time, but nothing has been found since.
- When
- 18 May 1960
- Where
- Lough Ree, on the River Shannon, Ireland
- Witnesses
- Three priests on a fishing trip
- Status
- Unidentified
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.
More from Roscommon