There is an island in the Shannon, and if a mermaid is seen sitting
on the rocks in the sunshine, the people know that a crime has been
committed somewhere near; for she never appears but to announce
ill-luck, and she has a spite against mortals, and rejoices at their
misfortunes.
One day a young fisherman was drawn by the current towards the island,
and he came on a long streak of red blood, and had to sail his boat
through it till he reached the rocks where the mermaid was seated; and
then the boat went round and round as in a whirlpool, and sank down at
last under the waves.
Still he did not lose consciousness. He looked round and saw that he
was in a beautiful country, with tall plants growing all over it; and
the mermaid came and sang sweetly to him, and offered him wine to
drink, but he would not taste it, for it was red like blood. Then he
looked down, and to his horror he saw a soldier lying on the floor
with his throat cut; and all round him was a pool of blood, and he
remembered no more till he found himself again in his boat drifting
against a hurricane, and suddenly he was dashed upon a rock, where his
friends who were in search of him found him, and carried him home.
There he heard a strange thing: a soldier, a deserter from the Athlone
Barracks, being pursued had cut his throat and flung himself over the
bridge into the river; and this was the very man the young fisher had
seen lying a corpse in the mermaid’s cave. After this he had no peace
or comfort till he went to the priest, who exorcised him and gave him
absolution; and then the wicked siren of the rocks troubled him no
more, though she still haunts the islands of the Shannon and tries to
lure victims to their death.