North coast of Ireland sea songs and folklore.

Local Sea Songs

Rathlin Island

Brian Connors

Sailing southwards from Rathlin Island
Past Fair Head and by Murlough Bay
With a north wind to drive us homeward
What care we for the wind or spray

We've been fishing since morning early
When the sun first shone on the sea
We've a fine catch of lythe and glashan
Six wee codlings for Friday's tea

Sailing southwards from Rathlin Island
Past Fair Head and by Murlough Bay
With a north wind to drive us homeward
What care we for the wind or spray

It's a life for a man of freedom
With a good boat and trusty crew
And the sea is his realm and kingdom
With the wild seals and gannets too

Sailing southwards from Rathlin Island
Past Fair Head and by Murlough Bay
With a north wind to drive us homeward
What care we for the wind or spray

We'll be home by the evening, surely
Down the coast and the ebbing tide
We'll be greeted by Henry Andy
For a pint or two down in McBrides

Red Sails in the Sunset

Jimmy Kennedy

Red sails in the sunset
Way out of the sea
Oh carry my love one
Home safely to me

She sailed at the dawning
Oh way out and blue
Red sails in the sunset
I'm counting on you

Red sails in the sunset
Way out of the sea
Oh carry my love one
Home safely to me

Sweet wind we must borrow
Make straight for the shore
We'll marry tomorrow
And you'll go sailing no more

Red sails in the sunset
Way out of the sea
Oh carry my love one
Home safely to me

Sweet wind we must borrow
Make straight for the shore
We'll marry tomorrow
And she'll go sailing no more

Red sails at the sunset
Way out of the sea
Oh carry my love one
Home safely to me
Oh carry my love one
Home safely to me

Local Myths & Folklore

For man, in the past, the sea was a mysterious place of imagination and romance, full of danger and enchantment. Maritime myths,legends, early literature and folk stories are all considered part of the heritage of the seascape and the coast of Ulster.
The dramatic north coast is particularly rich in these traditions. Sadly, however, over the last few generations much of the oral maritime culture has been lost with the demise of coastal communities in constant Interaction with the sea, and only a very small fragment of the once vast reservoir of maritime lore has survived.
The great mythological hero Fionn MacCumhaill is still a well-known figure on the north coast. Fionn was the leader of the heroes and warriors

CELTIC SEA GODS.
The power of the sea to stimulate the creative imagination has many facets; it was seen as part of an otherworld peopled by gods, monsters and manystrange creatures. For the ancient Irish, Manannán Mac Lir dominated the mythological seascape to the extent that he can be considered to be the Irish Neptune or Poseidon,and he has strong associations with the north coast.

Tradition holds that he was born on the Tunns, the prominent sand bank immediately north of
Magilligan, and that his otherworld residence was located under the waves of Lough Foyle. His name is, of course, perpetuated most famously in
the Isle of Man, but also in the isolated rock of Carrickmannon, approximately 1 km offshore to the north east of Kinbane Head. At high tide this rock is submerged, while at low tide the breaking waves accentuate its visibility. For mariners in the past Carrickmannon was considered a dangerous hazard,as it was believed
to possess powers of enchantment to lure vessels to destruction.

Stories and traditions of Manannán Mac Lir also link him with the Bann estuary, which, in early sources, was called Túag Inber. The name was
derived from a beautiful maiden named Túag with whom Manannan fell in love and determined to make his bride. Manannán dispatched his druid to Tara, where Túag lived, with the purpose of luring her to Lough Foyle. The druid used magical means to cause Túag to fall into a deep
slumber, and brought her north to the Bann estuary. He laid her sleeping body on the shore while he went off to find a boat to transport her to Manannán’s underwater abode in the sea nearby. Tragically, however, while he was gone the tide came in and drowned the sleeping girl. From this time on the Bann estuary was called Túag Inber in her memory.Furthermore, the waves which drowned her were henceforth called Tonn Tuaige (Túag's Wave). These waves, which break over the Tunns, were one of the three magical waves of Ireland, the other two being those of Tonn Rudraige (Rudraige’s Wave)(Dundrum Bay, County Down) and Tonn Chlíodhna (Cliodhna's Wave) in Glandore harbour in County Cork. Their roar was believed to portend events of great significance, like the death of a high king or some great calamity. There is a reference in the early literature to Aenach Tuaigh, a great fair or assembly, which was held periodically somewhere in the Bann estuary, and it was obviously also named after Manannán’s beloved. In ancient Ireland these large gatherings were of great importance in the political, social and economic life of the times, and games were held there, trade carried out and political questions between tribes and territories settled. It is tempting to suggest that Aenach Tuaigh may have taken place on Portstewart Strand. Possibly connected with Manannán is the 1st AD gold hoard discovered in Broighter townland, north of Limavady, in 1896. The find spot was located on reclaimed land which was formerly part of the foreshore of Lough Foyle and may have been deposited as a votive offering to the sea-god. The most exciting part of the hoard was a miniature gold sailing boat complete with mast, yard-arm, thwarts and oars. Manannán’s father, Lir, also has links with the north coast through the association of his children with the sea of Moyle. The very popular late medieval tale of The Children of Lir concerns the four offspring of Lir who were turned into swans by their wicked stepmother and compelled to spend 900 hundred years in exile in that form. The first 300 years were spent on Lough Derravaragh in
County Westmeath, the next 300 on the sea of Moyle, between Antrim and Scotland, and the last in the Atlantic off Erris, County Mayo. The Children of Lir are commemorated in Ballycastle’s
Four Swans Festival, held in May each year and now in its fifth year.

MERMAIDS
As was the case elsewhere in the maritime world, mermaids were part of the ancient Irish seascape.
One of the most famous of these was a mermaid named Libran who, according to the Annals of the Four Masters, was caught in the net of a fisherman from Bangor Monastery on the strand at Glenarm or Larne in AD 558. She was subsequently baptised by St. Comgall as Muirgen (daughter
of the sea) and after her death was venerated as a saint. In the same area the Belfast Commercial reported the stranding of a mermaid in 1814 at Portmuck in Islandmagee, where hundreds of people flocked to see her. In his excellent book, The Fishermen of Dunseverick, James McQuilken recounts the sighting of a mermaid
by the crew of one of Dunseverick’s fishing boats, while returning from their fishing grounds off Rathlin. One spring morning in the 1880s she was spotted on the rocks at Keardy’s Port. On landing the crew walked quickly to the rock, but she had disappeared. The cynical, of course, may blame the local seal population as the source of these apparitions.

Another sea mammal, the whale, was a source of wonderment. A very interesting whale stranding is recorded in the Annals of Ulster under the year AD 753,along the Mourne coast. This large creature had three gold teeth, each weighing fifty ounces, one of which was presented to the monastery of Bangor. There is an ancient tale which links the inspiration for the invention of the Irish harp to the noise made by the wind blowing through the sinews of a whale skeleton which had been stranded in the Bann estuary.

THE GREY MAN
A number of mythical stories are associated with the ‘Grey Man’, whose eponymous pathway is the only access route from the top of the cliff at Fair Head down to the shore below. Sightings of this spectre-like figure have been recorded in the area, as far away as the mouth of theBush River. He has been variously described as an evil spirit, an ancient storm god and the personification of the mists shrouding the surrounding landscape. The account relating to the Bush River was recorded in the Ulster
Journal of Archaeology in 1858, and tells of two young men who had gone out to check on some cattle before daybreak. Both witnessed a man
wearing a long grey cloak standing on one of the pillars in the middle of the river, a spectacle rendered all the more perplexing by the crashing
waves and the swell of the water. The Grey Man stood there motionless and unresponsive to the young men’s repeated attempts to converse
with him. They were eventually overcome with fear and rapidly headed for home!

TRICKS OF THE EYE.
The sea in its many moods has generated food for the creation of otherworlds beyond man’s terrestrial reality. Several instances of an optical illusion known as the Fata Morgana, caused by temperature inversion,have been recorded on the North Coast. In the early 19th century it was observed over the surface of
the sea from Bushfoot Strand,and from Rathlin Island. One lady had a tremendous shock during the height of the Napoleonic threat, when she
saw a large French fleet off Torr Head. By the time she had raised the alarm, however, it had vanished.

Again in July 1866, as reported in the Coleraine Chronicle, the fishermen of Portstewart witnessed a gigantic mirage on the coast of Inishowen, when the image of a huge castle was seen over the mouth of Lough Foyle. During the following two hours the image transformed into other fantastical scenes. At the time the occurrence was correctly interpreted as the Fata Morgana, but it was stated that anyone who had witnessed the illusion was never likely to forget it.
No doubt similar occurrences in the distant past would have created a huge impact and could have formed the basis for many myths and stories. It is, perhaps, the spirit of the times that, while the telling of tales of wonderous maritime heroes and happenings have all but disappeared
from popular culture, some of the figures are being recycled and rebranded as potent marketing tools.

FINN MACCOOL.
The great mythological hero Fionn MacCumhaill is still a well-known figure on the north coast. Fionn was the leader of the heroes and warriors
of the Fianna,and the central figure in the Fionn Cycle of stories,largely dating to the 12th century but based on earlier texts stretching back to the 8th century.
These tales remained immensely popular in Ireland and Scotland to the end of the 19th century. Fionn and his fellow heroes, especially his son Oisin and grandson Oscar and his chief enemy Goll MacMorna, became linked with many natural features in the Irish landscape. Today Fionn is most celebrated as the builder of the Giant’s Causeway. It is difficult to ascertain precisely when he became attached to this dramatic natural feature.
It is known, however, that in the 19th century the local guides to the Causeway raised the creation of myths to levels befitting a major local industry for the tourist trade.

Fionn and some of the other figures, are alive and well, and still helping to promote our premier Irish tourist attractions!

Mermaid's Cave, The Dark Depths below Dunluce castle

Dunluce Castle lies at the end of the White Rocks cliffs to the east of Portrush. It is one of the finest medieval castles in Ireland and is certainly worth seeing. However, in its dark depths lies a cave of enormous proportions that is every bit as grand as the castle sitting above it. This magnificent cave was the third tackled during the course of this ongoing project to photograph the secret sea caverns of County Antrim. The project has uncovered some fascinating old stories and this cave again threw up some classic material.

Beneath the immense fortress is a cavern of proportionate vastness; its vault is more than sixty feet high, and its length exceeds three hundred feet. The sea enters it with a roaring sound. Above is the dread tower, where the Banshee of the Macquillains, the ancient lords of Dunluce, appears. I passed under its walls; there is the turret of Mava. I was desired to remark how carefully it was swept."Who undertakes that office?" I asked. " No living being," was the answer. " Every night this prison-like chamber is cleaned like a ball-room, and yet no one enters it." " Who then keeps it in order?" "Mava, the sweeper of Dunluce, and the Banshee of the Macquillains."
The Three Kingdoms: England, Scotland, Ireland
Charles Victor P. Arlincourt, Published 1844

Entrance to the mermaids cave is down an eroding ramp which gives it a superb subterranean feel. You can almost feel the weight of the mighty castle straining above.
On my visit to this cavern I was accompanied by a photographer friend of mine, Sean Arrow. This gave me a good opportunity to include myself in the shot and give the cave a sense of scale. After setting up the camera on the tripod and programing the 5 exposures needed, I was able to descend to the waters edge while Sean released the shutter. Again, a series of exposures was chosen to overcome the huge contrast range in the cave and its mouth. The final image was created using a High Dynamic Range (HDR) blend of the 5 exposures.

So there I stand, dwarfed by the enormity of the cavern and the thousands (perhaps millions) of tonnes of rock overhead. Natures very own cathedral under the castle.

by Andy McInroy. See his Antrim Cave project at www.andymcinroy.com

Photo copyright Andy McInroy, reproduced by permission