MUIRHEAD`S MYSTERIES: MORE ON THE IRISH WILD CAT AND ALSO THE DOBHAR CHU

I have a bit more information on the Irish wild cat,which in my opinion is a little way closer to being vindicated as once (and still?) existing. Also, the Dobhar chu,or master otter, an giant otter like animal said to have existed in north-west Ireland and Scotland as recently as the 1700s. It was said to have attacked and killed Grainne–ai-Chonalai who was killed on the shores of Glenade Loch on September 24th 1772. Dr Karl Shuker has written extensively about it, but I have just unearthed a report from the 1950s.

But first the Irish wild cat: I mention an item in the Irish Naturalist which was not mentioned by Shuker in Mystery Cats of The World or Cunningham in his article The Irish Wild Cat in Fortean Times August 2008.. Cunningham mentions the 1906 paper by Dr RF Scharff “On the former occurrence of the African Wildcat (Felis ochrreata Gmel) in Ireland, The Irish naturalists Journal. Shuker mentions papers in the same journal from 1905. There was a debate as to whether or not remains of a wild cat found in a cave in County Clare were similar to the African Wild Cat.

The extract is from the Irish Naturalist *for July 1908, vol.17 no 7:

“Supposed Occurrence of a Wild Cat in the West of Cork.”

A species of Wild Cat is proved by its fossil remains to have inhabited Ireland at no very remote period,as Dr. Scharff has shown in his very careful paper (Proc.R.I.Academy,January 1906), and he also urged that enquiries should be made as to whether such an animal has been seen or heard of lately (Irish Naturalist,1905,p.79). Though the specimen referred to below has unfortunately perished,and conclusive proof of its species is therefore unattainable, it may be well to record the remarkable descriptions given me by several members of the Becher family.

In 1881 I made a note of the statement of Mr E.W.Becher and his sister to the effect that some years previously their elder brother shot a Wild Cat at Liss Ard,the O`Donovan`s place “It had a broad head,short legs,bristly tail;the colour “was brindled,with bars of black on a dark grey,with a dash of tan colour”

I have recently met their elder brother,the Rev H.Belcher,who at my request has written the following account:- “ Castlehaven Rectory,Skibbereen,May 8th,1898.

“ I shot what I took to be a Wild Cat at Liss Ard,Skibbereen, during “the winter of 1873-74,probably in January 1874. The place was high,rocky ground,on the skirt of a young plantation. I just got a glimpse of it passing through the gorse and brambles and thought it might be a Marten Cat. We were beating for Woodcocks. The retriever fetched it,and when she came out of the covert the Cat had her by the nose. (1) (* Also known as the Irish Naturalists Journal.)

The table, by the way, shows reports of Irish wildcats over a period of 100 years.

There is an article in the Freemans Journal in 1923 which gives the etymology and history of the Wild Cat in Ireland along with some other Irish animals:

FURTHER LOCAL NAMES DERIVED FROM ANIMALS,MOSTLY WILD

“When the cat appears in place names,it is not the domestic animal that it meant, but the wild cat which was at one time common in Ireland,and was certainly not extinct fifty years ago [i.e c.1873-R] for I know a man that used to trap them in a wood at the foot of Corran Tuathail,Co Kerry. This wild cat was a fierce brute, called Cat Crainn, tree cat,and occasionally Mada Crainn,tree dog, the latter being also the Irish name of the squirrel. [so could that offer the exciting possibility of two types of Irish Wild Cat?- R]

Knockannacuit,parish of Lismore, Co.Waterford is Cnocan-a-Chuit,the Cat`s Hillock.and Meenachuit, Inniskeel,Co.Donegal, Min-a-Chuit,the Cat`s Smooth Spot. In each of these cases the cat appears in the singular number. He comes into place numbers more frequently in the plural. Carnagat, parish of Killevy,Co.Armagh,is Carn-na-gCat, the Cat`s Cairn;Carrignagat, Kilmocomago parish,Co Antrim,has practically the same meaning.Knocknagat, Cuocna-gCat, the Cat`s Hill;Lisnagat,Lios-na-gCat,the Cat`s Liss and Lisheeunagat,Lisin-na-gCat,the Cat`s Little Fort,Lisin being the diminuative of Lios;

No doubt many of these names are legendary. Those who have read Father O`Leary`s “Guaire” will recall how the King of the Cats carried away the haed of the Trom-Daimhe,because ,in a fit of temper,he had lampooned the cats for neglecting to kill the mice that had stolen the dainty meal which Guairo had sent him, when the Ard-Ollamh was in a sulky mood and not inclined to eat. (2)

In 1956 a Co.Leitrim newspaper reported a modern Dobhar Chu sighting:

STRANGE MONSTER

The story of a monster in Glenade Lake is again in circulation. According to the account of some young men who claim to have seen the monster while fishing there, it has the head of a hound,the tail of a fish and is about six feet in length. Rumours of this kind excite more interest where Glenade Lake is concerned because of a thrilling scene which took place 236 years ago ,when a Miss McLoughlin known by her maiden name Grace Connolly,was killed by Dobhar-Chu while washing clothes in the lake convenient to her home in Creevelea. (3)


1 Irish Naturalist vol. 17 no 7. July 1908 pp 140-141
2 Freeman`s Journal. September 22nd 1923
3 Leitrim Observer. November 10th 1956.

Seeing as we ended on a watery theme I will end with a watery song;

The Levellers The Boatman

If I could choose the life I please
Then I would be a boatman
On the canals and rivers free
No hasty words are spoken
My only law is the river breeze
That takes me to the open seas
If I could choose the life I please
Then I would be a boatman


Richard-o