CRYPTOLINK: The Meath Monster

A word about cryptolinks: we are not responsible for the content of cryptolinks, which are merely links to outside articles that we think are interesting, usually posted up without any comment whatsoever from me.

The Loch Ness Monster, or ‘Nessie’ as she has become fondly known, is part of Scottish folklore and, whether she exists or has simply been a figment of many imaginations over a long number of years, there can be no denying that she has been very good to the economy of that country. 

She is believed to have been ‘born’ in 1933 and such has been the wealth of publicity generated by the many alleged sightings that she has generated an enormous amount of revenue by attracting visitors from every part of the globe.

‘Nessie’ has attained the status of a classic phenomenon and her popularity has never been greater. Numerous features in magazines and newspapers have helped to enhance her reputation and fame and she has also been the subject of many documentaries and films as more and more people take the opportunity to cash in on her status. She is, without fear of contradiction, the best known cryptozoological creature in the world.

So what’s all that got to do with Whitewood Lake? How can there possibly be a link between a world famous stretch of water that forms a link in the great Caledonian Canal in Scotland and little Whitewood Lake in the north of our own county where the vast majority of people believe large pike specimens are the biggest creatures to be found?

Well there is - even if it’s probably not the strongest link of all time. For, in the minds of some, particularly back approximately a quarter of a century ago, Whitewood Lake had its own monster which captured the imaginations of many. And it wasn’t just the very young or those who had a habit of believing in fairies and such like with a few pints of lager on board who expected the creature to spring from the depths back in the summer of 1981.

Even this writer has to admit that, as he stood with hundreds of others totally sober on the lake shore on a warm summer day over 25 years ago, he at least half expected something extraordinary to happen. It must have been a bit like waiting for a statue to move! But statues won’t bite you, even if they do move. However, there’s a good chance that a monster will!

Read on...