During the late sixties reports of sightings of monsters on the lakes of Ireland lead to a growing interest in the subject for both believers and sceptics.
Cathal O'Shannon investigates the phenomenon further for the programme 'Newsbeat' and visits some of the Connemara lakes where it was claimed the sightings occurred.
There are some folk in Connemara
and at them I'll never mock.
For they have seen a terrible beast,
A beast, a beast rise out of the lough.
Cathal O'Shannon meets the experts, known as 'The Hunters of Monsters'. They spend weeks and months in search of evidence of the monsters. Amongst them is Captain Lionel Leslie, founder member of the Loch Ness Phenomenon Investigation Bureau, who describes some of the sightings of the monster. American Holly Arnold, Secretary to the Bureau, describes the work that she does at the Bureau, dealing with claims of sightings. Ivor Newby, a diver, talks about diving for evidence of monsters. Ted Holiday, author of 'The Great Orm of Lough Ness' (1968), talks about the time he has spent at Loch Ness and the phenomena of The Loch Ness Monster.
They believe that here there is a lake monster.
They have all swapped the "mists of Inverness-shire" for the "stormy, wet and wind-swept bogs of Connemara". They believe that there are possibly three lake monsters which inhabit the lakes of Lough Auna, Lough Gleann, and the Killary.
This report by Cathal O'Shannon for 'Newsbeat' was broadcast on 23 October 1969.
| Title: | Hunting for Monsters in Connemara |
| Clip Duration: | 00.03.31 |
| Material Type: | Video |
| Clip Title: | Monsters in Irish Lakes |
| Series Title: | Newsbeat |
| Information: | This episode of 'Newsbeat' was broadcast on 23 October, 1969. 'Newsbeat' was a half-hour feature programme presented by Frank Hall and ran for 7 years from September 1964 to June 1971. 'Newsbeat' went out from Monday to Friday on RTE television and reported on current affairs and issues of local interest from around Ireland. The final programme was broadcast on the 11 June, 1971. |
| Local Keywords: | monsters, Connemara, lakes, Lionel Leslie, Holly Arnold, Ivor Newby, Ted Holiday |
| Coverage: | Ireland |
| Genre: | Factual |
| Topic: | Society and Social Issues |
| Provider: | RTÉ |
| Contributor(s): | Cathal O'Shannon (Reporter) |
| Publisher: | RTÉ |
| First Broadcast Channel: | Telefís Éireann |
| Production Year: | 1969 |
| Country of Production: | Ireland |
| Original Identifier: | BA369 |
| IPR Restrictions: | Rights Reserved - Free Access |
| Rights, Terms and Conditions: | Copyright RTÉ. This material may not be replicated in any form or manner without the prior express permission of RTÉ. Any form of reproduction in print, television, video, multimedia, web site or other electronic media or any form of dissemination for commercial or non-commercial use must be licensed by the RTÉ Archives. If you wish to licence video or audio clips, still images or text, or would like further guidance please contact us. RTÉ Archives are committed to respecting the copyright of others and have attempted to source and credit the copyright owners of all material used here. RTÉ would like to hear from any copyright owners who are not properly identified here so that the necessary corrections can be made. If you feel your copyright has not been respected please contact us. |
| Item Type: | part/extract |
| Colour: | Black and White |
| Sound: | Mono |
| Aspect Ratio: | 4:3 |
| Language: | English (eng) |
| Original Language: | English (eng) |
