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The Monstrous Cathach

Before the dawn of the sixth century, Scattery Island was a place shrouded in fear, as its inhabitants lived under the ominous shadow of a sea monster known as the Cathach. This malevolent creature, a Peist of unimaginable dread, terrorized the islanders.

Read More: Check out all of the ghost stories from Ireland

Legend tells of a divine intervention by Saint Senan, a holy figure who would change the destiny of Scattery Island. According to the ancient tales, Saint Senan received a celestial visitation from the Archangel Michael. This heavenly messenger bestowed upon him the knowledge and power to banish the wicked Cathach from the island.

**Sea Serpent:** At Scattery Island there is stories about a vicious sea serpent that plagued the area for a long time. Pictured is a sea serpent from Olaus Magnus’ book Historia de Gentibus Septentrionalibus (History of the Northern Peoples, Rome, 1555).

Saint Senan confronted the Cathach, invoking the name of the Holy Trinity. He commanded the malevolent creature to depart from the island, never to return. The powers of divine intervention prevailed, and the Cathach was banished from Scattery Island, cast into the depths of the Black Lake in County Mayo.

Monasteries and a Healing Well

Saint Senan’s divine presence left an indelible mark on Scattery Island. He founded monasteries that thrived through the ages, bearing witness to his miraculous deeds. To this day, a visit to the grave of Saint Senan is believed to possess the power of healing, where the faithful seek solace and renewal.

There was a rule that no woman should ever set foot upon the grounds. There are also legends about miracles and magical water that could cure anything in the Holy Well. Even Saint Senan’s grave on the site is said to have healing powers to those that visited it.

Over the years, vikings attacked and the monasteries were abandoned during Elizabeth I’st reign, leaving it empty, except from ghosts.

A Fisherman’s Haunting Tale

It has always been a place of mystery, even without the tales of the sea serpent. When the Captains of the Shannons and their families inhabited the island again in the 1800s, they were the only people in the area that were somewhat spared from the Famine, and because of this, many thought there had to be something special about the place.

*Scattery Island: //Source: Matthew Petroff/Flickr*

It is also thought to be a haunted place, something we are told about in the legend where a fisherman sought refuge on the island in a storm in the 19th century.

He entered the ruins of an ancient church to offer his prayers, seeking divine protection from the fury of the storm. As he knelt in solemn devotion and closed his eyes, an eerie transformation occurred. The air seemed to shimmer with an otherworldly presence as the disembodied voices of monks and priests filled the hallowed space. Oblivious to the fisherman’s presence, they celebrated mass at the altar, a spectral congregation from a distant time.

The fisherman’s heart raced with terror, realizing that he had unwittingly stumbled upon a supernatural realm. Overwhelmed, he closed his eyes once more and fervently prayed for their departure. When he dared to open his eyes again, the ghostly apparitions had vanished into the ethereal mist, leaving behind an island steeped in history and haunting mysteries.

Scattery Island Enigmatic Legacy

Scattery Island, a place where sea monsters met their match in a saint’s unwavering faith, and where the echoes of ancient monks’ chants linger in the air, stands as a testament to Ireland’s rich tapestry of history, myth, and the supernatural.

The last person living on the island moved in the 1970s, and churches, monasteries and even a castle were left in the ghost town. The enigmatic island beckons the curious to explore its haunted shores, where the past and the spectral converge in a realm of haunting beauty and timeless wonder.