Folklore & Legends of Liscannor
Discover the stories passed down through generations—tales of saints, sailors, and the sea that still shape the village today.
Mal and the Hag's Head
A powerful sea-witch named Mal, spurned by the hero Cú Chulainn, fell to her death while chasing him along the Cliffs of Moher; her profile is now said to be frozen forever in the cliff face known as Hag's Head.
St Macreehy & the Grave-Eel
Local saint Mac Creiche subdued a gigantic corpse-eating sea-eel at Kilmacreehy graveyard and banished it to the Atlantic, proving the power of faith over primal darkness.
Healing Waters of St Brigid’s Well
Pilgrims perform “rounds” and leave offerings at this sacred grotto, whose spring is believed to cure ailments. The tradition blends ancient Celtic well-worship of the goddess Brigid with veneration of the Christian St. Brigid.
Spanish Armada Ghost Ships
The ghosts of several Spanish Armada galleons, wrecked in a great storm in 1588, are said to haunt Liscannor Bay. Locals speak of phantom masts seen on stormy nights and the lure of sunken treasure still guarded by the drowned sailors.
Snakestone Fossils
The spiral-shaped ammonite fossils found in Liscannor flagstone are explained by a legend where St. Patrick (or another powerful figure) turned all the snakes in Ireland to stone, freezing them in the rock forever.
John P. Holland’s Submarine Dream
Liscannor-born inventor John P. Holland is treated as a local folk hero. His world-changing idea for a submarine is said to have been inspired by watching the sea in his home village as a boy.
The Lost City of Kilstuithin
A mythical, golden-domed city that once stood in Liscannor Bay was submerged by the sea when its chieftain lost a magical golden key. The ghost city is said to reappear once every seven years, but anyone who sees it is fated to die before it rises again.
The Mermaid of Moher (The Merrow)
A local fisherman traps a beautiful merrow (mermaid) on land by stealing her magical red cap. She marries him and has children, but her longing for the sea never fades. When she eventually finds her cap, she abandons her family and returns to the ocean forever.
The Leap of the Foals (Aill na Searrach)
A group of the Tuatha Dé Danann, the old gods of Ireland, transformed into horses to hide from Christianity in a sea cave. After centuries, seven foals born in the dark emerged, were blinded by the sun, and tragically galloped off the cliff to their deaths.
Local Fairies and Hill-Forts
Ancient ringforts (liosanna) are not ruins, but gateways to the Otherworld, the home of the Aos Sí (the fairies). A powerful folk tradition dictates these sites must never be disturbed for fear of angering their powerful, supernatural residents.