Ireland's Eye: What's going on in the old sod this week

A look at news from around Ireland

Old Lobster Pot Found

AN identification tag from a lobster pot that was lost by a U.S. fisherman in a storm almost 20 years ago has made its way, safe and sound, to south Kerry.

Avid beachcomber Rosemary Hill found the tag over a year ago while walking on the beach in Waterville, but only last week rediscovered the item in her home and successfully traced it back to its owner in Massachusetts.

Having seen the name “Richard Figueiredo” and a number on the tag, Hill decided to try her luck on

Facebook to see if it brought any results.  She got in touch with the first person she found with that name, who amazingly was the son of the man who owned the tag.
"I couldn't believe my luck when he got back to me and said that the tag belonged to his father,

Richard Senior, who lost over 100 lobster pots in what was known as the perfect storm over 20 years ago. I sent him a picture of the tag, which had four numbers on it, and they were able to ID it," Hill said.

"It's just so amazing to think that one of the tags made it all the way to Kerry and I was able to find the man who lost it."

Hill explained that Richard Senior, a fourth generation fisherman from Massachusetts, was overwhelmed when she got in touch.

"I've spoken to him a few times since and he is totally over the moon that one of the tags made its way to Ireland. Although I offered to send the tag back to him he insisted that, because it had such a journey to get here, this is where it should stay. He also told me that this is the only one of the 100 lost pots that have ever been traced back to him,” Hill said.

The story has already made headlines in the U.S., with the Boston Globe and Massachusetts newspaper The Patriot Ledger picking up the story.

The Kerryman

Whale Washes Ashore

IT'S become a “whale big problem” -- how to dispose of the giant carcass of a 42 foot whale, which was washed up on Raghly beach last month.

Sligo County Council is said to be examining options with regard to its disposal, but a week on the dead whale remains on the beach and has become a major attraction.

Amid speculation that the beached whale was swept out to sea over the weekend and returned again, a spokesperson for Sligo County Council said that the fin whale is now secured on Raghly beach.

The final decision regarding how to dispose of the remains -- first spotted on November 28 -- will be known this week, as officials from the council are holding meetings with the local community in the North Sligo area.

They are examining options in relation to the disposal of the fin whale, with the Raghly community hoping to salvage the skeletal carcass as a tourist attraction.

School children eager to get a glimpse of the first fin whale beached in Co. Sligo have been seeking out the remains, and this has spurred the community to try and preserve the whale as a means to promote tourism in the area. If locals can raise the financial cost of preserving the whale, it is hoped that the skeleton will be displayed close to where it washed up.

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Nster.com