There is an Irish legend about a mermaid named Liban that appears the Book of the Dun Cow. This book, Lebor na h Uidre in Irish, is the oldest of the ancient book of legends believed to have been written in the late 10th to early 11th century. The photo above is of a wall in Clonfert Cathedral in Galway. Clonfert was founded by St. Brendan the Navigator, so this image appears here in honor of his famous voyage.
Liban the Mermaid
Liban was the daughter of a man named Eochaidh, who along with the rest of his family was drowned–probably a judgment for running off with his stepmother. Liban and her dog survived by the grace of God, but could not leave the water (Loch Neagh.) After a year she told God she wished to be like a salmon, and God granted her wish and turned her dog into the form of an otter. She roamed the water like that for 300 years, saying, “The wave is my roof and the shore my wall.” Then she happened upon the boat of Beoan mac Innle, a follower of St. Comgall. He heard her singing, and she appeared to him. She explained her situation and her desire to be brought to the saints. They caught her in a net, where, as you can imagine, she became a spectacle. There was disagreement over to whom she belonged. Comgall thought that because she was caught in his country, she should be his charge. Fergus, a fisherman it is assumed, thought that because he caught her in his net, she should be his. But Beoan said she was his because of his initial conversation with her. These men decided to let God make the decision and fasted and prayed. An angel appeared and said the matter would be settled this way: two stags would appear and they should hitch them to the chariot where Liban’s makeshift water tank was. They should let the deer pull her wherever she should go. The animals brought her to tech Dabheoc (a church.) There the clergy gave her a choice: she could be baptized and go immediately to heaven, or she could continue to live on for 300 more years and then go to heaven. She chose the first option and when she baptized she was named Muirghein or “sea birth.” In that place many miracles occurred because of her.
That’s the story. Kind of sad. It’s as though she’d had a curse on her and had to somehow get on dry land to reach the clergy where they could take it off so that she could finally die. I’m not sure what we’re supposed to learn from it. What do you think?
The Mermaid Chair
There is another legend, this one from Cornwell. There was a beautiful woman with a spectacular singing voice who attended church from time to time in Zinnor. No one knew where she’d come from. A young man fell in love with her and followed her one day when she left church. The two were never seen again. Years later fishermen saw a mermaid who asked them to raise their anchor because it was blocking her door and she couldn’t get to her children. Because spotting a mermaid was considered a bad omen, they complied and sailed away as quickly as they could. When they returned home and told the story, folks believed this was the missing woman who had enticed the young man to live with her in the sea. The photo below is of “the mermaid’s chair” where she sat while in church. Which came first, the legend or the chair? No one seems certain.
This legend many believe is a warning not to be enticed by beauty. It’s interesting to me that both legends show mermaids looking for spiritual guidance and perhaps salvation.
