Dobhar-chu

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Dobhar-chu

Creature

Name:	Dobhar-chu
AKA:	Water Hound (Translation)
Classification
Grouping:	Cryptid
Sub Grouping:	Folklore
Data

Country:	Ireland
Habitat:	Water
Status:	Folklore

The Dobhar-chu (also known as the "dobhar-chú", "dobarcu", "doyarchu", and "dhuragoo") is a creature of Irish folklore and a cryptid. Dobhar-chu is roughly translated into "water hound." It resembles both a dog and an otter. It lives in water and has fur with protective properties. The Kinlough Stone is claimed to be the headstone of a grave of a woman killed by the Dobhar-chu and shows an old drawing of the creature.

It comes in various colours, one phenotype is described as white with short fur, and has features quite like an otter and has a black or dark brown "cross-like" mark that runs down its neck and back.

The Glenade Stone, Found in Conwell cemetery in glenade Co Leitrim, Ireland, which depicts the cryptozoological Dobhar-chu, was found in Ireland. It is said to have been the headstone of a woman killed by the Dobhar-chu. Her name was supposedly Grace. Her husband heard her scream as she was washing clothes down at the Glenade Lake and came to her aid. When he got there, she was already dead, with the Dobhar-chu upon her bloody and mutilated body. The man killed the Dobhar-chu, stabbing it in the heart. As it died, it made a whistling noise, and its mate arose from the lake. Its mate chased the man but he killed it as well.

Note that the modern Irish word for 'otter' is 'dobharchú'. The modern Irish word for water is 'uisce'(see 'whiskey', a word which is derived from 'uisce beatha', or 'water of life')although 'dobhar' is also (rarely) seen. 'Dobhar' is a much older form and cognates are found in other celtic languages (e.g. Welsh, 'dur', water). 'Cú' is 'hound' in Irish (see, for example, 'Cuchulainn', the hound of Culainn).