On the edge of Killone Lake, two miles south of Ennis, lie the ruins of Killone Abbey. It was founded in 1180 AD by Donal Mór O’Brien, King of Munster, for the Augustinian nuns. The Abbey stood for nearly five centuries before the Reformation left it deserted.

When Newhall House was built in the late eighteenth century, the abbey ruins became part of its grounds. The crypt beneath the chancel — cool, dark, and close to the lake — was used as a wine store.

According to local tradition, that was when the thefts began. Bottles and barrels went missing without a trace. One night, a servant was ordered to stand guard. He waited with a knife in hand, and near midnight he saw movement in the water. From the lake emerged a mermaid, her hair trailing like weeds, her skin pale in the moonlight. She slipped through an opening in the rock and into the crypt, reaching for the wine.

The servant lunged, striking her again and again. Wounded, she dragged herself back to the water. At the shoreline she turned and cursed the estate, then sank beneath the surface. The lake glowed red as her blood spread through the shallows. They say the colour returns every forty years — or whenever ownership of Newhall House changes hands. Some blame iron shale seeping from the bedrock; others still call it the Mermaid’s Curse.

Even now, on quiet evenings, the surface of Killone Lake sometimes ripples without wind. The locals will tell you it’s the mermaid returning to make sure her story is not forgotten.