We have an old story that was told in Co Donegal and  many other places too  as it is a common folktale that exists in many forms. We will tell the Donegal version as that is where we heard it.

There was once a man who lived by the sea. He was an honest hardworking man and he longed to have a wife to share his life. Every evening he would walk along the seashore and look out to the sea. One evening he came upon a mermaid who was resting on a rock in the evening sun. Although they were both surprised to stumble upon each other they began a conversation and found that they got along very well together. They continued to meet each evening until they fell in love and could no longer bear to be apart.

Now in order to get married to a man from the land the mermaid had to give up her tail so as to walk on the land. They were so much in love that the mermaid asked her husband-to-be to take her tail and burn it so that she would never return to the sea.

They duly got married and had two beautiful children. A boy and a girl. They were very happy altogether for many years.

One day the children, now in their teens, were out playing in one of the old buildings at the back of their house. They discovered the mermaid's tail hidden up under the eaves and took it to their mother to ask her what it was. Upon seeing the tail, their mother was overcome by the yearning to go back to the sea.

She returned to the sea never to be seen again.

Why her husband didn't destroy the tail is a mystery but we like to to think it was through a kindness.

We include a link to a beautiful song version of the mermaid. It is in Irish but a simple lyric search can reveal the words in English.

http://youtu.be/DZMZxoEtVl0