Doubt over‘ Beast of Blessing ton’ claims

August 2002

THE Beast of Blessington is starting to look nothing more than an elaborate hoax, according to a local man who has been on the trail of the elusive animal for the past two months.

‘In the beginning everyone I spoke to sounded legitimate,’ says John Bohan from Blessington.

‘At first the sightings were centred around an area of a couple of miles but since then people have been reporting seeing the animal further afield which makes it seem more unlikely. It’s hard to know.’ The initial sightings two months ago were reported in an area stretching from Glasshina, near Russborough, to Glen Ding.

The saga started when a woman ‘who would not be prone to exaggerating’ spotted an animal which was ‘ bigger than a cat or dog and black.’ Several people claimed to have spotted the animal in the same area. John says the area is heavily forested and would provide shelter for such a creature. However, later reports of the animal being seen at the Sally Gap are less credible says John.

They people he spoke to said they had spotted the animal clearly but only momentarily. Originally people claimed the animal was a black panther. A circus had visited Blessington and it was suggested that the animal had escaped form captivity. However, Gardai say no such incident was reported to them. They have also investigated the sightings but haven’t come upon anything untoward. There has also been no reports of livestock injured or any missing pets.