The Oilliphéist
Cryptozoology
Tuesday 4th, January 2022
The patron saint of Ireland, St. Patrick is said to have driven all the snakes out of Ireland when they overran the country and attacked him during prayer. This is the story, or a form of the story most people know when it comes to St. Patrick.
There is a further bit to the story of St. Patrick and the ridding Ireland of snakes that many haven't heard before and it involves a serpentine creature known as the Oilliphéist.
According to legend the Oilliphéist was a serpentine dragon that was a huge creature of massive proportions and a very smart creature as well.
The story is said that the Oilliphéist caught wind that St. Patrick was going to try and banish all the snakes from Ireland into the ocean and with that the Oilliphéist wanted to get a head start. So it's said that on the Oilliphéist's departure from Ireland it cut through the land and carved a huge hole or valley in the ground where water rushed in and filled in the new cut in the land which became known as the river Shannon.
It's also said that on the Oilliphéist's quick exit from Ireland that it decided to have a snack on its way and snacked on a drunken piper named Ó Ruairc (O'Rourke), being oblivious to what had just happened it's said that Ó Ruairc continued to play in the stomach of the Oilliphéist and Ó Ruairc caused the Oilliphéist such annoyance the creature spat out Ó Ruairc before proceeding into the sea.
The term Oilliphéist comes from Irish oll meaning 'great' and péist meaning 'worm, fabulous beast, monster, reptile'.
There is a further bit to the story of St. Patrick and the ridding Ireland of snakes that many haven't heard before and it involves a serpentine creature known as the Oilliphéist.
According to legend the Oilliphéist was a serpentine dragon that was a huge creature of massive proportions and a very smart creature as well.
The story is said that the Oilliphéist caught wind that St. Patrick was going to try and banish all the snakes from Ireland into the ocean and with that the Oilliphéist wanted to get a head start. So it's said that on the Oilliphéist's departure from Ireland it cut through the land and carved a huge hole or valley in the ground where water rushed in and filled in the new cut in the land which became known as the river Shannon.
It's also said that on the Oilliphéist's quick exit from Ireland that it decided to have a snack on its way and snacked on a drunken piper named Ó Ruairc (O'Rourke), being oblivious to what had just happened it's said that Ó Ruairc continued to play in the stomach of the Oilliphéist and Ó Ruairc caused the Oilliphéist such annoyance the creature spat out Ó Ruairc before proceeding into the sea.
The term Oilliphéist comes from Irish oll meaning 'great' and péist meaning 'worm, fabulous beast, monster, reptile'.
