The people of Nobber have known for years about the monster of Whitewood Lake.

Residents of Nobber in Meath have known for years of the existence of a monster in the popular fishing lake near Kilmainhamwood, but a new sighting by local man Denis Naulty has reignited interest in the Monster of Whitewood Lake.

Denis Naulty recalls the day when he was fishing on Whitewater Lake and saw a large black creature with a head like a swan or a goose.

I saw what appeared to be a black monster something like a large black sow pig, very black, I would say he measured about seven feet long.

Years earlier another local man Bert Onions saw a long object in the same lake, but he did not report it at the time due to fear of ridicule.

Denis wrote to the Department of Fisheries asking for them to send a team of divers to prove the Whitewood Lake monster exists. As this request was not met, 'Summerhouse' mounted a monster hunt with RTÉ cameraman Peter Dorney leading the expedition and manning the underwater camera.

The diving crew's aim is to find something unusual, or signs of something outside the normal. However their search is hampered by poor visibility and appalling conditions.

It's the nearest thing to diving in stout that you could possibly imagine, absolutely black.

The divers find no sign of the monster, so what lurks beneath the waters of Whitewood Lake remains a mystery.

This report for ‘Summerhouse’ was presented by Vincent Hanley and broadcast on 15 July 1981.