Jack Dogherty was a fisherman who also scavenged goods by occasional beachcombing. He long yearned to meet a merrow (mermaid), as his father and grandfather had done before. He finally got a glimpse of a male merrow, then discovered he could regularly observe the creature at Merrow's rock on windy days. One such day he was driven to seek refuge in a cave, and came face-to-face with the merrow, who called himself Coomara (meaning "sea-dog"[4]). It had green hair and teeth, a red nose, scaly legs, a fish-tail, and stubby fin-like arms. They spoke at length about their abilities for drinking alcohol and their cellars, and how they both scavenged bottles from shipwrecks.
Coomara arranged a meeting a week later, and arrived carrying two cocked hats. The second hat was meant for Jack to use, since it conferred the wearer the power to submerge in the ocean, and Coo meant to invite Jack to his undersea home. The merman made Jack grab his fish-tail while he dived into the deep. The merman entertained his guest in his shack, which was dry inside with fires going, although the furnishings were crude. The seafood meal was magnificent, and they enjoyed the fine collection of spirits. Jack was then shown a collection of cages (much like lobster pots[b]) which Coomara revealed contained the souls of drowned sailors. Coomara meant no harm, and thought he rescued the souls from the cold water to a dry place. But Jack was horrified and resolved to release the souls.
Jack threw a rock in the sea to summon Coomara, for this had been the signal they agreed upon. Jack had coaxed his wife Biddy to leave the house and go on a religious errand, and was now inviting Coomara to his home. Jack offered spirits from his cellar, and planned on getting the merman drunk while he sneaked out with the cocked hat and go rescue the souls. The first day he did not succeed because Jack himself got overly drunk, forgetting that he did not have the coolness of the sea above his head to moderate the effects of alcohol. The next day, he offered the mermaid the powerful poteen[c] he obtained from his brother-in-law, and watered down his own drinking. Jack succeeded in releasing some souls, but his wife returned and became witness to the merman. Jack told his wife his story and was forgiven for the good deed.
The merman seemed not to notice the souls had gone missing. He and Jack met many times after that and Jack continued to release souls. But one day the merman would not respond to the signal of the rock cast into the sea, and was not seen anymore.
