 A scotch man with good Dany Gull connections who's just completed a very unusual swim across Law Finn at Fintown. And he did it to raise awareness about a legend that's connected to the name of the law. And to tell us more now, well he's known as Dan the Mayor man. Real name is Donald McGillicummel and he is joining us now on the line and also on Zoom. Donald good afternoon sir. How are you? Good afternoon. How you doing? Yeah good, good. Now first of all tell me about the legend that's connected. This is where a local woman is reportedly she drowned there a long long time ago but in an unusual endeavor. Yeah exactly yes it's a mythological story, a beautiful story but tragic of course as well. She was a thin girl who Law Finn is named after. Heard the shouts of her brother across the law on the other side and in endeavor to get across to him she swam across and confused by the echoes of the hills around her around Law Finn. She ended up swimming backwards and forwards across the lock and eventually and drowned because you know just it just became too much. So yeah I basically followed her not exactly her route in terms of make possibly where she left from to which I'm hoping to do in the future at some point but I went from one side of the lock to the other and back following her course. Yeah which kind of confused me on her I realized that you'd left from the cherry and you'd gone over to the other side and then come back because I was thinking you know just to go one way would be enough but you went over and came back. Yeah exactly yeah yeah yeah I think the people who were there didn't realize that as well and all right you're gonna come the other you're gonna come back as well as that yeah yeah. How long did it take over and back? Not long probably probably about 20 minutes maybe. All right. Not long at all. You see to most of us looking at the lake we would think that it's bigger than that. Well it is what it is but you know you did it in about 20 minutes so I suppose it's not about the size of the lake it's about how good you were getting over and back. Oh yeah the conditions were great as well it was a beautiful day and there was a lovely group of people there cheering me on and that always helps give you a bit of a boost to get across you know people are watching you at least. You really can't let them down. Exactly yeah yeah that was nice it was nice. Thanks very much to all the locals in Fintown and people like Joseph Brennan who came along and who explained the story as well in Gaelic which was beautiful. So yeah thanks again to all those people. They come out just to see this mad scotch man really and fail it in his efforts to get over and back at Loughan. Yeah I think he does a lot of curiosity locally I think. I mean I just posted on the Facebook group a few weeks ago because I knew I'd be over there because my granny's from Minnish Rowan which is just above Loughan back towards Broca and so I've spent almost some whole days there basically growing up and Christmases so yeah I just posted on the group just to get a bit of local knowledge you know where I'd be best to swim from to before I knew it there was a lot of interest and people were genuinely concerned as well because I think the legend itself has really as legends do you know they play on people's minds and you know they ends up being something which is which is quite something to be revered so I think people were quite intrigued but as to what might happen which you know to an extent it played into my mind as well actually when I was going across like you could almost feel the legend itself and what Fin Gael might have gone through and you know which makes it an even more momentous swim for me you know swims like this are really really special to me you left from the the the jetty there just beside the railway station but the the legend has that that she she left from another part of the lake is that right that's right yeah just just slightly further up it's called Fin Gael's apron and it's more or less it's basically the same distance going across but I was going to do that but just because the railways in the way and I knew there'd be people coming and I didn't want it to be too much of a logistical nightmare for people to get down stuff whereas that jetty was was quite accessible for people and it was just easier but at one point I will go back and do it from Fin Gael's apron apron to go across but yeah it's essentially the same distance just further down the lock a bit okay okay well sure you know seen as a symbolic and it's essentially the same distance then you know does it doesn't really matter and as you say at least where you left from was more accessible but you you teach you teach swimming you do a lot of cold water swimming yourself at home and and teach swimming as well is that right yes just up in our Gael I'm an open water swim coach so I train people in open water athletes children tourists a whole range of people and do guided holidays out on the Hebrides so we you know swim in different locations beautiful locations and basically providing safety cover but also coaching people and and helping people to be better open water swimmers and I'm also a part-time PE teacher as well okay locally so so people can take a holiday and and base it on on wild swimming and and you'll take it to different locations yeah absolutely yeah I mean out in our Gael we've we've got an amazing as does done you go actually you know beautiful sheltered bays where you can get a really good swim and yeah I kind of coach a holistic a holistic approach in terms of how to prepare how you know and how you recover afterwards and also the safety points which are really important for open water swimming you know just to generally upskill people and make them feel more confident to access different bodies of open water safe safely right and and you swim all year around yeah all year round yeah definitely yeah right through winter and actually swimming through winter is great because it it gets me ready for the busiest summer season when I'm in the water quite a lot so it's good cold conditioning for me so yeah it's the secret to long life I believe so they say yeah absolutely yeah and and when were you swimming today I was yeah I was just coaching someone in the water just up at Cronin Harbour which is just near the core of Wreckon which again has a very beautiful Gaelic story attached to it to do with the the cala the goddess of winter who governs the core of Wreckon and so yeah I'm surrounded by a lot of Gaelic legend here as well so that's great so I mean you you've spent a lot of time obviously in Donny Gaul especially when you were young but you you've done a lot of research into the the local folklore and Celtic mythology yes oh absolutely yeah it's it as I've got older um you probably might guess from my accent I've actually I've been in Scotland most most of my life now most of my adult life anyway I was born in London um my dad's from Donny Gaul he's from he's from Broca my granny was from Minnish Roan and so that attachment and and that uh that uh pride in in my in my roots has has made me more connected to it as I get older and learning Gaelic uh like Scotch Gaelic at the minute um and and and how that all connects together and how how our different Gaelic worlds connect as well between Scotland and Ireland is really interesting to me um and how some of the stories are consistent as well so um yeah very important to me just now and also in terms of what I'm doing in terms of my my guiding and my coaching in open water I try to bring in um a bit of Gaelic and the folklore and the stories of the bodies of what we're swimming in um so yeah that's really important to me well you've done a great job in in highlighting the the mythology of how Lofen was named and and another way that you give back was she there was a special offering before you did your swim yes yeah that's right yeah so um it's it's an ancient practice where um probably predating Christian times where you would you'd make an offering get Gaelic um um a sort of an ancient Gaelic custom of make an offering of something that you'd ordinarily enjoy so it's really important to make an offering to in this case an ancient spirit of the Fingal um but also my ancestors of the area um uh something so I love soda bread my wife makes amazing soda bread so I offered Fingal a bit of soda bread and some Puccine which um is I'm not sure if it was illegally distilled or not but well we'll look when that part was offered anyhow yeah exactly yeah that's right and it was good stuff so um yeah uh yeah that's important to me that's an important symbolic gesture and um and I think it's a really interesting way of connecting to the landscape and and taking care of the landscape and acknowledging it and acknowledging the the ancestors and the spiritual story behind that well I hope she appreciated it all all the the attention and the the offering of the the bread and and Puccine and listen and and no doubt you'll be back and and whether you do another swim there or not be back to enjoy the the locality and and the lovely surroundings over there don't know thanks for having a chat with us no problem at all could I just say it's a special thanks to your man's coffee for the coffee afterwards which was which was very well received and again thanks very much to everyone who came along in Fintown um and especially Joseph Brennan for for providing the story uh uh lock side which was really great so thanks again to everyone in Fintown no better man I'm my uncle Sean as well who came along and and spoke a little Gaelic uh um uh lock side as well so thanks very much it sounds like quite the day was had indeed all right don't look after yourself bye thank you very much