Illustration of the Lough Dubh monster from Creatures From Elsewhere (1984).
- Other names: Lake rhinoceros
- Country reported: Ireland
The Lough Dubh monster was a cryptid lake monster reported from Ireland's Lough Dubh.[1][2]
It was allegedly hooked by schoolmaster Alphonsus Mullaney and his son whilst out fishing in the early 1960's. Mullaney described it as an aggressive animal the size of a cow or an ass, and said it had "short thick legs with small ears and a white pointed horn on the snout. It was dark grey in colour, and covered with bristles or short hair, like a pig".[3] The line broke and the animal escaped; the Mullaney's later returned to the area with a posse of armed men, but could find no trace of the animal.[1]
It was allegedly sighting again in Lough Dubh, and had supposedly been seen before, in other lakes, as early as 1912.[3]
Karl Shuker classified it as an ultra-mysterious beast.[1] According to Dale A. Drinnon, the easiest explanation would be that the monster was an oversized wild boar hog which entered the water when it smelled the bait.[3]