Achill man finds knife in fish

Achill man finds knife in fish


Anton McNulty

THE last thing Achill man Patrick Kilcoyne expected when cutting up freshly caught fish was to find a miniature flick knife in the gut of a fish but that is exactly what he discovered.
Patrick, also known as ‘Blondie,’ made the unexpected discovery when preparing the fish for his breakfast and could not believe his eyes when a two inch long blue knife fell into his sink.
“I was given a few mackerel which were caught near the Atlantic Drive as a present and there was a coalfish with them. I was cleaning the fish in the sink when this object came out of it and fell into the sink. I was shocked because I never saw anything like this happen before. I didn’t know what it was at first because you don’t expect to see something like this in a fish which was only about a foot long. It is a very peculiar thing to happen,”explained the Ashleam native.
When he examined the object he discovered that it was a small flick knife with a small blade but still does not know of what it would be used for. He brought the knife to Patten’s Bar in Derreens for a few fishermen to look at but they did not know what it would be used for and never heard of a fish swallowing objects like it.
“I showed it to a few lads but they were as puzzled as I was and when I told them I found it in a fish they couldn’t believe it. They never heard of anything like this happening before and it’s very unusual to find anything like this in a fish. Everyone examined the knife and had a good look at it but could not say what it would be used for.  I never heard of this happening before and I don’t expect to again.”