The Enchanting Legend of a Wine-Loving Mermaid at Newhall House and Killone Lake

As the story goes, a member of the O'Brien family, residing at the grand big house, began noticing an inexplicable disappearance of wine from the household cellar.

Determined to uncover the culprit, he soon discovered that the mermaid herself had been slipping through an underground passage from the lake to indulge in the stolen wine. Confronted by this aquatic intruder, the O’Brien allegedly tried to fend her off – some say with a weapon, others claim by scalding her with boiling water.

Wounded and enraged, the mermaid fled back to the depths of Killone Lake, but not without uttering a dire curse upon the family:

"As the mermaid moves on the sea, so shall the O'Briens fade away from this land until Killone is overgrown with wild weeds."

True to her ominous words, the story recounts that every seven years, the lake’s waters turn red, a haunting reminder of the mermaid’s blood and a forewarning of change for the estate’s custodians. This captivating tale of the mermaid’s curse has become a cherished piece of folklore, weaving an air of mystique around Killone Lake and Newhall House – an enduring link between the land’s natural beauty and its mythical heritage.