The Selkie of St Trothans

The north coast village of Castletown has various tales to tell. One of the most intriguing can be found at the ruins of Olrig Parish Church, otherwise known as St Trothan’s. In the churchyard, it’s said, are buried the remains of the so-called Selkie Woman. The tale goes that an ageing fisherman once found a baby girl swaddled in a sealskin on a local beach (‘selkie’ translates loosely as ‘seal folk’). He and his wife took it upon themselves to raise the child, but while still young, the girl caused outrage by claiming to have spotted the Devil himself in the rafters of this very church. She later died while giving birth, and her grave can still be found here in the cemetery – a pitted indentation on its surface is said never to dry out.