Whale’s 64-foot skeleton to be encased in glass

A ‘SLEEPING beauty’ style case of reinforced glass is to be constructed for the giant skeleton of a Fin whale, turning it into a permanent tourism attraction in a west Cork village.

The skeleton of the 64-foot leviathan, which beached at Burn Strand in Courtmacsherry Bay in January 2009, has already been cleaned and reconstructed by a team of local volunteers in time to mount it on a lorry for display during the launch of the Kilbrittain festival next Sunday.

However, as festival organiser Finbar O’Mahony reveals, villagers have even more ambitious plans for the 10ft high skeleton: “We’re now considering making the whale a permanent exhibit in Kilbrittain. It will be displayed in a case of reinforced glass.