The spots on Cian Mooney's body after his swim.

Mums warn about Lough Ennell parasites

 Two midlands mothers got the fright of their lives recently when their children were left screaming in pain after being attacked by water borne parasites during a swimming trip to Lough Ennell.

Carlow native Niamh Mooney and her two children met up with a friend from Laois, who had her three children and a friend with her, at Lilliput on Wednesday, July 23, for a swim. After a short time in the water, the six children began to complain that their skin felt itchy. Moments later they were screaming in agony.

An instructor working at the nearby Lilliput Adventure Centre came to the stricken bathers’ aid.

The mothers say that the “brilliant” instructor, whose anti-insect bite lotion eased the children’s itching, told them that they had been attacked by “water borne parasites”.

“I got into the water after the children and they said they were really itchy. I thought the midges were at them and I told them to go under water, but it actually made it worse. My son Cian (12) was in the water the longest and he has the worst rash, he is covered from head to toe. They were red raw from itching themselves.

“My little girl (Taragh, 9) cried for a good while as she couldn’t stop itching, ” Ms Mooney said.

“I’ve never seen anything like it. It was very distressing as until the instructor came along we didn’t know what was causing the pain. As a mother you’re wondering how you can make this okay.

“I’ve been going down there all my life and spent my summers at the lake. I swam in the lake all my life and never experienced anything like this. Lilliput is one of my favourite places to go, and has always been. ” In recent years Westmeath County Council have had to issue a number of temporary bathing bans at Lilliput due to concerns about the water quality. The latest ban was only lifted last Thursday, the day after the two families visited the lake.

Ms Mooney’s friend, who declined to be named, said that while she hadn’t known about the most recent ban, which was lifted the day after their visit, she was aware that there had been bathing bans at the lake in the past and “Googled swimming hazards in Lough Ennell and didn’t find anything”. She also said that they did not see any notifications at their bathing spot to inform the public about the ban.

“My youngest was nine and she looked like she had chicken pox. They were crying and screaming in distress. We couldn’t understand why they were so hysterical until we saw the red welds.”

While the children recovered within a few days after taking anti-histamines, she said contacted the paper to raise awareness.

"I just wanted to let other swimmers know about this," she said.