Falling river levels reveal sunken ship in Cork after weeks of drought

After a nearly record drought across Ireland - the low water levels are revealing a new sight in one river in Co. Cork . Cork County Council have issued a warning about a sunken, 20ft vessel that's partly protruding from the Ballindee area of the Bandon River. The alarm was raised by a concerned local to the Kinsale Harbourmaster. Crews are now carrying out further investigations into the report and trying to determine the boat's exact location. Cork Beo understands the vessel has likely been in the water for a long period of time, but only became visible due to the lack of rainfall in last month's drought . Local Councillor Gillian Coughlan said the Bandon River is an "extremely historic waterway" and hopes that more will come to light about whatever was found in the water. She added: "It would have been a very busy thoroughfare historically. I know Collier's Quay, just down the road from Kilmacsimon Quay, would have seen a lot of coal brought on boats. Subsequently with the plantation, we would have had linen and cotton transported on the water too. "If it is an extremely old vessel, which we don't know for sure yet, would that then mean the water levels haven't been that low in such a long amount of time?" In an update this afternoon, a spokesperson from Cork County Council told Cork Beo: "Cork County Council has been made aware of the location of the sunken vessel in the River Bandon and has issued a Notice to Mariners. The area was surveyed this morning, with no issues of concern identified. "A further survey will be undertaken at low tide this afternoon. The Council will continue to monitor the situation closely and, should any concerns arise, the appropriate measures will be implemented." It comes as similar reports emerge from across Europe following the recent heatwaves, where historic and long-forgotten artefacts are being revealed due to low water levels. Many discoveries are taking place along the River Danube, which flows through ten countries in central and eastern Europe, as water levels hit record lows. In Serbia for example, dozens of Second World War German battleships have started poking above the water for the first time in over 80 years. These ships are believed to have been sunk by Soviet fire, as Germany retreated from Romania in September 1944. Meanwhile, in northern Bulgaria, there has been a much more historic find - well-preserved, giant bones on the Danube riverbed, believed to have belonged to a woolly mammoth. Specialists at the country's Regional History Museum are investigating the remains, which are estimated to be thousands of years old. So far, scientists have identified a jawbone, fragments of tusks, part of a shoulder blade and a femur from the ancient beast, which was around 3m tall and weighed up to 10 tonnes. While the discovery in the Bandon River may not be as exciting - it's not the only new sight being revealed by the low water levels in Cork at the moment. The long-forgotten Castle Inch , located in the Lee west of Ballincollig , has also been barely popping up above the water again in recent days. This 600-year-old structure was partially demolished in the 1950s - and then submerged by rising waters after the construction of the Inniscarra Dam. Posting online as The Cinematic Country , historian Hugh Wright has shared a fascinating video going into the history of the castle, which he first thought was just an "unusual rock" in the river. The castle was built by the Barretts in the fifteenth century, after the family arrived with the Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland in the 1100s. The castle became a stronghold for the Barretts, who owned all of the lands around what is today Ballincollig, including Ballincollig Castle - but during the 1500s Castle Inch would be passed back and forth between the Barretts and Cork's McCarthy clan in a violent tug-of-war. You can learn all about it and watch his video here.