Sammy the Seal: A Biography

Wicklow has given birth to myths and legends that have reverberated throughout the country and beyond. Many of our legends have been born of the sea that surrounds and feeds us, a heroic fisherman bravely stuck to a ship’s wheel or a born adventurer laying the transatlantic cables.

But one legend stands above all as our most prized. There is one legend that swims through the veins of Wicklow Town and beats along with its ever-beating heart.

That legend is Sammy the Seal.

A man of few words, Sammy’s home of origin remains unknown to this day, and like any wandering gunslinger from a Western story of old – he tells us nothing of his past, preferring to show us who he is through his deeds and actions.

Sammy is known worldwide for going where no seal has gone before, his never-ending quest for fish taking him from the mouth of the River Vartry all the way to Wicklow’s South Quay where he can be found hunting every day.

While other seals may shy away from, even fear, coming up close and personal with the land-dwellers of Wicklow Town, Sammy often flops up to land and faces onlookers with a heart full of defiance and a stomach full of herring.

Though Sammy has made many friends since swimming to Wicklow, his most personal confidant is The Fishman on Wicklow’s South Quay, with The Fishman feeding Sammy at 9.00am, 1.00pm, and 4.00pm every day.

Sammy even gives back to the community as Wicklow Town’s most effective traffic controller whenever he rises from the watery depths, proving that everyone should do their part to nurture an atmosphere of fellowship.

And Sammy’s epic story is still being written to this day, and you can watch it all unfold before your eyes. Just look to the sea.