My middle-grade book, Brendan’s Supernatural Assignment, was inspired by one of Ireland’s most famous residents, Fungie, the dolphin. Since 1983 this loveable and friendly guy has been entertaining everyone off the coast of Dingle, a beautiful seaside town in County Kerry, Ireland.
Fungie has spent almost his entire adult life alone near the harbor, and that is really unusual. In 2019, the Guinness Book of World Records named Fungie, the oldest solitary dolphin in the world.
I first saw Fungie when I traveled to Ireland with my dad to visit my grandmother’s home located right across from the bay in Dingle. Boat tours take residents and tourists to watch Fungie flip, dive, and splash in the bay every day. Children cheer and laugh when he approaches, and everyone applauds. The townspeople adore him and have even built a statue in his honor.
The bronze sculpture of Fungie, is by American sculptor, James Bottoms.
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