'It’s an escape from everyday life and you just never know what you might find’

A DUNSHAUGHLIN woman who is a part of a magnet fishing craze says there's a "whole world to discover" beneath Irish waterways.

Kayleigh Mackey is a part of an underground community of enthusiasts who meet up and search the canals and rivers for metal treasures.

Guns, lamp posts shopping trolleys and phones are among the discoveries made by people who have taken up magnet fishing, a New Age hobby that involves dropping a powerful magnet tied to heavy-duty ropes into a body of water with the purpose of pulling out metal objects.

The pursuit has become an online viral sensation with Tik Tok videos Kayleigh posted getting hundreds of thousands of hits.

"It's an escape from everyday life and you just never know what you are going to find," she said.

"We have pulled up milk trolleys, bikes, scooters, coins, phones, you name it, if its metal you'll find it at the bottom of a river.

"Groups of friends that have gone out have pulled up lamp posts, knives, safes and even bullets!

"Every piece that gets pulled up from a river or canal always has a little bit of history behind it and I think that's what I love about it so much.

"You are not just pulling up things for the sake of it. You are cleaning the canals and rivers and you are getting a bit of history as well."

The Dunshaughlin mum-of-one can add crime busting to her CV thanks to her unusual leisure interest as she explains:

"The most interesting things that I have discovered over my time doing this has to be motorbikes.

"Last year we pulled up a motorbike from Spencer Dock in Dublin. It took four of us to pull it up along with a car with a hook onto it.

"We later found out that it was actually stolen from a house in Wicklow and it was driven from there right down to the Grand Canal in Dublin and chucked into the water.

"If we manage to get any kind of vehicles out of the water, we have to get in touch with the local gardai, they arrive and then a tow truck will be sent out. Then the vehicles go through a test to see who the owners are who are then notified."

Kayleigh's partner Alainn O Maolagain - introduced her to the quirky pastime when they met three years ago and it has since become a much loved family day out.

"We get out whenever we can. It might only be once or twice a year, we do it as a family. It's the best fun, it's just something a little bit different.

"You can go online and buy what is basically a giant magnet and these magnets can pull up to a tonne weight out of the water.

"I got my partner one a couple of years ago for Christmas, the one he has is called ‘The Beast’, the kids magnets are ten times smaller and they are called the ‘mini beasts’ so we are just a family of little beasts that go out!

Kayleigh and Alainn set up a Facebook group where fellow magnet fishing loving enthusiasts can come and share pictures of their metal hauls!

"We are trying to build the community," said Kayleigh. "We started out with a very small group and then we started a Facebook page and the amount of followers we have gotten is. On Easter Sunday we went out and people had travelled from the likes of Wicklow and Kerry to come out with us."

There are a number of protocols to adhere to prior to heading out to forage for jewels of the ocean, or canal in this case.

"Obviously there is a safety aspect and if we have the kids with us we will make sure they are wearing life vests being so close to the water," explains the Dunshaughlin woman.

"Also before we go out we have to get in touch with the local county council just to let them know where we are going to be so they can collect anything that we are not going to be bringing home with us."

Kayleigh's partner Alainn's passion for metal started when he began using a metal detector a number of years ago as she explains.

"He and one of his friends used to go out metal detecting in local fields obviously getting permission from the landowners beforehand.

"It's amazing what you'll find on the beach. We were in Achill Island last year and we came across a child's identity bracelet that gave details of a medical condition and it had a hospital number on it. It turns out that these people were over on holidays from the UK and we managed to get it back to them."

Forget the Costa Del Sol or the French Riviera, Kayleigh and co hope to undertake expeditions over seas to see what waterways in other cities have to offer!

"My partner wants go to over to the Thames and do some mud larking, that's where the tide is really low in a canal you can get in there with your waders or a pair of wellies and that's when you can get the really good stuff!

Find "Magnet Fishing Ireland #MFI" on Facebook.