JACK TALTY UNMASKED AS 'THE CLARE WITCH PROJECT'

Well-known traditional musician Jack Talty has been unveiled as the true identity behind the notorious 'The Clare Witch Project'.

Jack, one Ireland's leading concertina and piano players, is said to be behind the disappearance of many traditional Irish musicians who come to record in his studio and are never seen again. It was originally thought by Gardai that the musicians simply could not find their way home from Lissycasey.

These disappearances fuelled speculation of a Clare Witch roaming the countryside, preying on unsuspecting traditional musicians. However, Talty has revealed exclusively to The Drone that it was he who was behind the disappearances all along.

"This was all part of an experiment. The have always been stories of witches roaming around the countryside here, so I thought it might be a good idea to try and lure them out by using the musicians who came up to my studio as bait."

"I would bring them out into the middle of a field in the dead of night, sometimes after walking back from Fanny O'Dea's, and just leave them there! Irish musicians give off a unique musk that witches love so I was hoping that their presence there would draw them out. I didn't expect every musician to go wandering off and get lost though."

The story of the Clare Witch told of a woman who used to live in the woods surrounding Lissycasey and would wander into the village and drag away any musicians who happened to be passing through in order to get lessons off them. Apparently she was an awful musician herself and would get so frustrated that she would kill the musicians and boil them in a stew.

Some of the lost musicians include Aidan Connolly, Saileog Ni Ceannabhain and Claire Egan, however reports suggest that the musicians may have set up camp in the nearby woods, leaving many locals afraid to venture inside for fear of being cannibalised.

Garda are also investigating the disappearance of concertina player Cormac Begley, who was also last seen outside Talty's recording studio.

"Oh he isn't missing. I knocked him on the head and dumped his body behind Friel's in Miltown. Sure everyone knows I'm the real brains behind Na Fir Bolg anyway."