She arrived on the Galway coast last January, shivering and weighing just over three kilos. Today, she returns to her natural warm waters off the Canaries, a fattened and pampered 12kg, courtesy of a Kerry aquarium, Dingle Ocean World.
Omey the turtle was discovered on the island of the same name off the Galway coast.
She had been washed up on Omey during a storm and, according to Mr Kevin Flannery of the Department of the Marine in Dingle, she possibly came all the way from the Sargasso Sea.
She was one of a number to arrive on the shores due to the storms of last winter and spring.
Sea turtles are migratory species who swim thousands of miles. They are among the world's most endangered animals. They are likely to become entangled in nets, hunted for their meat, and their nesting grounds are disturbed and their eggs robbed.
Several loggerhead turtles, natives of the Caribbean and the Mediterranean, have been nursed back to health in Dingle Ocean World.
Omey was so weak there were fears she would not survive. Fed by drip and nursed in water temperatures raised one degree at a time to an optimum 23 degrees, the young female soon began to thrive, Mr Flannery said.
Eight loggerheads suffering from thermal shock have been nursed back to health so far in the aquarium. Two shark-attacked turtles are currently being treated. An exhibition on the lifecycle of turtles which is aimed at raising awareness of the creatures is running at the aquarium.
An increasing number of turtles are being washed up on Irish shores, having been caught on the gulf stream, Ms Maire Griffin, manager of the Dingle aquarium said.
Omey flies out tomorrow to Gran Canaria from Shannon with the holiday company Falcon/JWT. "Eventually she will make her way back to the Gulf," Ms Griffin said.