Dara deFaoíte - Paranormal Ireland: An Investigation into the Other Side of Irish life

APPENDIX

CO. ANTRIM

The ruin of Dunluce Castle near the Giants Causeway on the Antrim Coast is haunted by the plaintive singing and unrelenting floor sweeping of a woman known as Maeve, who drowned with her lover while attempting to elope in a small boat across the rough northern sea.

- Dunluce Castle, Portrush, Co. Antrim. Tours of castle ruins organised from April to September. Contact the Northern Ireland Tourist Board, ph. 028 90246609.

The ancient ramparts and hallways of Ballygally Castle is said to be haunted by a noble woman reputed to be in constant search for her lost children.

- Ballygally Castle, Ballygally, Co. Antrim. A three star hotel open to guests year round, ph. 028 28583212.

The ghost of Elizabeth Dobbin is believed to aimlessly wander the corridors of Dobbins Inn Hotel at Carrickfergus. This lady of the house was murdered by her husband, a former mayor of Carrickfergus, who caught her in an act of infidelity with a man he is also said to have butchered.

- Dobbins Inn Hotel, High Street, Carrickfergus, Co. Antrim. Two star hotel open to guests year round, ph. 028 93351905.

A number of walkers in woodland at Downhill, near Benone caught sight of an Alien Big Cat (ABC) at least 20 inches tall. The matter was highlighted in the Belfast Telegraph on 16 August 1997 but no specimen was ever found.

A wild fur-covered beast, nicknamed The Beast of Ballymena is said to roam the woodlands in the towns immediate area. The animal could not be catagorised by witnesses as large cat or dog as it was allegedly seen standing on its hindquarters.

CO. ARMAGH

The heritage city of Armagh is reputedly haunted by the ghost of vicious murderer Bellena Prior who was tried and hanged for the crime of boiling her neighbours child alive in 1888. Her desperate apparitional figure has been seen in many of the citys old quarters.

- Information on city tours available from Armagh City and District Council, ph. 028 37529600.

Reports of cattle mutilations in Co. Armagh during 1997 mystified local farmers as they could not be ascribed to any known dog or wild beast. The incident featured in the Fortean Times magazine at the time. Cattle mutilations in the US have long been linked to UFO activity.

CO. CARLOW

The canal lock at Bestfield, north of Carlow town, is said to be haunted by the ghost of a drowned haulier. Since the end of the nineteenth century boats moored at night or passing through Bestfield Lock have heard strange knockings on the hulls of their craft.

- Bestfield lock, Bestfield, Carlow, Co. Carlow. Further information from Waterways Ireland, ph. 01 8680148.

Six large, darkened grass circles appeared on the surface of three football pitches in Clonegal during the summer of 2002. The circles, measuring 30 feet in diameter, each contained a smaller inner circle. Local folklore tells of a fairy carriage which travelled along the towns river.

Huntingdon Castle, built in 1625 in the picturesque village of Clonegal in south Carlow has amongst its ghosts a troupe of Franciscan Friars who patrol the grounds 800-year old Yew Tree Walk. The castle is also haunted by Lady Esmonde often seen with her spectral white cat. The ghost of 18th century Bishop of Limerick James Lesley has also been encountered at Huntingdon.

- Huntingdon Castle, Clonegal, Co. Carlow. Tours of gardens and house available on request, ph. 054 77552.

CO. CAVAN

A field on the estate of Ross Castle known locally as hangmans hollow is believed to be haunted by the ghost of Richard Nugent, lord of the castle in the mid-sixteenth century. Nugent was famed and feared under the name of the Black Baron and was infamous for hanging men and women alike.

- Ross Castle, Mount Nugent, Co. Cavan. For holiday rental year round, ph. 049 8540237.

The small village of Killeshandra has its own death warning, like the banshee, but in the form of a Black Coach which has often been seen down the ages racing through the town and back roads. The area is said to have been a sacred site for druidic ritual 3,000 years before the advent of Christianity.

CO. CLARE

The phantom village of Kilstiveen, said to have been swallowed by the sea in ancient times, comes into view beneath the surface of the Atlantic in a bay south of Lahinch as a forewarning of death and disaster.

The ground at Rineen Hill near Lahinch is said to produce haunting experiences for those who camp upon it. Tents are mysteriously uprooted in calm weather and belongings are scattered. Rineen Hill was a spot where many dead British soldiers were laid out after fighting in 1916.

CO. CORK

The townland of Coomhola, three miles north of the seaside town of Bantry, is regularly used by UFO interest groups as a sighting ground for UFOs. There was a flap of UFO sightings in the area in the early 1990s.

The spectre of a White Lady haunts the ramparts of Charles Fort near Kinsale. Her form is that of Mrs Wilful Warrender, the daughter of the first colonel of the fort, in the late seventeenth century. She threw herself off the battlements after her new groom, Sir Trevor Ashurst, was accidentally killed by Colonel Warrender who then killed himself in despair.

- Charles Fort, Kinsale, Co. Cork. Tours of fort available daily between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. contact Cork and Kerry Tourism, ph. 021 4255100.

Fishermen on Lough Attariff witnessed a long, dark brown monster with large glittering eyes in the summer of 1966. They said the creature was over 100 yards away and they could tell by its size that it was no ordinary aquatic animal.

The Medieval ruin of Ballynacarriga Castle near Dunmanway is the home of a fearsome and devilish Pooka believed to dwell in the darkened depths of a chute, known as Moll the Pookas Hole still standing in the old tower.

- Ballinacarriga Castle, Dunmanway, Co. Cork. Further information available on castle ruin from Cork and Kerry Tourism, ph. 021 4255100.

The seaside town of Cobh boasts a number of haunted buildings including the Pillars Bar, a former Methodist Church now a public house, which has regular occurrences of poltergeist activity experienced by both staff and customer.

- Pillars Bar, Westbourne Place, Cobh, Co. Cork. Open year round, ph. 021 4815211.

In the summer of 1985, people visiting the grotto at Ballinspittle said they saw the statue of the Virgin Mary move. The phenomenon was reported many more times that year at various grottos throughout the country.

CO. DERRY

In the early half of the twentieth century a funeral carriage was seen traveling through the night sky over Magherafelt. The phantom hearse was seen by many onlookers just days before many members of a well-known family with strong Celtic roots died suddenly.

Springhill House near Moneymore, is haunted by the caring ghost of Olivia Lenox-Conyngham whose family lived at Springhill for over 300 years and whose husband ended his own life with a pistol in his 64th year. Her ghostly image has been seen overlooking the cots of children at the house. The building is now held in fantastic repair under National Trust.