The Paranormal Database

A reflection in the Well of the Omen.

Shadows in the Water

Location: Ardpatrick - St. Patrick's Well, close to top of a hill
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: 'The Well of the Omen' by Dr Robert Dwyer Joyce states of this well 'Within it gaze the peasants to see what may befall: Who see their shadows down below, they will have merry cheer: Who see not any shadows shall die within the year'.

Fast Moving Coach

Location: Askeaton - Crossroad in the area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Late nineteenth or early twentieth century
Further Comments: While driving along this road, Michael Fitzgerald heard the clattering of hooves close behind him. He pulled over to let whoever was behind him pass, but the sound suddenly stopped. After Fitzgerald began moving, the sound started again, and this time he was overtaken by a phantom coach pulled by ghostly horses.

Sales Pitch

Location: Ballygrennan - Castlepark House (aka The Delmeges)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century?
Further Comments: When put up for auction, one selling point which caught most news outlet's attention was the ghost which was said to haunt the building, a figure which would pass by one of the windows. Workmen on the site also said there was something peculiar with the house.

Sleeping Army

Location: Bruff - Knockadoon earthworks
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A half human, half fairy entity sleeps beneath this hill along with an army waiting for the day they are needed to set Ireland free. The hybrid is said to ride across the nearby lake every seven years on a white horse with silver shoes.

Fionn mac Cumhaill

Location: Caherconlish - Knockeen (little hill)
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This hill was said to be the first place Fionn mac Cumhaill appeared having killed Ceannurran, a one eyed giant.

Fallen in Battle

Location: Glin - Glin Castle (currently an hotel)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1960s
Further Comments: This castle is reputed to be haunted by the souls of those who fell during the many battles on the site. The third floor is said to be home to a poltergeist (encountered by a cook and housekeeper during the 1960s), a ghostly builder named Henry appears on the staircase, and twentieth Earl of Glin still enjoys sitting on a particular armchair.

White Lady

Location: Kilcosgriff - Kilcosgriff Castle (no longer standing)
Type: Crisis Manifestation
Date / Time: Prior to a death in the Langford family
Further Comments: The wife of a former Langford man, this woman now only appears before a death in the family.

Crying Tomb

Location: Kilmallock - Abbey of Kilmallock - the White Stones
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Still present?
Further Comments: The pile of rubble that was once the tomb of Sir Maurice Fitzgerald, also known as the White Knight, is reputedly always wet no matter what the weather. Fitzgerald was cursed by a woman he had mortally wounded to weep for his crime, be he alive or dead.

Fairy Riders

Location: Limerick - Carrigogunnell Castle
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Beneath the castle a company of fairies on horseback wait for the day they are needed. The site is also reputed to be home to a phantom woman who wanders around carrying a candle.

Fading Man

Location: Limerick - Dunnes Stores (aka House of Garryowen)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1970s
Further Comments: One witness watched a fifty year old, grey haired man dressed in tweed slowly fade away, only to reappear and fade away again. An elevator would close its gates and move by itself, while a figure could be seen from the ground on the roof, but never found when the roof was searched.

Children

Location: Limerick - Frank McCourt museum
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: March 2015
Further Comments: After carrying out a seance at the site, the Ghost Eire team said they could 'sense' children in wet clothing and two women.

Wall Walking

Location: Limerick - Old Tom public house (no longer operating)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: A ghostly man in this pub would be known for walking through walls. Unsurprisingly, the site also had a poltergeist, making no friends as it tossed bottles around.

Molly

Location: Limerick - Private residence, Windmill Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2000s
Further Comments: Mentioned on RTE's Pulling With My Parents programme, it was claimed that a house along this street was home to an entity named Molly that took the virginity of one of the occupants. The family left their home after a poltergeist outbreak smashed plates and left handprints on the walls.

Humped Creature

Location: Limerick - River Shannon
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: July 1922
Further Comments: While docked at Limerick, Captain Hugh Shaw and several of his crew reportedly spotted a creature with a three to four metre long neck and single hump moving up the Shannon.

An old postcard showing Limerick's Thomond Bridge.

The Bishop's Lady

Location: Limerick - Thomond Bridge and Castle Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Locally named The Bishop's Lady, this woman is said to have been pushed over the bridge by her partner, drowning in the Shannon. She now looks for others to throw over the bridge. Fingernail-like scratches which can be seen in the bridge are said to belong to either the woman herself or one of her victims.

Dead Hunt

Location: Lough Gur - General area
Type: Crisis Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Said only to be heard by older people, this phantom hunt consisting of invisible hounds would audibly manifest hours before the death of a local.

A guardian bull protects the treasure.

Giant's Gold

Location: Murroe - Garranbane, aka Giant's Grave
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: One myth says that alongside the giant's body is a golden hoard. The last time anyone tried to dig it up, a phantom bull could be heard, scaring the diggers away.

White Lady of Kilcosgriff

Location: Rathkeale - Abbey
Type: Crisis Manifestation
Date / Time: 1914
Further Comments: The phantom white lady from Kilcosgriff Castle is said to have come to this building when a Major Langford died here. She was seen by a nurse treating the Major.

Earl Gerald

Location: Rathkeale - Castle Matrix
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Every seven years
Further Comments: The earl is said to walk under Lough Gur, emerging on the back of a black horse every seven years to visit his former home. Another former earl, James, is also said to haunt the castle - he was murdered by his servants.

Armless Woman

Location: Rathkeale - Churchyard
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Woman unknown, Virgin and Child 2009
Further Comments: A female spectre which haunted the churchyard was so terrifying that all who looked upon her died soon after. A local man banished the shade by slicing off her arm with his sword and praying for the rest of the night. In 2009 the Times newspaper carried the story that a tree stump contains the image of the Virgin Mary and Child, and that hundreds of visitors had come to the area to pray.

Hound

Location: Redhouse Hill - General area
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This location may have once been home to a ghostly hound.

Countess

Location: Shanagolden - St Katherine's Nunnery (ruins)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: It is said that this Countess was mistakenly buried alive under the altar. Her shadowy figure waits and occasionally cries out for her former husband to realise his mistake.