The Paranormal Database

Ruins of the castle, copyright Phil Willis.

Sinking Coach

Location: Antrim - Antrim Castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 31 May (reoccurring)
Further Comments: A coach pulled by a team of four horses which sunk into the pond drowning all on board is seen repeating the tragic accident once a year. In addition, a stone wolfhound which stands by the gateway is said to have once been flesh and blood - the dog gave a warning to an advancing sneak attack upon the castle before turning into rock. It now safeguards the Clotworthy family name on the condition it is never removed. Finally, the sound of heavy breathing can be heard coming from the ruined building.

White Lady

Location: Antrim - Clotworthy House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1993
Further Comments: Investigating strange sounds after dark, a security guard spotted a white figure standing in a room. The guard closed the only door leading to the room to trap the figure, but the apparition vanished without trace.

Bloody Puddle

Location: Antrim - Mussenden Temple library
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A mysterious patch of blood occasionally appears on the floor of this building, evaporating away a few minutes later.

Hanged People

Location: Antrim Town - Corner of the Belmont Road and Cunningham Way
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A few residents of the area have spotted ghosts of people hanging from the trees. Local folklore says that this was once the location of a hanging tree.

Female Cyclist

Location: Antrim town - Dublin Road (poss. British Road), towards the airport
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: 1991
Further Comments: While travelling to work, a man spotted a young girl wearing a long 1900's type dress cross the road on an old fashioned bicycle. When the witness reached the point where he had seen her, he realised that there were no gaps in the heavy hedge rows and that on either side of the road deep ditches leading into heavily ploughed fields made it impossible for anyone to cross at that point.

Operation Big Cat

Location: Ballybogy (aka Ballybogey) - General area and surrounding countryside
Type: ABC
Date / Time: 2003
Further Comments: A joint army and police team created 'Operation Big Cat' after two dead calves were found and a local man admitted releasing a puma and a panther from his private collection. Although there were dozens of sightings and livestock attacks, the cats were never caught.

A ghostly black nun.

Black Nun

Location: Ballycastle - Graveyard
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A local legend says if you walk around Julia McQuillan's (aka the black nun) grave seven times clockwise, seven times anticlockwise and then place your hand through the hole in the grave, you will summon the ghost of the nun. McQuillan was a recluse who became renown after issuing seven prophesies, including the coming of the aeroplane and motorcar.

Lady Isobel Shaw

Location: Ballygally - Ballygally Castle Hotel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: Lady Isobel jumped to her death from an upper window to escape a slow lingering death administered by her husband. She now knocks on various doors before running away. Madame Nixon is named as another ghost to be found here and can be recognised by the rustling of her dress.

Hell Gate

Location: Ballymena - Dundermot Mound
Type: Other
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Dundermot Mound is reported to be the location of a secret entrance to hell - occasionally it opens, releasing demons who take any witnesses straight to the underworld.

Coachman

Location: Ballymena - Dundermot Mound
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A phantom coach and four rides around the area. The ghostly driver will ask anyone he spots 'is the bridge at Glarryford still up?' - any answer the witness gives will ensure that they will die within a year (so I suggest looking at your feet and saying nothing).

Headless Horseman

Location: Ballymena - Road leading to the White Gates, Crebilly Road area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 31 October (reoccurring)
Further Comments: A robber escaping from a house rode into a thin piece of wire tightly pulled between the gateposts here, losing his head in the process. His decapitated shade is either seen or heard at Halloween, still on horseback.

Carrie

Location: Ballymena - Tullyglass Hotel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2000s
Further Comments: Carrie is believed to have died in the tower around two hundred years ago when the Tullyglass was a mansion house.

George Hutchinsons

Location: Ballymoney - Main Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Midnight, every Friday the thirteenth (reoccurring)
Further Comments: With a large metal ball chained to his ankle, George 'Bloody' Hutchinsons walks one way down the street before turning back again. It is reported that anyone who can prevent him from completing his journey will dismiss the spirit forever.

Pipe Smoker

Location: Ballymoney - Private residence
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2010s
Further Comments: A few ghosts are said to haunt this property. A couple of female forms flitter around, while a male pipe smoker and an authoritative man are also reported. Poltergeist-like activities have included banging sounds, doors opening, and footsteps.

Cleaners

Location: Ballymoy - Ballymoy Castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Saturday (reoccurring)
Further Comments: Invisible wraiths are said to sweep the castle clean each Saturday.

Face in a Coffin

Location: Belfast - Crumlin Road Prison (now a museum)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A visitor who lay in a coffin for a photograph later realised that the captured image showed a strange face next to his. It is worth noting that the photograph is likely to be a case of pareidolia rather than the paranormal. The prison is also home to a phantom man seen walking down C Wing, and the sounds of both male and female voices.

Hand Holder

Location: Belfast - Friar's Bush area - tunnel running between two areas of Queen's University
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: One person reported a phantom hand which clasped their own as they walked through the tunnel.

White Outline

Location: Belfast - Grey Point Fort, Helen's Bay
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: August 2003
Further Comments: While on a day out, the Garvin family caught a white shape on their video camera. When slowed down on replay, they reported a figure which resembled a Second World War soldier.

HMS Caroline, copyright Phil Willis.

Stoker

Location: Belfast - HMS Caroline
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Currently undergoing refit as a museum, HMS Caroline is reputedly home to a phantom stoker who is said to have committed suicide on the ship.

Hitchhiker

Location: Belfast - Horseshoe Bend
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1970s onwards, last seen 2008
Further Comments: A vanishing hitchhiker is reported to haunt this area, last seen by a group of five friends driving through the area.

Phantom

Location: Belfast - McAuley Street Mill
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1882
Further Comments: Little is known about the ghost which made a sudden appearance at the old mill here in the nineteenth century.

Victorian in Crinoline

Location: Belfast - Old Belfast Crown Court
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1980s
Further Comments: It was reported that RUC officers on night duty watched a Victorian lady wearing Crinoline ascend the back staircase and continue along the corridor, before disappearing through the end wall.

Apologise to the Tree

Location: Belfast - Ormeau Golf Club
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: Tree still present
Further Comments: If the fairy tree found near the course is hit by an errant golf ball, the player is advised to apologise to avoid the wrath of the little people. Even if not struck, it is said that golfers nod at the tree as they pass. Just in case.

Sitter

Location: Belfast - Private house along Finaghy Road North
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Occupants in a bedroom in this house would report feeling something sitting at the base of a bed. Footsteps would also be heard pacing in the room.

Fading Man

Location: Belfast - Private house along Windsor Avenue
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Early 1970s
Further Comments: Unable to sleep one night, this witness turned over in bed to see a semi-transparent young man smiling down at her. He had very short hair, wore a collarless shirt and had braces on his trousers. The witness said there was a warm and friendly atmosphere in the room. The ghostly figure slowly faded away.