The Paranormal Database

Victorian Lady

Location: Belfast - Private house, Fromme Street (since demolished)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1970s
Further Comments: Gerald J Tate wrote that his brother awoke to find a young Victorian woman in his bedroom. She wore a blue dress and had around her neck a locket holding a shiny stone. The brother fled the house and ran to his parents who lived just around the corner. A few years later Gerald was talking to a co-worker when he discovered the man's uncle had lived in the same house and had experienced some violent poltergeist-like effects, including almost being pushed down the stairs by an unseen force.

Prison

Location: Belfast - Private residence, Ashley Gardens
Type: Other
Date / Time: 1954
Further Comments: Two men were imprisoned for a month after illegally entering an alleged haunted house along this road. Police confirmed in the courthouse that the site had a reputation for being haunted, although no witnesses came forward to claim they had seen a ghost.

Large Figure

Location: Belfast - Private residence, Twaddell Avenue
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: May 2008
Further Comments: A large black figure with a bald head was spotted standing by a bed. The figure held his hands down his sides and appeared angry. Some people on the site felt they were being watched after dark, while the back door of the premises would close by itself.

Dark Figure

Location: Belfast - Queens Bridge
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The mysterious cloaked dark figure on the bridge who just disappears is thought to have been a suicide victim from over one hundred years ago.

Queen's University, copyright Phil Willis.

Malfunctions

Location: Belfast - Queen's University
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A room in the Peter Froggatt Centre is notorious for causing equipment to malfunction, only to work perfectly when removed from the area. Stranmillis is home to a graveyard close to which visitors report feeling their clothing being pulled at. One story says the library is home to an older man who walks through the wall.

Victorian Woman

Location: Belfast - 91 Beechmount Grove (no longer standing)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: June 1989
Further Comments: John Skillen released a book of his experiences in this house where he lived with his family. During their time here, the ghost tossed John against a wall and slapped his children. The family moved away after the attacks escalated.

A rather dramatic green UFO over Belfast.

Green Triangle

Location: Belfast - Above Yorkgate shopping centre
Type: UFO
Date / Time: 12 November 2006
Further Comments: Shoppers at the centre reported seeing a green triangular ufo cross the sky above them.

Galloper Thompson

Location: Belfast - Alexandra Park Avenue and Shore Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Nineteenth century
Further Comments: A member of the Thompson family who loved horses died and took to galloping along the Avenue after dark (the horse taken from the family stable and normally found exhausted the following day). The haunting ceased after the ghost, nicknamed 'Galloper Thompson', was caught in a bottle and tossed into the sea.

Black Man

Location: Belfast - Arden Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: October 1972
Further Comments: A brief myth which sprang up around Halloween, the streets were said to be the haunting ground of a black figure which could change size.

John Savage

Location: Belfast - Ardilea Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Nineteenth century?
Further Comments: John Savage owned a few properties along this road. After he committed suicide, his ghost was said to return to this area.

Footfalls

Location: Belfast - Belfast Prison
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: October 1986
Further Comments: A prison officer reported hearing heavy rubber-soled boots while on his rounds, even though all staff were issued with sneakers. Believing his co-workers were playing a joke on him, he checked up on them, and found that they were playing cards. A couple of hours later, the officer heard a voice call out 'numbers C3', though once again could not find who was responsible. Asking his co-workers if they were 'playing around', they denied it, and recommended that the officer did not say anything to anyone.

Matron

Location: Belfast - Belvoir Park Hospital (closed 2006)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: When this hospital was operating, stories claimed a ghostly matron walked the wards, the sound of her dress rustling along the floor. Since closing, it is claimed security staff have been spooked by shadows and strange sounds.

Wailing Man

Location: Belfast - Cave Hill (aka Cavehill)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1913 onwards
Further Comments: The wails and cries of a man could be heard on multiple occasions during 1913, although the noises ceased when investigators grew close. Two years later, a hovering figure caused a witness to panic and flee. The remains of a skeleton found in 1922 were later identified as a man who had vanished around the time the first wails were heard.

Lion

Location: Belfast - Cavehill Park, Upper Hightown end
Type: ABC
Date / Time: 31 August 2008
Further Comments: Several independent witnesses called the police to report a sandy coloured cat in this park. The nearby Belfast Zoo reported no animals missing. A search of the area by police failed to find the feline.

Daniel Joseph Jaffe

Location: Belfast - City Cemetery
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Daniel is said to have started haunting the area around his monument after it was vandalised.

Ethel

Location: Belfast - Craigavon House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: December 2014
Further Comments: East Coast Paranormal Society carried out an investigation on this site and claimed to have caught a bearded figure reflected in a mirror. Another entity said to haunt the building is 'Ethel', a former matron who worked on the site when it was a hospital.

Amelia

Location: Belfast - Crown Bar
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2008
Further Comments: Paranormal investigator Michael Hirons claimed to have contacted a former prostitute named Amelia and previous landlord Michael Flannagan during a seance. Amelia is said to have broken her neck after falling down the stairs of the bar.

Wind

Location: Belfast - Raphael Street
Type: Other
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: It was said that even on calm days, a strange wind would pass along this street, blowing items over and along with ease.

Biddy

Location: Belfast - Smithfield area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Biddy is said to haunt the area where she drank herself to death after inheriting two hundred and fifty pounds. Her ghost is said to wander the area. In addition, Smithfield was also the location of J. J. Herdman's Mill, where in 1900 an accident killed 13 women and girls. Their ghosts were reported for many years after the tragedy.

John Savage

Location: Belfast - The Brickyard
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Nineteenth century landlord John Savage slit his own throat after suffering what is thought to be a state of depression. His ghost was said to haunt the brickyard.

Helena Blunden

Location: Belfast - The Irish Linen Mill (currently a print shop)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: N/A
Further Comments: A known hoax which claimed a woman named Helena fell on the basement stairs and was dead before she hit the bottom step.

Figure in Carriage

Location: Belfast - Ulster Folk and Transport Museum
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: October 2017
Further Comments: The local press published a photograph of a spooky looking figure sitting in a train carriage, although the 'ghost' is most likely accidentally created using a slow shutter speed.

Woman Drinking Coffee

Location: Belfast - Vicarage Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This female ghost walks down the street carrying a cup of coffee in one hand and a cigarette in her other.

John Herdman

Location: Belfast - Waterworks
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Shot in 1862, John Herdman is said to haunt the area of the Waterworks.

Shadowy Figures

Location: Belfast - York Road Railway Station
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1970s - present
Further Comments: A strange person has been reported sitting in the locked canteen at night. This may be the same figure glimpsed in the running sheds - during a bungled robbery, a man was either shot or beaten and subsequently died from his injuries. Night staff have also reported hearing disembodied footsteps in the area and on one occasion, having a fire extinguisher thrown at them.