The Paranormal Database

Screaming

Location: Cushendall - Ossian's Grave
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 17 October 2015
Further Comments: As this witness asked his partner to marry him, both heard an almighty scream which lasted several seconds - after the sound subsided, their ears rang for hours afterward. A legend says that Ossian lies resting in the grave, rather than dead, awaiting the moment he can arise.

William Tannahill

Location: Dunmurry - Clothing Mill
Type: Post-Mortem Manifestation
Date / Time: 1963
Further Comments: For a three week period after William the night watchman died, his footsteps could be heard patrolling the factory and leaving his former cottage. When a new evening guard was appointed, the footsteps ceased.

Chieftain

Location: Dunseverick - Dunseverick Castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: After committing an unnamed heinous crime, this leader became doomed to remain earthbound after death.

A magic lantern slide of the Giant's Causeway.

Finn's Bridge

Location: Giant's Causeway - Rock formation
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Rock formation still present
Further Comments: Finn McCool, a hero of Ireland, created this rocky causeway to enable a Scottish giant to cross the sea so they could fight. MacCool won the duel after dressing as a baby; the Scottish giant fled home, tearing up the bridge to prevent the Irish giant from following. Also, the ghost of a boy who drowned here in 1910 is still seen playing on the rocks - he wears a soaking wet sailor's suit and vanishes if spoken to.

Moaning

Location: Glenarm - Glenarm Castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A woman living at the castle had every room in the castle exorcised, driving the phantom which haunted the building into the attic where it could be heard moaning and stomping. It is unclear whether is occurred before or after a ghostly woman in brown wearing a mob cap was seen. A footman in old garb has also been seen in the garden.

Triangular-Headed Creature

Location: Glenavy - Aghnadarragh Road
Type: Other
Date / Time: August 2012
Further Comments: While walking towards the village, one witness spotted a sixty centimetre tall demonic looking creature with a triangular shaped head. When the creature spotted the witness, it shuffled over a fence and disappeared. UFOs and strange sounds are also reported to have occurred along the same stretch.

Handloom Weaver

Location: Glengormley - Road from village to Hightown
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: After he died, an elderly handloom weaver took to quietly walking the road.

Small Missiles

Location: Islandmagee - Unidentified former clergyman's house
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: 1711
Further Comments: The widow living on this property had small stones and other missiles thrown at her as she sat alone. On another occasion, a book in her hands was snatched by an unseen force and promptly vanished. While we would attribute this to a poltergeist outbreak today, the events led to a witch hunt, and while the women accused were found not guilty, they were assaulted by an angry mob.

Strange Noises

Location: Islandmagee - Old house constructed on site of disused graveyard
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Nineteenth century
Further Comments: Sounds like carts running over cobblestones were reported here, while one person reported being pushed by an unseen presence.

Strange Man

Location: Islandmagee - Old road leading to post office
Type: Post-Mortem Manifestation
Date / Time: Circa 1895
Further Comments: One woman reported being followed by a strange man as she walked her dog to the post office. She passed several friends during the journey, but none could see the fellow a short distance behind her. Three weeks later it was discovered that her friend's brother had died at sea around the time of the sighting.

A ghostly nun.

Drifting Nun

Location: Lambeg - Area outside the graveyard
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Moving from the former site of Lambeg house, this shade vanishes as she reaches the gate of the local churchyard.

Thrown Turf

Location: Larne - Ballygowan area
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Stones and turf rained down (or were thrown into) on several houses in this area, accompanied by 'satanic' laughter.

Piper

Location: Larne - Devil's Churn (cave) and unidentified cottage in the area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Date unknown, although said to occur at midnight
Further Comments: A piper ventured into this cave and never emerged. It is said that at midnight his pipes can be heard being played deep under a cottage in Larne.

Footsteps

Location: Lisburn - Army Base, Packard Road (no longer standing)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1996-2000
Further Comments: It was reported that this base was haunted by disembodied footsteps and moaning. Items would also be found moved or thrown around.

Footsteps

Location: Lisburn - House along Piper's Hill
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: Circa September 1958, reoccurring between 12:00h-12:45h
Further Comments: Although this house had been boarded up, the neighbours could hear someone walking up and down the staircase in heavy boots. When asked about the property, the former owner of the empty house claimed that she and her family had been harassed by an unseen presence which tossed people and large objects around. Dragging chains were heard immediately outside the house.

Tall Woman

Location: Lisburn - House along Piper's Hill
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Pre 1958
Further Comments: Another house on the hill became home to a tall, ghostly woman, her clothing resembling that of a Huguenot, who would manifest in by the fireplace and walk into the kitchen before vanishing.

Nurse

Location: Lisburn - M1, heading towards Belfast
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Circa 1969
Further Comments: A young woman with long dark hair, wearing a tartan coat and carrying a suitcase, was spotted walking in the centre of the motorway by a passenger in a car. As the car drove past, the passenger turned to look at the figure from out the back window, but she had vanished. The witness later learned that the woman had been seen by others and was thought to be a nurse knocked over and killed along the road.

Headless Piper

Location: Lisburn - Piper's Hill, near the Linen Museum
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This poor ghostly piper is said to have lost his head after an accident with a cannon ball.

Angel Holding a Palm and Crown, by Annibale Carracci.

Scoop of Earth

Location: Lough Neagh - Waters of the lough
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Fionn mac Cumhaill, aka Finn McCool, created Lough Neagh when he picked up a lump of earth and threw it at a Scottish rival. He missed, and created the Isle of Man. Another story says a castle once stood on the site, but the owner insulted a passing angel who sank the castle into the earth and covered the area with water. The lough is also said to be the home of a peist.

OD

Location: Newtownabbey - House near Tynan Drive
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: January 1993
Further Comments: A local minister prayed in this house after a resident claimed to have had their throat grabbed by an unseen force. Furniture also moved across the floor. While local folklore said a former occupant had died of an overdose in the house, no evidence existed of the event. Workmen boarded up the property after the residents permanently left.

A magic lantern slide of Dunluce Castle in Ireland.

Man in Purple Cloak

Location: Portrush - Dunluce Castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Named as either Peter Carey (an English invader) or Richard de Burgh (Earl of Antrim), this ethereal figure now walks around the broken towers of the castle. A white lady (possibly Mave Roe) also haunts the place; she died of a broken heart after being denied marrying her true love. Another story tells that, during a fierce storm, the castle's kitchens collapsed into the sea - the screams of the staff can be heard as they forever fall to their doom.

Young Puma

Location: Portrush - General area
Type: ABC
Date / Time: 2006
Further Comments: The press reported that people should not approach a large cat if seen in this area, following several sightings in quick succession.

Dr Westall

Location: Portrush - Golf course
Type: Post-Mortem Manifestation
Date / Time: Late nineteenth century
Further Comments: Dr Westall was halfway through a game of golf with two friends when he was called away to attend to a patient. Unfortunately, the doctor died in an accident during the journey. Soon after, when the two friends took to the golf course again, they heard a phantom voice shout 'fore!' and the sound of a ball being hit. This occurred on the same green from which the doctor was called away.

Bed Fellow

Location: Portrush - Holiday bungalow on outskirts of town
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown (but pre-1965)
Further Comments: A woman with her family staying at the holiday home felt something crawl over her bed and lay at a right-angle. The woman reached out and could feel the arm of another woman in the bed - she fled and woke other members of the household who were unable to find anything out of the ordinary. After the event repeated on subsequent nights, the room was left locked and unused for the remainder of the holiday.

Old Brazils

Location: Ramoan - Off coast
Type: Environmental Manifestation
Date / Time: Eighteenth century
Further Comments: A strange island, likely to be a Fata Morgana, was said to periodically appear off the coast. The island was covered in trees, ruins and tall towers, and would always disappear at sunset. It is not clear whether this phantom land was 'Old Brazils', an island which appeared once per year along the Antrim coastline.