The Paranormal Database

Children of Lir - two children being turned into swans.

The Swans

Location: Allihies - Children of Lir site
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Site still present
Further Comments: Eva, daughter of King Bov, turned her stepchildren into swans, believing them to detract her husband's attention from herself. She instantly regretted her action but was unable to undo the damage. Nine hundred years passed until Christianity reached the shores of Ireland. The power of Christ turned the children back into their former selves, but incredibly aged. They died soon after the transformation and were buried on this site.

Mind the Edge

Location: Allihies - Cliff near old copper mine, Beara Peninsula
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Mid-1850s-1930s?
Further Comments: After working late one moonless night, a local man returning from the copper mine took a shortcut across a hill. He became lost, and in his confusion fell over the edge of a cliff and died. For many years following the accident, travellers crossing the hill would pause to throw a stone over the edge of the cliff, fearing that failing to carry out the ritual would result in them experiencing the same fatal accident.

Weaver

Location: Annagh - Bridge
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Laden with thread, this phantom was believed to be a tailor who had immorally acquired the thin yarn during his lifetime and was repenting his sins by carrying it upon his back (special thanks to the Churchtown Village Renewal Trust, from their 'The Annals of Churchtown').

Man in White

Location: Annagh - Channeleen
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A cyclist was chased by a strange white figure who refused to speak. The cyclist finally stopped pedalling and threw his lamp at the ghost, who immediately vanished. The Channeleen was also home to a phantom woman who wore black (special thanks to the Churchtown Village Renewal Trust, from their 'The Annals of Churchtown').

Woman in White

Location: Annagh - Unstated property
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1927
Further Comments: While camping close to this property, one traveller awoke to see a white female form standing at a gate. He woke one of his friends who also observed the ghostly figure. The following day the travellers moved on and never returned (special thanks to the Churchtown Village Renewal Trust, from their 'The Annals of Churchtown').

Leprechaun's Shoe

Location: Ardrah - Field in the area
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A small shoe said to belong to a leprechaun was found near the village by a cow herder. Unfortunately, the man forgot to take the shoe home, and when he went to retrieve it the following day, the shoe had gone.

Young Girl

Location: Ballinacurra - Village House
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: 1997 - 2003
Further Comments: While events started small, with electrical equipment switching itself on and off, it was not too long before the occupants returned from a day out to find the furniture rearranged. Footsteps could be heard, doors opened unaided, and apports came and went. One visitor watched a young girl in old-fashioned clothing enter a room and stand by a fireplace. The family moved away in 2003.

Beiceacan

Location: Ballinagree (aka Ballynagree) - Marshland in the area
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Described as sounding like a calf at slaughter, this entity would prey on lone travellers at night, throwing them into the marsh to drown. One man tracked down Beiceacan, and while wearing spurs, mounted the beast and kicked at its flanks. Beiceacan tossed the man onto the roadside and ran off, never to be see again.

Back Breaking Lady

Location: Ballinagree (aka Ballynagree) - Road leading to village
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A white lady who haunted the road leapt on to the back of a passing horseman, beating the rider with her fists. The man galloped home, unable to shake the phantom from his back. The woman faded away as the man reached his driveway. The following morning the man found himself unable to move and he remained paralysed until dying a few months later.

Brian

Location: Ballincollig - Castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Pre-1930s
Further Comments: It was said that a dark room in the castle was home to a ghost named Brian, who would appear on horseback to anyone who ventured into the structure.

White Woman

Location: Ballincollig - Oriel Lodge
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Pre-1930s
Further Comments: A husband and wife encountered a white female phantom standing by the kitchen door, after which they had their bed covers pulled from them by an unseen hand on three consecutive nights.

Killer Woman

Location: Ballingeary - Road towards Droumanallig, 300 metres west of Ballingeary
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A female phantom began to kill those who failed to answer her riddle 'A candle and a candlestick there is, and you fit a couplet to that'. Local man Michael Creedon banished her after replying 'You ought to have got to heaven in time rather than being a ghost as you are'.

Scott

Location: Ballinrea South - Roads around Harbour View
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Circa 1860s
Further Comments: Recognisable by his white jacket as Scott, a local man who died twenty years previous, his phantom on horseback who manifested in the early hours of the morning became tolerated by the nearby villagers. Scott's appearances became less and less frequent, before he finally vanished for good.

Rocking Virgin Mary

Location: Ballinspittle - Roadside grotto
Type: Other
Date / Time: 22 July 1985 onwards
Further Comments: Cathy O'Mahony and her mother observed the statue of the Virgin Mary rocking on its heels. The following night they returned with friends who observed the same event. Since this time, tens of thousands of people have visited the shrine in the hope of seeing something.

Lofo

Location: Ballintubber West - General area
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Unknown, likely pre-twentieth century
Further Comments: Nicknamed Lofo by the local population, this black dog would grow to several times its original size if challenged or acknowledged. A group of men returning from a wake fled from the hound in terror after one man tried to kick the creature, only for his foot to pass through the dog.

Moddra-na-Craeuv

Location: Ballyandrew - Glen of Croke, which stretched from Saffron Hill to Pinegrove
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The phantom woman who once appeared here was said to be a Creagh girl who died shortly after her lover was killed by her father. The Moddra-na-Craeuv, also known as the dog of the Creaghs, also haunts the area.

Vanishing Island

Location: Ballycotton - Off coast
Type: Environmental Manifestation
Date / Time: 7 July 1878
Further Comments: Local fishermen awoke to see a strange new island out to sea, covered with trees and rocks. As dozens climbed into their boats and set off towards it, the island faded from view.

Great Fish

Location: Ballycotton - Somewhere between Ballycotton and Old Head of Kinsale
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Circa May 1906
Further Comments: A fishing vessel reported being attacked by a dark fish the size of a whale. The fish rammed the boat several times, only ceasing the assault when the captain ordered the engines to be killed; after half an hour, the fish disappeared.

John the Baptist

Location: Ballycotton - St. John's well
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Well still present
Further Comments: A rock near the well was said to be the head of John the Baptist, which slowly turned to stone and was weathered by the elements over time.

Killed Animals

Location: Ballydaniel More - Unidentified farmhouse
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The family living on the farm tolerated the poltergeist-like entity which shared their home, which would blow on embers in the fireplace and puff on a pipe. One morning the family awoke and found every animal on their farm dead; blaming the entity, the family moved away.

Bagpipers

Location: Ballyedmond - Fort Field
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The fort in this field was home to four fairy bagpipers dressed in red.

White Woman

Location: Ballygarvan - Small bridge over a stream
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A small bridge over a stream near Ballygarvan was home to a white woman. After appearing to one man who fell critically ill the following day, a priest went to the site and banished her.

Skull

Location: Ballynoe - A Queen Anne mansion
Type: Other
Date / Time: December 2007
Further Comments: A skull discovered in this mansion was quickly linked to the 'ghostly' sounds occasionally heard in the area. Police said the skull was smooth, which indicated regular handling, and was likely to have belonged to a former doctor who lived in the building in the 1800s.

Mary

Location: Ballytrasna - Unnamed farm
Type: Other
Date / Time: August 1991
Further Comments: After having a vision of the Virgin Mary, a farmer converted part of his farm into a shrine which he named House of Mercy.

Former Students

Location: Ballyvourney - Ballyvourney De Salle College
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2000s
Further Comments: After numerous stakeouts, CPI (Cork Paranormal Investigators) are convinced that this disused college is home to several entities, including a priest, a young boy and four teachers. The sound of laughing children and the ringing of a bell are just a few of the incidents reported.