County Donegal Ghosts, Folklore and Paranormal Places
Piper Piping
Location: Ballintra - Cave system known as Pullans
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Moonlit nights (reoccurring)
Further Comments: The sound of pipes echoes throughout this cave structure on certain nights, as the ghost of a piper tries to find his way out.
Green Lady
Location: Ballyshannon - The Barracks, Erne Bridge
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This old garrison building was said to be haunted by a green lady, though little more is known about her.
Fight
Location: Bundoran - Close to an unidentified stream in the area
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The local giant fought another giant who wandered into his land. The local giant managed to kill the newcomer, who, it transpired, was his son.
Fairy Bridges
Location: Bundoran - Roguey Walk, Tullan Strand
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: It was said that the Fair Folk danced upon the Fairy Bridges, which are actually naturally formed sea stacks. There is also another formation close by known as the Wishing Chair.
Eaten Calves
Location: Convoy - Unnamed farm
Type: ABC
Date / Time: October 2012
Further Comments: After two calves found half eaten, fears were expressed that a large cat was on the loose in the area. A local RSPCA inspector said it was unlikely that a dog would be able to cause so much damage to the dead animals.
Blue Lady
Location: Creeslough - Unnamed manor house (now demolished)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Pre-1966
Further Comments: The appearance of a phantom woman in blue was said to be so common that she appeared every night. After a team of friars intervened, the ghost was never seen again.
Thrown Stone
Location: Crolly - The Large Rock Of The Foxes Leap, aka Crolly Stone
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: Fionn Mac Cumhaill threw this large boulder during the pursuit of Diarmuid and Grainne but missed his targets. It is said to grant a wish if three small stones can be successfully thrown on top of it. Another legend says the boulder will roll if the most beautiful maiden in the all the land stands in its shadow.
Weeping Statue
Location: Dungloe - Kerrytown shrine
Type: Other
Date / Time: 29 September 2009, 8pm
Further Comments: Fourteen people claimed to witness crosses that formed in the sky above the shrine, before the statue became animated and began to weep.
Humped Creature
Location: Fintown - Lough Muck
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: 1885
Further Comments: A female witness reported seeing a strange creature with two humps in the lough.
The Captain
Location: Gola Roads, Inishinny - Bunbeg, general area
Type: Post-Mortem Manifestation
Date / Time: Nineteenth century
Further Comments: After a particularly fierce storm, the body of a boat's captain known to the locals was discovered on the shoreline. His body was taken back to the mainland, though shortly after he briefly appeared in the hamlet, standing in the doorway of a hut.
Pair of Lovers
Location: Greencastle - Site of ruined castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The daughter of Earl William and the son of Sir Walter Burk fell in love; unfortunately, their parents were mortal enemies. When Earl Williams discovered the relationship, he locked the young man in a tower to starve to death. When Williams' daughter tried to help her lover, she was killed. The pair are now united as spectres.
Dancing Fairies
Location: Lough Derg - Exact location not known
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: Mid nineteenth century
Further Comments: A group of children encountered between eight and ten fairies dancing to music. One of the little people charged towards the children, striking one girl with a plant - the children ran home, and the girl who was hit later collapsed, only waking when a priest visited her.
Rowing Boat
Location: Lough Derg - Waters of the lough
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Late nineteenth century
Further Comments: A phantom rowing boat was said to haunt this body of water, although no crew could ever be seen within. It would be accompanied with music and voices.
Suileach
Location: Lough Swilly - Waters of the lough
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Sixth century
Further Comments: Suileach was a huge creature with many eyes and spread terror throughout the county. The creature is thought to have been killed by Saint Colum Cuille in the sixth century.
Unknown Creature
Location: Lough Waskel - Waters of the lough
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: 1940s?
Further Comments: A fisherman is said to have caught a strange brown creature covered in creamy blotches here.
Blue Figure
Location: Manorcunningham - Sharon Rectory
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twenty-first century
Further Comments: This property featured in several media outlets in 2021 when occupant Emma Louise Tully said she had been physically attacked by ghosts. Tully had also encountered a protective blue misty figure, thought to be Sara Waller who was murdered on the site.
White Woman
Location: Raphoe - General area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1875, midnight
Further Comments: After a tall ghostly white woman began to walk the streets at night, it was reported many residents refused to leave their homes after dark.
Length of Life
Location: Raphoe - Well (no longer present)
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Pre-1911
Further Comments: This well was said to inform people how much longer they had to live. If someone looked into it and the water bubbled and overflowed, they had a long life ahead of them. However, if the water level sank lower, then the end was nigh.
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