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County Kilkenny Ghosts, Folklore and Paranormal Places


A ghostly miner within a cavern.

Miners

Location: Castlecomer - Deerpark Coalmines
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Local folklore says that phantom miners still walk to the pit.

Lady with Crutches

Location: Kilkenny - Area around St John's Parochial Hall
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: May 1969
Further Comments: Moving around on crutches, the ghost of a tall lean woman with flowing hair and long coat has been reported around the hall.

Bells

Location: Kilkenny - Deanery
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The old servant bells were said to ring themselves in the early hours of the morning.

Sleeping Sentry

Location: Kilkenny - Foulksrath Castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 29 November (reoccurring)
Further Comments: A guard at the castle once fell asleep while on duty and was thrown from the battlements by his superior officer as punishment. Once a year, his footsteps are heard as he walks around to make amends for his inappropriate actions. A ghostly woman can also be heard as she moves around on a staircase, accompanied by the smell of wildflowers.


Ghostly figures standing by a river.

Drowned

Location: Kilkenny - John's Bridge
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Weather Dependent: Misty mornings
Further Comments: The bridge collapsed in 1763, the accident sending a crowd of people into the river below and many to their deaths. When there is a slight mist over the river, some believe those who drowned can be seen.

Lady in White

Location: Kilkenny - Kilkenny Castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This female form is said to occasionally appear on a staircase and in the garden. A legend says this ghost (or perhaps others) ensure that no guest will have a restful night within the castle.

Not Dame Alice Kyteler

Location: Kilkenny - Kyteler's Inn public house, Kieran Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Alice Kyteler was accused of witchcraft after the death of her fourth husband in 1325. As the mob approached Kyteler's home, she fled. The angry crowd grabbed Kyteler's maid and executed her instead, possibly unaware of their mistake. The maid is now thought to haunt the site.

Dame Alice Kyteler

Location: Kilkenny - St Canice's Cathedral
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Alice Kyteler was a fourteenth century witch (well, she was tried for witchcraft) who now appears on the stairs close to the western window.

Footsteps

Location: Kilkenny - Watergate Theatre
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2014
Further Comments: The caretaker of the theatre said in the local media that they had heard footsteps and voices in areas which were empty, and that the ghost would stand in the gantry.

Wolf Men

Location: Kingdom of Ossory - Ossory was a sub-kingdom, most of which was in County Kilkenny
Type: Werewolf
Date / Time: Sometime before 1100
Further Comments: It was said that men from this kingdom could transform into wolves whenever they pleased. However, while in wolf form their human bodies would be left at home. If moved, the person would be trapped as a wolf for the rest of their life.

Lights

Location: Knocktopher - Knocktopher Abbey
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The abbey has long been said to be home to ghostly lights, which may have been connected to a rumoured secret tunnel. Today the site is said to create mysterious light anomalies on camera.

Hurlers

Location: Lough Cullen (aka Holly Lake) - Waters of the lough
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Nights of the full moon
Further Comments: Ghostly hurlers reputedly come out when the moon is full and play on the surface of the lough, shouting until engulfed by the water. After they vanish, a phantom witch (who is credited with creating the lake) appears and cries out, 'An luachair, an luachair!'. Another story told of Lough Cullen claims it is bottomless.

Coach and Horses

Location: Paulstown - Shankill castle (aka Shankill Castle)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Several entities were said to have taken up residence around the castle, including a phantom coach which would arrive outside the front door, an older man seen on the first floor, ringing bells and a phantom monk. A gate on the site would open itself; even after concreate had been used, the following day the gate was found open and bent.

Records 1 - 13 of 13

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