The Paranormal Database

A ghostly officer standing in a snowy field.

General White

Location: Aghaboe - Abbey Field
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This general commanded the 17th lancers during the Crimea campaign and was thought to haunt a field close to where he was born.

Figure

Location: Ballybrittas - Fisherman's Inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown (likely 2000s)
Further Comments: A ghostly figure is said to stand by the fireplace here, while other witnesses are reported to have spotted orbs (whether in photographs or real life is not clear).

A ghostly figure standing in a lake.

Headless Figure

Location: Ballyfin - Lake
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A phantom man who haunted the area was banished into the lake by a local priest. At some point during the banishment, the ghost lost his head.

No Ploughing

Location: Ballylusk - Old burial ground
Type: Curse
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A farmer who tried to plough this sacred land died after falling and banging his head. The two horses drawing the plough died the following day.

Hearse

Location: Ballylusk - Roads around an old burial ground
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A man returning home after visiting the local public house was said to have encountered a phantom horse and cart containing a hearse.

Tiny Footballers

Location: Ballyroan - Marshy field west of village
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A worker returning home took a shortcut across a marshy field and watched several tiny men playing football. The worker was told to kick the ball, but he was unable to touch it. When he finally did kick the ball, the worker was knocked to the ground. When he recovered, the tiny footballers had vanished.

Fear

Location: Donaghmore - Donaghmore Workhouse Museum
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Some staff were said to avoid certain rooms in the museum, while visitors have reported cold spots, a sense of fear, and the feeling of being watched.

Queenie

Location: Emo - Gandon Inn Hotel & Restaurant
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: More often felt rather than seen, the ghost here picked up the nickname Queenie.

Dazzling Figure

Location: Mountrath - Old barracks
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Midday, 1986
Further Comments: A dazzling, coloured figure was seen standing in the second floor window of the old barracks by two brothers as they walked towards the building. More curious than scared, they investigated the site and realised there were no floors inside, so nowhere the figure could have stood.

Grey Lady

Location: Mountrath - Roundwood House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Folklore placed a phantom grey lady as haunting the Green Room in this country house.

Vanishing Hitchhiker

Location: Mountrath - Unnamed road in the area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: In this version of the vanishing hitchhiker story, a woman is picked up outside the town and asks to be dropped off at the top of the road which leads to the cemetery. If the woman is followed once she steps out of vehicle that has given her a lift, she is seen entering the cemetery and fading away.

Large Black Dog

Location: Portlaoise - Exact area unknown, possibly Ridge Road
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Nineteenth century?
Further Comments: A black hound haunted the area where a man was once murdered.

Headless Horseman

Location: Portlaoise - Green Mill Lane and/or Ridge Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Local folklore says that the site of an old mill is home to a headless horseman. One version of the story says the horseman was a coach driver who failed to duck while passing under a low bridge.

Flying Coins

Location: Portlaoise - Laois Shopping Centre
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: 2020
Further Comments: Coins were seen being thrown into the fountain by an unseen hand, and the witness later found three old ha'penny pieces in their pocket. A mobile phone on display in a Tesco store was thrown to the floor.

Young Girl

Location: Portlaoise - Ridge of Maryborough (graveyard)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Circa 2010
Further Comments: A dog walker claimed to have been frozen with fear after spotting a girl with a pale face laying on a gravestone. The witness heard screaming as they walked away from the site.

Accident Prone

Location: Portlaoise - Road between Stradbally and Portlaoise
Type: Other
Date / Time: Mid eighteenth century
Further Comments: After dozens of serious and fatal accidents occurred along this road, a priest walked the distance reciting prayers. The accidents ceased to occur.

Footsteps

Location: Portlaoise - Togher Woods
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Visitors to this piece of woodland after dark have been unnerved by footsteps and the feeling of being stalked.

Something

Location: Rathronshin - The Dullow Bush
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A vague entry in the Laois Burial Grounds Survey 2011 says that the word Dullow is used to describe a phantom, although details of the haunting are not given.

Rats protecting hidden treasure.

Large Hound

Location: Rock of Dunamase - General area
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This area is reputedly haunted by a huge black hound which protects treasure buried somewhere under the structure. Another version of the legend says a swarm of rats and not a dog protect the treasure.

Richard Ely

Location: Roscrea - Ballaghmore Castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Richard was shot in the castle by a poacher and has remained here since. One of the flagstones is still discoloured by his blood.

Funeral Procession

Location: Timahoe - Main street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A out-of-place funeral procession passed through the village mid afternoon, although none of the locals recognised any of the mourners. It was later suggested that the procession dated from the Great Famine.

Strange Light

Location: Timogue - Churchyard
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This churchyard would be illuminated by unearthly light and night, and the locals whispered that fleeting white shapes could be seen darting between tombstones.