The Paranormal Database

An old postcard showing Achill Island.

Vanishing Beach

Location: Achill Island - Ashleam Bay
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Vanishes every seven years (timings slightly off in real life)
Further Comments: Folklore says the beach on the bay reappears every seven years before vanishing again. The truth is not that far off; a storm washed away all the sand in 2005, only for it to reappear in November 2017 following another spot of harsh weather.

Scaled Creature

Location: Achill Sound - Glendarry Lake
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Circa 1960s
Further Comments: One witness said that this lake monster looked like a dinosaur, with scales running down the back. Another viewer observed the monster on the lake bank - he described it as four metres in length, with a long neck and a sheep's head. It moved in little 'hops'. A photograph taken in 1968 of the monsters is unconvincing.

Donnell of the Yellow Hair

Location: Belmullet - Stone on fortified hill, 4.5 miles southwest of town (current status not known)
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A stone here marked the grave of the giant Dombnall Dual-Buidhe, or Donnell of the Yellow Hair. A dolman once marked the spot but had been removed by 1897.

Flying Lights

Location: Castlebar - Crillaun - fort
Type: Other
Date / Time: 31 October, mid twentieth century
Further Comments: Several lights were said to move in formation from this fort to another on the far side of a nearby lake.

Ringer

Location: Castlebar - Farmhouse on outskirts
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Nineteenth century
Further Comments: A phantom at work in this unnamed farmhouse would ring the front doorbell and could also be heard walking up and door the stairs.

Nun

Location: Claremorris - Old Convent (demolished 2017)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2017
Further Comments: Viewers of a video produced by Frame Production that documented the history of the convent reported seeing a ghostly nun standing by a window in a brief shot. A manager with the production company was quoted in the press as saying he was not convinced that the figure was a ghost.

White Trout

Location: Cong - Cong Lake / Pigeon Hole cave
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The trout is said contain the spirit of a woman who lost her husband to be. One man who caught the fish found it impossible to cook - after several attempts to roast the trout, the fish transformed into a beautiful woman demanding to be returned to her lake. The man did so.

St Patrick

Location: Croagh Patrick - General area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Most common during Lent
Further Comments: Climbers in the region sometimes hear the ring of a hand bell, which encourages them to keep climbing to the summit, though they never see the bell or bell ringer. The consensus of belief is that the bell is rung by St Patrick himself.

Playing Creatures

Location: Croagh Patrick - Lough na Corra
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: 1911
Further Comments: Four people watched several strange black creatures playing and diving around the surface of the lake. They said the animals were larger than horses, which they could see standing on the shoreline.

Godstone

Location: Inishkea Islands - Exact areas unknown
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Godstone pre twentieth century, Crane still present?
Further Comments: The Godstone was said to have granted islanders with control over the weather, credited with increasing the speed of potato growth, and could also put out fires. The stone was cast into the sea at some point in the nineteenth century after a religious man took exception to it. The islands were (or are) also home to an immortal crane - the bird is said to have sat alone from the dawn of time, waiting until the end of the world.

Our Lady

Location: Knock - Knock Shrine
Type: Other
Date / Time: 21 August 1879, 20:00h
Further Comments: Fifteen people witnessed the apparition of Our Lady, Saint Joseph, and Saint John the Evangelist. Close by appeared a lamb and angels.

An old illustration of a boar.

Wet Boar

Location: Lough Cullin - General area
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: While Fionn mac Cumhaill was hunting with his hounds Cullin and Conn, they encountered a boar with water leaking from its feet. He hunter and his dogs gave chase; the boar's leaking feet eventually creating Lough Cullin that enabled it to escape and drown Conn in the process.

Dobhar Chu

Location: Lough Mask - Waters of the lough
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Seventeen century, and 16 June 1963
Further Comments: A man walking along the bank of Lough Mask had a narrow escape when a water beast jumped from the water and tried to drag him into the water. The man managed to escape and ran for his life. Another version of the story says the beast killed him. A creature seen in the lough during the 1960s was described as eel-like with two humps.

An Irish black dog.

Black Hound

Location: Pontoon - Crossing between Lough Conn and Lough Cullin
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This area is reputedly home to a black spectral hound. The ghostly creature is said to cause fear in living dogs.

Cleaning Pans

Location: Scotchfort - Unnamed farmhouse on the bank of Lough Conn
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: Late nineteenth century
Further Comments: After dark, this property was filled with the sounds of doors being slammed, and pots and pans being noisily cleaned, although on investigation, no kitchenware was ever touched.

Serpent or Ghost

Location: Turlough - Fitzgerald's Lake/Pond
Type: Other
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The treasure in this small body of water is protected by either an eel-like serpent or the ghost of a servant, or possibly both.

Cyclist

Location: Westport - Lake
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: September 1995 (or 1996)
Further Comments: While taking a shortcut from the town heading to a Youthways, a witness spotted an approaching cyclist. The witness moved to one side to let the cyclist pass, but bike and rider vanished into the lake.

Cyclist

Location: Westport - Quay area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 11 June 2023, 14:30h
Further Comments: While walking towards the quay, a witness spotted a cyclist approaching. The cyclist was a middle-aged white male, wearing white shorts and struggled to cycle up the hill. The witness became momentarily distracted by a fly, during which the cyclist vanished, with no visible place to have gone. The witness's partner, walking alongside, had not seen the cyclist.

Annie O'Flynn

Location: Westport - Ross House, between Westport and Newport
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Mid twentieth century
Further Comments: A former maid at the house, Annie was said by the owner to have appeared to him many years after her death. She has also been seen or heard by other family members. Other ghostly figures appear seated by the drawing room fire, and one man reported seeing a loathing face at the window.