County Clare Ghosts, Folklore and Paranormal Places
Lisananima
Location: Kilcorney - Fort (may no longer be present)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Nineteenth century
Further Comments: Once known as Lisananima, this fort was said to be haunted by an unknown entity.
Beast with Horse's Head
Location: Kilkee - Off coast and near location known as Diamond Rocks
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: 1850 and September 1871
Further Comments: A sea monster spotted several times during the nineteenth century was reported to have a head like a horse, a mane of seaweed, and a large body which was hidden under the water.
Ambush
Location: Kilkishen - Glenwood area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1920s
Further Comments: For years after an ambush which left many RIC men dead, locals reported hearing the screams of wounded people in the area.
Bruckee
Location: Kilkishen - Shandangan Lough
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Nineteenth century
Further Comments: A demonic badger known as a Bruckee was said to live in this area. One witness who claimed to have observed the creature said it was hairy, brown and had eyes the size of turnips.
Bloodied mermaid
Location: Killone Lake - Waters of the lake
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Every forty years, exact date unknown
Further Comments: A mermaid who frequented the lake would often steal wine from the crypt beneath the church (or the cellar of Newhall, depending on the storyteller). She was stabbed (or shot) when caught but managed to drag herself back to the lake before dying. The waters are said to turn red with her blood every forty years.
Letherly
Location: Labasheeda - Erribal House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Nineteenth century
Further Comments: Letherly was hanged for murder, though this did not prevent him from haunting the home of one of his jurors. The phantom's neck was said to be twisted from the hangman's rope, and it was not long before the family called upon an exorcist to rid themselves of the repulsive ghost.
Donn Dumhach
Location: Lahinch - Sandhills around Dough Castle
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The fairy king known as Donn Dumhach was once believed to live amongst the sandhills.
Eel
Location: Lahinch - Sea
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Little is known about the legend of the eel depicted in Kilmacreehy Church, other than it feasted on corpses.
Kilstiveen
Location: Lahinch - Sea west of town
Type: Environmental Manifestation
Date / Time: Prior to disaster (reoccurring)
Further Comments: The town of Kilstiveen was submerged by a giant tidal wave, its inhabitants washed away to drown. The ghost town occasionally is glimpsed by fishermen.
Kilstuitheen
Location: Liscannor - Off coast
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A magical kingdom known as Kilstuitheen or Kilstuiffen once existed in the bay before it was consumed by an earthquake. Every seven years the island briefly returns, any witnesses doomed to die before its next reappearance. It is said the island will permanently return when a golden key belonging to the island's chieftain is rediscovered.
Immortality
Location: Lisdoonvarna - Unknown cave between Lisdoonvarna and Ennis
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The waters of a secret cave located between these two places is said to make the old young, although anyone who was actively sought to bath within it was never seen again.
Kilstiffin
Location: Loop Head - Off coast
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Kilstiffin (or Kilstapheen) is another one of Ireland's lost islands. It was said that towers from the city could sometimes be spotted emerging from the sea, and that localised storms periodically manifested over the site.
Hump
Location: Lough Cullaun - Waters of the lough
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: 24 June 1996
Further Comments: Tony 'Doc' Shiels watched a hump glide through the water, the sighting lasting several seconds.
Sleeping City
Location: Lough Cullaunyheeda - Beneath the waters
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The chieftain of the sunken city, reported to be hidden under the lough, sleeps until needed to win the final battle.
Back Chair
Location: Lough Fergus - Cairns on north shore
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: One of the stones was said to take the form of a chair, where people would sit to cure their backache. It was also said that the water of the lough could never boil, could not drown anyone, and it cured cattle of disease.
Brief Visitor
Location: Lough Graney - Waters of the Lake
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Every seven years (exact time unknown)
Further Comments: Said to resemble a giant eel, this monstrous creature appears only once every seven years.
Not a Banshee?
Location: Newmarket on Fergus - Lough Gaish
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: Early 1900s?
Further Comments: Residents who lived close to the lough reported hearing the wail of a banshee which lasted for several nights. When the cries ceased and no one died, the locals doubted whether the sounds came from a banshee... A little man in green was also spotted in the area. Matching the description of a leprechaun, a witness tried to grab him for his gold, but the little man vanished.
Carrickogunnel
Location: Newmarket on Fergus - MacAulliffe's Castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Holding a bright lantern to lure passing ships onto the rocks, the repulsive ghost of Carrickogunnel lurks around the castle. The other phantom found here is that of a bride who mysteriously vanished shortly after being married.
Monks and Priests
Location: Scattery Island (Inis Cathaig) - Church of St. Mary near the Round Tower
Type: Environmental Manifestation
Date / Time: Nineteenth century
Further Comments: A fisherman caught in a storm sought shelter on the island and went to pray at a ruined church. He encountered many monks and priests within the building, although when he closed his eyes and opened them, the figures had vanished, and the church once more appeared ruined.
Fairy Fort
Location: Shannon - Airport
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: 1958
Further Comments: While constructing a new runway during the 1950s, the chief engineer was warned that the work would result in the destruction of a fairy fort - the location of the runway was changed, leaving the fort undisturbed.
Cavalier on Horseback
Location: Shannon - Bickford House
Type: Crisis Manifestation
Date / Time: Prior to tragedy in the family
Further Comments: The family which once lived in this house were haunted by a Cavalier who would appear galloping towards the building just prior to a death or bad news.
Cold Air
Location: Shannon - Private residence along O'Brien Park
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Between April and November, 2005
Further Comments: A couple who moved into the building experienced a constant coldness throughout the building, even with heating and a fire burning in the sitting room. After moving out a few months later they discovered that a previous tenant hanged himself in the building.
Peist
Location: Shannon Estuary - Close to Scattery Island
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Circa AD 500
Further Comments: Saint Senan engaged a peist in this body of water. The creature, with fiery eyes and venomous mouth, fell after the saint made the sign of the cross, and was bound and thrown into Doo Lough (or Doolough).
Blue Man
Location: Shragh - Bog
Type: Other
Date / Time: Nineteenth century
Further Comments: A blue flame which took the form of a man was said to haunt the boggy land around this village.
Fairy Fort
Location: Templemaley - Ballyhee (fort)
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: Reported 1839, current status not known
Further Comments: This fort, like another in the area and so many in Ireland, was believed to be home to a troupe of fairies.
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