The Paranormal Database

Enchanted Eel

Location: Dunkettle - Lake close to small graveyard
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This eel must have been of great size, as it terrorised the neighbourhood, eating sheep and cattle. A man tending the graveyard encountered the creature one morning and severed its tail with a hook. Enraged, the creature attacked but the man managed to run away. What happened to the creature after that is undocumented, but the man in question died a few days later, and one of the headstones in the graveyard is said to be decorated with a hook and an eel.

Lame Man

Location: Dunkettle - Lanes in the area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: People walking alone would report hearing his phantom's dragging footsteps a short distance behind them (hence the Lame Man's nickname), the ghost's disability not hindering the speed of his movement even when witnesses broke into a run. After failing to escape the phantom footfalls, one brave man stopped to confront the ghost only to come face to face with a skeletal figure. Crossing himself, the man whispered a prayer and the ghost vanished.

White Lady

Location: Dunlough - Three Castle Head (aka Dunlough Fort) (no longer accessible)
Type: Crisis Manifestation
Date / Time: 22 December 1996?
Further Comments: The ruined fort is said to be haunted by a white lady, a sighting of which is a prelude to grave misfortune. According to interviews, Sophie Toscan du Plantier may have encountered something that scared her at the sight the day before her murder. The O'Donoghues, the last family to live there, all died by either murder or suicide. Legend is that a drop of blood falls from one of the towers into the nearby waters every day.

Pooka

Location: Dunmanway - Ballynacarriga Castle (aka Ballinacarriga Castle)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This fairy/ghostly entity lurks down a depression known as 'Moll the Pooka's Hole'.

Water Horse

Location: Dunmanway - Lake Attariff
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: June 1963 (or 1966)
Further Comments: Mr W J. Wood was trout fishing at this lough when he observed a three metre long dark brown creature some ninety metres away. Wood said that the creature had a head like a calf which was held above the water line. After a couple of minutes, the creature sank beneath the water. A Japanese film crew visited the lake in 2004 to search for the monster, without success.

Man in Black

Location: Egmont - Purdon's Gate, now the entrance to Connor's Wood
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A tall phantom man in black would stand by this gate from midnight until two in the morning. He was said to be a soldier killed on the spot (special thanks to the Churchtown Village Renewal Trust, from their 'The Annals of Churchtown').

Girl

Location: Enniskean - Long Lane
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Late nineteenth century?
Further Comments: A phantom girl bathed in pale light was said to haunt this lane. One witness watched her drift over a fence, vanishing on the other side.

Ceylon

Location: Galley Head - Sea off Galley Head Lighthouse
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1840 - 1880?
Further Comments: The Ceylon was a barque wrecked on the rocks close to Galley Head around 1840, breaking up with the loss of all hands on board. For many weeks after the sinking, the ghostly ship replayed its final moments, and sightings reputedly so common that local fishermen ignored the phantom. Unfortunately there is no record of a ship by this name sinking here.

Sea Monster

Location: Galley Head - Sea off Galley Head, heading towards Queenstown
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: 26 April 1907
Further Comments: Captain J.C. Robinson, famous for assisting in the rescue of 712 Titanic survivors, encountered a sea monster while acting Chief Officer of the Campania. The creature, which Robinson sketched, had a neck which rose eight or nine feet (243 - 274 centimetres) out of the water, the trunk of which was twelve inches (30 centimetres) thick.

Cliodhna

Location: Glandore - Coastline
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: Weather dependent: Stormy weather
Further Comments: Cliodhna, the Banshee Queen, met Keevan of the Curling Locks during a feast at Tir Tairngire. She fell in love with the mortal and they escaped in a ship, landing in Glandore. Keevan set off inland to hunt, leaving Cliodhna to sleep on the beach. Depending on the storyteller, Cliodhna either drowned while sleeping or fairies tracked her down and returned the queen to Tir Tairngire. Cliodhna is still heard when the conditions are right, a deep and hollow roar emerging from the caves along the cliffs of Glandore.

Pregnant Woman

Location: Glandore - The Druid's Altar
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This stone circle is haunted by the ghost of a woman who drowned herself only a few weeks before she was due to give birth. She is said to have had an unhealthy interest in the stones, hence her ghost returned to the area. The stones are also said to be haunted by the souls of those sacrificed by the druids. A psychic brought here in 1935 reported seeing a priest wearing blue and saffron robes standing at the altar, poised to sacrifice another human. The psychic also watched dancing men and women stab each other while working themselves into a frenzy.

White Woman

Location: Glanmire - Graveyard in the area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This phantom white woman would stand by the graveyard gate after dark. Mistaking the ghost as a real person, one man bid the phantom a good evening, to which the woman replied, 'It is a fine night for the dead, but the living should be in bed'. The man fled back to his house and remained in bed for the rest of his days.

Dead Husband

Location: Glanworth - Labbacallee (aka The Hag's Bed), wedge tomb
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Stone still present
Further Comments: Sheela, a giant's wife, killed her husband after throwing their bed at him - he had argued with her and struck her shoulder with an axe. His body still lays under the tomb, and Sheela can be heard in times of national crisis calling out her husband's name. Another story says four treasure hunters arrived at the stone and started to dig beneath it. Before long, a cat appeared with a burning tail. The light blinded the men and they staggered off, one falling into the River Funshion and drowning.

None Can Leave

Location: Glashakinleen - Unknown field in the area containing a fort
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Early twentieth century
Further Comments: This field was said to have been cursed, so if entered after dark it would be impossible to leave before dawn. Strange lights would also be reported dancing around the trees and bushes.

Frog Spawn Woman

Location: Glashakinleen East - Road from Newmarket
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown - poss early twentieth century
Further Comments: Mr Sheahan spotted a female ghost sitting behind him in his car. He stuck the blade of his penknife into her, and she fell into the road. When he travelled back later to have a look, there was a pile of frog spawn there!

Serpent

Location: Gougane Barra - Nearby Lake
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Sixth century
Further Comments: St. Finbarr arrived in this area and found a serpent living in the lake. He caught the beast and threw it to one side. It landed many miles away, the impression of its body in the earth filling with water and becoming Lough Allua.

Footsteps

Location: Granard - Unnamed house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: John Murphy was working away from home and slept in this house. he was awoken by footsteps in the kitchen. As he went to investigate, the footsteps moved into the yard - John could see nothing. Upon arriving home, Murphy spent three weeks in bed and refused to stay in the haunted house again (special thanks to the Churchtown Village Renewal Trust, from their 'The Annals of Churchtown').

Mary Dolofus

Location: Greenfield - Old hospital (no longer standing)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Nineteenth century?
Further Comments: This hospital was said to have been run by a protestant doctor who would only treat people of the same religion. After the site was left empty, it was said to have become haunted by a woman named Mary Dolofus.

One of the phantom hounds of Ireland.

White Hound

Location: Imogane - Jer. Sullivan's Cross, travelling from Liscarroll
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: While walking to Imogane from Liscarroll, a white dog appeared next to Matt MacMahon and accompanied him home. When Matt opened the gate leading to his house, the hound vanished (special thanks to the Churchtown Village Renewal Trust, from their 'The Annals of Churchtown').

Red Capped Fairies

Location: Inchigeela - Close to a stream?
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A group of fairies dancing around in the moonlight ran away after being told they should talk to a priest to have their question of 'will they go to heaven' answered.

Our Blessed Lady

Location: Inchigeela - Gortaneadin Grotto
Type: Other
Date / Time: August 1985 onwards
Further Comments: Since 1985 there have been reports of Our Lady appearing to a select few, communicating messages of peace, love and warnings against anger.

Nigheag Na H-ath

Location: Inchigeela - Stream
Type: Crisis Manifestation
Date / Time: Prior to a death
Further Comments: This phantom manifests as an old lady who sits quietly on the bank, her name translating to 'little washer of the ford'. The clothes she washes are covered in the blood of those who are soon to die, and sightings of the washerwoman normally indicate a forthcoming violent death.

Tail Touch

Location: Kanturk - Barrets Corner
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Mr Foley was said to have encountered a phantom hound while passing through this area. The dog's tail brushed against him, and later that night Foley was unable to sleep. He died a few days later.

Foal

Location: Kanturk - Exact location not known
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Every seven years
Further Comments: This phantom foal would appear - to see it was supposed to indicate your death within a day.

Angry Dog

Location: Kilbrittain - Road two miles west from the village, and continuing east of village
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Circa 1830s
Further Comments: Three men heading towards Kilbrittain from Clonakilty encountered a large black dog which followed them until they reached a cross in the road, where the hound disappeared. The group split up at this point, but one man reported that the dog reappeared behind him, snapping at him until he arrived home at Ballinspittle. A priest blessed the area where the creature first appeared, and there were no more reported sightings.