The Paranormal Database

Vanishing Island

Location: Achill Island - Off coast
Type: Environmental Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Spotted briefly from the cliffs, the fairy-enchanted island appeared and disappeared.

White Lady

Location: Ahascragh - Castle ffrench
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Reportedly 'benign', this phantom white lady is said to have been a member of the ffrench family who was held prisoner in the Old Tower to ensure she did not escape her arranged marriage.

Short Men in Green

Location: Aran Island - Exact location not known
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: 1992
Further Comments: A fifteen year old boy spotted two figures sea fishing, each just over a metre tall, dressed in green and wearing brown shoes. The figures chattered to each other in Irish before jumping up and vanishing. One of the figures left a small pipe behind which the witness took, although it later disappeared when 'safely' locked away.

Mantelpiece

Location: Athenry - Dunsandle House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Mid-to-late-twentieth century
Further Comments: The ghost of a tall man attached itself to the mantelpiece which was in this house - when a stoneworker took the piece away, the ghost followed both it and him and began to haunt his workshop. Items were thrown around, and strange fiddling could be heard at night. It is unclear whether the new owner returned the mantelpiece or smashed it up.

Woman with a Lamp

Location: Athenry - Wooded area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 31 July 2020, between 03:00h-04:00h
Further Comments: While playing Geocaching, two friends met an older lady with a lamp walking through the woods. Sharing the story once they arrived home, they discovered a family member had also met the older lady around 35 years previous. A legend says that a ghostly lady walks the area, looking for her son who had died.

Screaming

Location: Aughrim - Site of Battle of Aughrim
Type: Environmental Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The battle, fought in 1691, is said to have been the most brutal on UK soil, with up to seven thousand people killed. Folklore says that the screams of dying soldiers can still be heard in the area.

Vanishing island, from Irish Wonders by D R McAnally.

Vanishing Island

Location: Ballinakill - Off coast
Type: Environmental Manifestation
Date / Time: 1860s?
Further Comments: Fishermen reported seeing the mysterious vanishing island that travels around the coast of Ireland.

Vanishing Island

Location: Ballinaleame (according to source, but cannot place on modern maps) - Mouth of bay
Type: Environmental Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Another place where a magical vanishing island reputedly appears and disappears.

White Lady

Location: Ballinasloe - Garbally House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A phantom white lady named as Lady Clancarty haunts the halls, which is also home to a bloodstained stone which can never be removed, even after scrubbing.

A ghostly young girl looks from a window.

Knocking Girl

Location: Ballinasloe - Rathpeak House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: An unknown young girl has sometimes been seen standing by an upstairs window in the ruined house. There are reports of strange, loud bangs which drift from the empty building.

First Irish Case?

Location: Ballybane - Private residence, Clareview Park
Type: SHC
Date / Time: 22 December 2010
Further Comments: The BBC reported that Dr Ciaran McLoughlin, West Galway coroner, had recorded a verdict of spontaneous combustion in a case he had investigated. The body of Michael Faherty had been found in his living room, totally burnt, although damage to the rest of the room was minimal.

Trotting Dog

Location: Ballygar - Lane in the area
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: 1913
Further Comments: Potentially last seen by a cyclist, the black dog which haunted this area would vanish into thin air as witnesses looked on.

Bear-faced Man

Location: Ballymacward - Lane near Woodlawn railway station
Type: Other
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Two people walking home after leaving the station heard groaning coming from over a wall. One climbed up to have a look and observed a creature with a man's body but with the head of a bear. The witness tried to speak to the strange creature, but it told him 'don't speak to me' before wandering off.

Large Eel

Location: Ballynahinch - Bridge near to Ballynahinch Castle
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: 1880s
Further Comments: A long eel-like creature remained stuck under this bridge for two days.

Christopher St George

Location: Clarinbridge - Tyrone House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Christopher came from a strongly Protestant family but fell in love with and married a Catholic woman. His family immediately disowned him, his ghost a testament to his protests of being unfairly treated.

The Poor

Location: Clifden - Clifden Castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Stories say the castle was a place for people to gather during the Great Famine, and those who died remained on the site.

Loathsome Creature

Location: Clifden - Lough Fadda
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: 1954 onwards
Further Comments: After spotting this strange water creature, one of the witnesses had nightmares for weeks after the event and refused to return alone to the lake. She said the creature was long and black, with smooth skin and a head like a shark.

Morby

Location: Connemara - Ballynahinch Castle Hotel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A friendly older man wearing a black hat has been named as Morby, a former gardener who still returns to the gardens post-mortem.

Horned Eel

Location: Connemara - Lough Nahioon (also spelt Nahooin)
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: 22 February 1968
Further Comments: A family watched this creature, almost four metres long, swimming around the lake. It was described as dark and long without hair or eyes, and possessed two horns at the top of the head.

Strangler

Location: Connemara - Renvyle House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Circa 1917
Further Comments: This house is thought to be haunted by the ghost of a man who strangled himself with bare hands. Doors are reported to open and close unaided, while figures have been seen reflected in mirrors. One phantom on the site is named as 'Old Mrs Gogarty', and little is known about the ghostly man dressed in tweed.

Figure in the Window

Location: Creggs - Rookwood House (demolished 1950s)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Pre 1950s
Further Comments: A former owner of the house bricked up an upstairs window after repeatedly seeing a figure staring down at him when his home should have been empty.

Castle Dunanore (public domain).

Murdered Pirates

Location: Cummer - Castle Dunanore
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Sometimes one can see a ghostly pirate ship drop anchor just off the coast; the battle scarred sailors use smaller boats to row to the castle where they carry chests and sacks of gold and jewels into the ruined structure.

Raiders

Location: Derryclare Lough - General area
Type: Other
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This lough sprung into existence when a raiding party threatened to kill people taking refuge in a local church; a nearby stream gushed water with such force that the raiders were drowned and the area flooded. The men can still be heard groaning at the bottom of the lough.

Soldier

Location: Feenish Island - Area around castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: An unknown amount of gold hidden somewhere in this area is guarded by a ghostly soldier.

An old postcard of Galway Bay.

Pig Fish

Location: Galway - Bay
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: 28 June 1885
Further Comments: A sea monster caught by a fishing crew was seen by thousands of people. The creature was described as nine and a half feet (2.9 metres) long, weighed 136 kilograms and had silvery skin. The head had a long pig-like snout, cow-like eyes, and two rows of teeth, each tooth around two inches (5 centimetres) in length. The creature also had an underbelly of sharp thorns. The Dublin Museum later identified the creature as a bramble shark.