The Paranormal Database

Nun

Location: Galway - Hole in the Wall public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The ghost of a nun has been seen descending the staircase before vanishing.

Ellen

Location: Galway - Menlo Castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Ellen, or Eleanor, was the daughter of Lord Blake and died in a mysterious fire together with two maids. Eleanor's presence is reputed to remain.

Faceless Nun

Location: Galway - Mick Lally Theatre, and nearby roads
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Early 1980s?
Further Comments: The faceless nun who walks the area may have been heard by a lone worker in the theatre, although he did not hang around to confirm the theory.

Tall Man

Location: Galway - Newcastle area (possibly neighbourhood known as Granville)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: November 1908
Further Comments: Two men walking in the evening encountered a dark human-like shape, some nine feet (2.74 metres) in height. The figure vanished as it moved closer, only to reappear further down the road. The following night, a party armed with sticks and pistols tried to find the entity. They succeeded, although as one man took aim with his revolver, he dropped the weapon and fainted. The entity vanished once again and never returned.

Moving Toys

Location: Galway - Private residence, Corrib Park
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: May 1997
Further Comments: A haunting presence made itself known in this house shortly after the birth of a girl. Unexplained footsteps and crying could be heard, toys rearranged, items would fall from the walls, and a jug shattered after being thrown on the staircase. Although frightening, family members believed the entity was protecting the newborn. The family eventually moved out and a priest visited to bless the rooms.

WB Yeats

Location: Galway - Renvyle House hotel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Yeats treated this building as home away from home and is believed to still reside here. Several of the rooms are also haunted by the ghosts of children.

Third Floor Ghost

Location: Galway - Subway sandwich shop
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: May 2017
Further Comments: This shop enjoyed a brief surge in online publicity when some news outlets showed a poster on display which stated, 'Ouija boards and seances are not allowed to be performed in this shop'. It was reported that the manager believed the third floor to be haunted and did not want anyone attracting more ghosts.

Claddagh Nun?

Location: Galway - The Long Walk
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: February 2012
Further Comments: An image from photographer Jonathan Curran showed what looked like a nun standing along the Long Walk at Claddagh, although the woman may just be a living person who popped up at the wrong time...

Murdered Woman

Location: Galway - Unidentified house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: October 1890
Further Comments: Thousands of people were reported to have stood outside this house after the ghost of a woman appeared in a window. She had been murdered by her husband fifteen years previous and had recently manifested to a couple walking to church, asking them to say a prayer for her.

Rhino-Like Creature

Location: Glinsk - Lough Dubh, aka Black's Lake, between Glinsk and Roscommon
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: March 1962
Further Comments: A cow-sized creature was hooked by a man and his son out fishing along the river - the monster emerged from the water after the younger of the two snagged it with his hook. The strange beast was described as having short stumpy legs, small ears, and a single horn protruding from its nose.

An Irish cryptid.

Water Horse

Location: Gort - Coole Lake
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The lake is said to be home of a mysterious water monster resembling a horse.

Norman

Location: Gort - Islandmore Castle (also known as Thoor Ballylee)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1989
Further Comments: W B Yeats believed his summer home to be shared by a ghost of a Norman soldier, although a photograph taken 1989 shows a shadowy child.

Giant Eel

Location: Gort - Lough Graney
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: At least one swimmer in the Lough has been chased by a wriggling water monster, named by locals as a giant eel.

Monk

Location: Headford - Ross Errilly Friary
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A phantom monk that haunts a staircase creates cold spots and occasionally appears in photographs. Ghosthunters visiting the site may have also photographed a ghostly lady.

Vanishing Island

Location: Inishark (aka Inishshark, aka Shark Island) - Off coast
Type: Environmental Manifestation
Date / Time: Nineteenth century
Further Comments: Islanders spotted another island which disappeared without trace.

Head of an Angel by Alphonse-Henri Perin.

Angelic Construction

Location: Kilmacduagh - Round Tower
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Saint Colman MacDuagh prayed overnight as angels constructed the stone tower, the tallest pre-modern building in Ireland. Another piece of folklore says no man will die from a lightning strike while in the diocese of Kilmacduagh.

Hasty Construction

Location: Kilmacduagh - Round Tower
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Upon hearing that a local chieftain intended to kidnap her, a woman hired two workers and together they constructed this 28-metre-tall stone tower overnight. When the chieftain and his men arrived the following morning, the woman dropped heavy rocks from the window at the top of the tower, driving the gang away.

Large Swimming Creature

Location: Lough Auna - Waters of the lough
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: 1960s
Further Comments: A local farmer spotted a grey creature in the lough during the sixties, while in 1969 Royal Netherlands Air Force Commodore Kort claimed to have witnessed a life form with a pointed back swimming through the water.

Partying

Location: Loughrea - Castle Daly
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The echo of a party, complete with music and laughter, can be heard from the building, though some reports say the celebrations end with screams and cries for help.

Sad Old Man

Location: Maam Cross - Old dirt road running along a hill
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This phantom stands on a sharp bend in the road - cars have passed straight through him.

Thrown Cutlery

Location: Monivea - Knockbrack House (demolished 1948)
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: Pre 1948
Further Comments: Invisible hands threw cutlery from the dining table and, on another occasion, a group of black-clad people entered the house before disappearing through a wall.

Butler

Location: Monivea - Monivea Castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: After taking his own life, the butler took to frequently appearing in the castle. A priest relocated the phantom to the garden, where the ghost worked to keep nighttime intruders away.

Tapping

Location: Oranmore - Oranmore Lodge Hotel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Reputed to be haunted, other than tapping on the windows, the exact details of the non-threatening ghost that lurks here are not clear.

Rolling Head

Location: Oughterard - Aughnanure Castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A phantom head reputedly rolls around the floor and the sounds of someone choking occasionally fill the air. It is also claimed a former gamekeeper haunts the site.

Rachel

Location: Rosmuc - Screebe House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Rachel Ward, Countess of Dudley, drowned in the waters a short distance from the house in 1920. Although quiet now, the countess's phantom haunted the house for many years.