The ghost of Moylinn.
Family wants out of its ‘haunted house’.
A Craigavon family wants out of its ‘haunted house’ in Moylinn. Mrs Evelyn Lewis has written to the Housing Executive telling how the family cannot tolerate the “ghostly happenings” any more. A month ago, she called in her church leader, Mr Noel McConnell, president of the local Mormon Church, to “have the house blessed.” “This has helped to a degree,” said Mrs Lewis, “But for the sake of sanity, we have to get out.”
Mrs Lewis and her four teenage children live in the four-bedroom house. All of them – as well as her two married daughters – testify to “strange happenings” over the past 10 years since they moved in. Said Mrs Lewis, “Drawers have opened and closed of their own accord, cups have broken, my bed lifted in the air, pots have rattled in the kitchen, and the front door has mysteriously opened and closed.”
“It’s all very eerie,” she added. “Sometimes we feel this ghostly presence, and some members of the family have actually seen them appear.” She added, “My daughter, Mrs Betty Howe, saw a young blonde woman in her bedroom, with her hair combed back, and wearing a white dress. She walked towards Betty, who was in bed, and then she disappeared.” Another daughter, Mrs Annette McCrory, claims to have seen two men, both “in their 30s”, who have “simply smiled, and then disappeared.” And the family claims that their late grandfather was caught up in the strange affair, when “a man appeared in his bedroom, and asked him to come along with him – then the ghost disappeared.”
Things came to a head a month ago, when a cup “smashed in pieces” in front of Mrs Lewis’s eyes in the kitchen. “That really scared me,” she said. “So I called in our Mormon president, who also felt this presence and said a prayer. None of us are superstitious, and never encountered this sort of thing before. But we’re convinced this house is haunted, and we want out.”
There are two theories about the “haunting.” One is that the house is on or near an ancient burial ground, and the second is a death in a family which formerly occupied the house.
Mrs Lewis has written to the Executive and also called at the local office, explaining the case. “People might laugh – and we laughed at the start, too,” she said. “We knew nothing about ghosts before we came here, but now, we’re convinced they exist.” A representative of the Executive is due to visit the family this weekend. “We’ve complained before,” said Mrs Lewis, “and it hasn’t been taken too seriously. But we’ll put our case more forcibly this time, and hope the Executive listens. We’re determined on a move.”
Portadown Times, 24th February 1984.
‘Ghost’ family transfer comes back to haunt the Executive.
Residents of Enniskeen are angry that a family has been allocated a house in the estate after claiming their ‘perfectly adequate’ dwelling in Moylinn was haunted. And they are pressing the Housing Executive to inform them if their points system caters for ‘ghosts.’ Said Mr Raymond Adams, chairman of the Enniskeen Residents Association, “This shambles typifies the way in which the Executive has lost its way in Brownlow in general, and in Enniskeen in particular. They have become about allocations, and this has led to a loss of confidence in the estate, with the result that long-term families are leaving. The end result will be that the area will be down-graded and the careful management of housing officers in the past will be negated.”
He added that many families were considering the purchase of their houses in the estate – “but the Executive isn’t helping the situation.” The “ghost” family, the Lewises formerly of 90 Enniskeen, protested to the Executive about strange happenings in the house during the past nine years they lived there. They claimed several appearances of ghosts, utensils moving in the kitchen, drawers opening and closing, and even a picture that cried.
“Frankly, I find it too fantastic for words,” said Mr Adamas. “And it’s even more fantastic that a so-called ghost is a reason for a transfer, especially to an estate where there is a waiting list.” He added that the Executive’s “careless attitude” towards allocations was also leading to a number of problem families drifting to the estate. “This, more than anything else, is adversely affecting the estate,” said Mr Adams. “If the trend is not reversed , the estate could end up like many others in Brownlow – empty and vandalised.” Residents, he added, had tried everything to persuade the Executive to “properly manage” Enniskeen, “but their heads remain in the sand.”
However, a spokesman for the Executive claimed that the transfer of the Lewis family – in common with all other allocations – was completely in line with laid-down policy. The Executive statement is as follows – “The Lewis family was transferred in accordance with normal transfer policy, which is based on length of tenancy.” He refused to elaborate on the statement.
Portadown Times, 6th April 1984.
Woman tells of a catalogue of ‘strange happenings’.
Couple claim Moylinn house is haunted.
‘I will never spend another night alone in that house.’
A young Craigavon mother has sworn never to spend another night in the Housing Executive home she claims is haunted. Only three weeks ago, Sharon Rodgers from Belfast moved into number 90 Moylinn along with the children, John, aged two and one-year-old Sarah. On her very first night she claims her wall clock fell off the wall, for no apparent reason as the nail was still embedded in the plaster. And since that, she says there has been a catalogue of strange happenings which has resulted in her application for a house transfer.
According to Sharon Rodgers and her boyfriend John Orr, ornaments have smashed against the walls when there was no one in the room. Talcum powder, bird seed and papers have been strewn across the living room floor during the night, they say, and a secure wall electric heater mysteriously fell off and burnt the carpet. Doors, drawers and windows have been banging, John Orr claims, and he says he actually saw cupboard doors and drawers moving of their own accord and the living room suite rise three feet into the air.
This is the second time that 90 Moylinn has made the headlines. In February, 1984, former tenant Mrs Evelyn Lewis got a house transfer from the Executive when she claimed strange things were happening in her home. Sharon Rodgers denies knowing about the claim which was reported in the Portadown Times. She also denies making up these stories because she wants a house transfer.
John Orr said that last Monday night, Sharon rang him to Belfast in hysterics saying that the house was haunted. “To be quite truthful,” said John, “I laughed at her and thought she was imagining things. Sharon does tend to be a nervous woman but I thought I would have to go down and see what was wrong. I have to see something before I believe it. I was brought up in a strict Brethren background and we believe that good always triumphs over evil,” he added. “On Monday night, Sharon and the baby John were over at her sister’s house. I was in the living room and I swear I heard drawers moving in and out and doors banging. I was really scared and spent the rest of the night at Sharon’s sister’s. But it wasn’t until about 10.30 p.m. the next night when I was alone again in the living room that I saw the suite rising about three feet in the air. I ran out of the house nearly in tears but I had left the baby Sarah sleeping in the cot,” said John Orr.
He says that he and his brother-in-law then went back into the house. “Sarah was sleeping upstairs. I lifted her out of the cot and set her teddy bear aside. When we were going over to 118 Moylinn, the brother-in-law told me to turn around. Upstairs in the front room window, we saw the teddy bear floating around the room. There was nobody there. When I ran out, I left the lights on but they were off whenever I came back.” Both he and his brother-in-law say they will never spend another night in the house.
Another neighbour, David Armstrong said that he brought a cat into 90 Moylinn. “We heard that if a dog could feel something evil in a house, then a cat could see it. We have three dogs and they all started howling for no apparent reason,” said John Orr. David Armstrong said: “The cat was fine walking about downstairs. But when I tried to bring it up, it suddenly hissed and bolted out through the front door.”
When things first started to occur, Sharon blamed it on her toddler son John. “But one morning I heard the child get out of his bed and the two of us went downstairs to find the living room covered in talcum powder, bird seed and broken ornaments,” she said.
The couple firmly believe that there is an evil presence in the house and if it is not trying to drive them out, it is definitely trying to scare them. They have challenged anyone from the Executive to spend a couple of nights in the house to see if they notice anything.
These people swear they will never spend another night in 90 Moylinn – John Orr, Sharon Rodgers and daughter Sarah.
Lurgan Mail, 11th July 1985.