An Extraordinary Story.
We thought there was scarcely a ghost left in Ireland nowadays, and we believed in our simplicity that these supernatural visitors had been laid for ever. We are aware, of course, that many persons profess to be able to call spirits, not only from “the vasty deep,” but from other and less humid regions, but the good old ghosts of former days, we imagined, had departed never again to frighten the wits out of poor credulous people. We have been mistaken, however, and we hasten to acknowledge our error. One of these invisible spirits who are content to indicate their presence in various ways, but are ashamed to show themselves to these whom they honor with their presence, is said to have haunted, for the past week or more, a house in Doora.
Here is the extraordinary incident as related by the man himself, and by residents in the locality. Martin Keane, a small farmer living at Kilbrickane, in the parish of Doora, found that himself and his wife had been, for the past ten or twelve days, the victims of various annoyances in his little household where they are living, a lone couple. Keane is verging on his seventieth year, and his wife is younger by some few years. His repeated attempts to kindle a fire in the house were unavailing, the turf and raked cinders being on every occasion scattered about by some invisible agency – the first thing that excited the man’s apprehensions was the constant crowing of a cock and his flying all round the house on a certain night; this was repeated two or three nights after, and the poor man in his simplicity thought there was something queer with the cock, and killed it. The following night the hens were set flying in all directions through the house and never entered it again.
It is alleged by Keane that he and his wife were repeatedly dragged out of bed and the bedding and bed clothes scattered about the floor.
The rumour soon spread that Kean’s house was haunted; the neighbours came there; some through curiosity, and others actuated by sympathetic feeling. One of them, however, Patrick Heffereman – a man of more than ordinary courage, volunteered to stay in the house and light a fire. He had scarcely done so, when some unseen agency began to operate and the fire was thrown into his face. He was so terrified that he ran out of the house.
The household utensils were repeatedly taken off the dresser and made spin around the kitchen floor like so many teetotums. Keane, now almost distracted, proceeded to Father B Scanlan, P P, to whom he recounted his unpleasant and almost incredible story of the previous days and nights, and requested his aid. Father Scanlan, though incredulous, accompanied poor Keane to his humble dwelling on Saturday morning and celebrated Mass there, but the annoyance was repeated in a worse form, if possible, that night, and Keane and his wife had to quit the house, and are now living with his son-in-law, a man named Patrick Monahan, another farmer residing in the district. We hope, out of respect to the memory of the worthy ghosts of a departed day, that this story has not been wilfully fabricated, or that a joke has not been played on this poor aged couple by some unscrupulous joker. We give the facts as we have learned after a most minute and caareful investigation.
Clare Journal and Ennis Advertiser, 24th December 1885.
An Irish Ghost.
A remarkable ghost story is reported from Doora, near the town of Ennis. It is asserted that a ghost appeared in the dwelling of a small farmer, named Hefferenam, and extinguished fires and threw the embers about. The ghostly visitor, however, has been successfully banished by a priest, who was called in by the occupier to celebrate mass. The priest directed one of the candles lighted at the ceremony to be used in kindling the next fire. This having been carried out no ghostly interruption has since been experienced.
Dundee Courier, 26th December 1885.
also ‘Heffernan’ in many other copies