Drogheda, it seems, is possessed of a ghost, and the gentleman, for it takes the form of a man comfortably clad in a suit of pilot blue such as that favoured by the sailors, has selected a house in the classic neighbourhood of Crawley’s Lane, which runs from the Chord Road down towards the Boyne in which to make his appearance. The slumbers of the residents of the house were disturbed some weeks ago, it is stated, by a noise, and the occupants of one of the rooms were horrified to see a man over six feet in height standing by the bedside. Challenged as to who or what he was doing there, no reply was made, and after a few seconds he abruptly disappeared. Since then they kept a light constantly at night in the room, and as there was no return of the ghostly visitant, they assumed that he had gone for good. On Monday night last they dispensed with the light, and as the hour when ‘churchyards yawn’ arrived, the stranger took up his accustomed position in the room. According to the report in circulation through the town their frightened shrieks brought in some of the neighbours, who also saw the apparition. It is said that on Tuesday night the same figure was seen by other people who went to the house purposely to investigate the matter, but then a story of the kind gains a good deal as it travels around, and it is difficult to get anyone who really can distinctly sttate they saw anything at all. Whether this is a scintilla of truth in the tale it is difficult to say, but one thing is certain, and that is that the people who resided in the house have cleared out, and they would not for love or money spend another night in it. The police have been engaged investigating the matter, and it is possible the mystery may be solved by the discovery of the practical joker who has been endeavouring to play upon the feelings of the people in the neighbourhood of the Chord Road.
Drogheda Conservative, 16th January 1897.
The Alleged Ghost in Drogheda.
Night after night a crowd of ill-kempt urchins with a good sprinkling of curious individuals in more advanced years, may be seen on the Chord Road, Drogheda, some short distance from the cemetery waiting for the appearance of an alleged ghost which is stated to have made its appearance in the vicinity, but which fights shy of strangers, so that up to the present their inquisitiveness remains ungratified. The place in which the being, whatever it may be, generally appears is in the house of John Higgins, an old army pensioner, and is known as Crawley’s Court. Higgins is the owner of a few thatched cottages there, and was living in the one in which the supposed supernatural visitant appears.
Various rumours have been flying about the town as to the form the “ghost” takes, and the hour of its appearance. From all accounts the apparition assumes no particular form, but from the general description it would seem to have a near likeness to a scarecrow eloped from some cornfield. From the story of the unenviable occupant of the house, however, it appears that the cause of the alarm is particularly lively, and has the peculiarity of banging the furniture about regardless of the annoyance caused to the occupants of the house and the neighbours by the operation.
In consequence of the many reports about the sensational occurrence a reporter from this journal paid a visit to the supposed haunted dwelling on Tuesday evening, and found Higgins and his wife Mary, a very old couple, sitting unconcernedly by the fire in the little cabin. Having expressed a desire to glean some information in reference to the matter, our reporter was invited to take a seat, and Higgins, who proved remarkably intelligent, related the following extraordinary story: –
“On last Friday evening week, about six o’clock, my wife Mary, a woman named Sweeney and myself were sitting by the fire when we heard a ‘trip trap’ across the floor above us, as if some one was walking. It seemed to be coming down the stairs and near to us. Jane Sweeney was sitting in the corner there (pointing to a nook immediately opposite a door leading to a loft above the room), and my wife and myself were sitting with our backs to the door. Well, sir, we were talking together when the girl suddenly looked towards the door and cowered like this (drawing his head down on his breast and covering his face with his hands). I said to Mary (that’s my wife, sir), “Shake her, Mary; she perhaps sees something.” We then heard the ‘trap trap’ across the room, and the girl fainted. She remained in the faint for ten minutes. I went and got some water and shook it over her. She came round and looked round in the direction of the door again. She turned pale as death and fainted again. She was in a dead faint for a quarter of an hour, and we thought she was dying in the house.”
“You did not see anything?” queried the reporter. “No, sir; but we felt a tremor go over us. And my wife and myself heard the ‘trap trap’ over the floor.” When the girl reovered consciousness what did she say? “She told us she saw a man come from the corner of the doorway and looked down upon us thus (extending forth his hands and glowering down upon the listener to the thrilling narrative). She said he wore a black cap, a black coat, and that he was like a dirty little man. She said she saw ‘the ghost’ twice, each time before she fainted, and that he had a moustache and pointed whiskers. She ran away and would not come back to the house for a pot of gold.” Before this occasion, did you hear any such noise as that alluded to? “We have heard the ‘trap trap’ over the floor of the loft and the room for months past, but I never took any notice of them until this time.”
What other noises did you hear? ” Well it seemed as if the boxes and things in the house were being banged about, and it lasted from a few minutes to several hours. When we heard the ‘trap, trap’ the fowl were frightened, and it sounded as if they were all being thrown about the house. One night, Julia, my daughter, was at a wake and I heard th enoise. I said “I hope Julia will not hear it when she comes in. It will frighten her.” At ten minutes past eleven that night I distinctly heard it walking about the room. It seemed to come up to the bed, and I had to cover my head up with the clothes.” It could not have been imagination? “No, sir. The man that lives next door heard it too. It continued all night until the cock crew.”
Did you ever see anything, Mrs Higgins? “Yes, sir, I did. One night my husband and I were in bed. I heard the ‘trap trap’ across the floor, and it came up to the head of the bed. I saw the back of a man, and it came and stood over me, and I felt its hot breath blown over my face. Something seemed to take hold of me, and I was pulled out on the floor.”
Mr Higgins here took up the narrative, and said he was awoke by his wife being pulled out of the bed. She told him to look, and he saw the black coat tails of a man disappearing behind the door, where the woman Sweeney said she saw the apparition. “Have you continued living in the house up to the present?” “No, sir. I moved to another house, but it would have killed us with cold, and I had to come back here on Monday.” Did you hear or see anything on Monday night? “We did not, sir. One night we heard the ‘trap trap,’ and it seemed to be in the room where Julia was sleeping. Presently I heard her call out for me, and I went with a candle to the room, but I did not see anything. I thought we would be killed that night.” The old man continued to relate uncanny stories of hearing the wandering of the “ghostly” visitant through the house, from which it appeared the unwelcome visitor always made his appearance at the witching hour and continued his peregrinations until three or four o’clock in the morning, always taking his departure a few seconds before the crowing of the cock was heard
Subsequently the old man volunteered to conduct his visitor on a tour of inspection through the premises. The invitation was readily accepted, and armed with a lighted candle the whole place from floor to ceiling was subjected to a minute examination, but no means of access whereby anyone could enter the house were discovered. The affair is a most extraordinary one, and of course remains enshrouded in mystery, but probably in the course of time it will be proved to be the work of some one who has a penchant for practical joking.
Drogheda Conservative, 23rd January 1897.
The ‘Ghost,’ whose appearance has caused such alarm in the neighbourhood of Crawley’s Court, still remains undiscovered. The people who lived in the house in which the ‘apparition’ made its appearance cleared out, but they have since gone back again. There would seem to be no doubt but some joker endeavoured to play upon their fears, and it is somewhat suspicious that the nocturnal visits of the supposed ghost ceased as soon as the police were communicated with, and commenced to endeavour to elucidate the mystery.
Drogheda Conservative, 23rd January 1897.