The Cooneen Ghost.

The Cooneen ghost is a well know story in Northern Ireland and it happened close to where I was raised.  Like every good ghost story, this one has been added to and embellished over the years.  This is my version, stripped back to align with what I can logically accept as reasonable, based on my own experience's with ghosts.

The Cooneen ghost was a typical poltergeist (noisy ghost), given that it could make tapping noises, move objects and create indentations on the bedclothes where it lay on the bed and this one did all of that and more, for the period of time that it was active.

Two years before the haunting activity, a man with the same surname as the victimised family, was killed in an accident on an adjacent property.  He had brought corn to a local mill to be ground into flour and was preparing for the journey back home, with the freshly ground flour, in his donkey and cart.  This was around the time of WW1 and horses and donkeys were still the most common mode for transporting goods.  The man was standing on the cart distracted, for a moment, because he was lighting his pipe and the donkey moved just enough to topple Mr. Murphy off the cart.  Sadly, the man fell badly, his neck was broken and he died at the scene.

Two years passed without incident until one of the daughters of the victimised family, also with the surname Murphy, reached the stage in her life where she began the changes of puberty. This is when the activity started and it was centred around this girl.  This is a not uncommon scenario for poltergeist activity.  We have a victim of sudden and unexpected death and a girl child beginning to go through life changes.  In other stories that I have read about poltergeists, the settings are frequently very similar.  The details of this ghosts activity can be read in the many publications that arose as a result of this haunting.  It is sufficient to say here that the family were tormented to the point where friends and neighbours came to the family home to stay, in vigil, so the family and the girl, in particular, could get some sleep.

The disturbance carried on none-the-less, forcing the family to, eventually, abandon their home and, in fact, they fled the country and started a new life in the United States.  It was also reported that the torment followed the Murphy’s but only for the early part of the journey.  They travelled on a passenger ship and, mid-ocean, the disturbance ceased.  I suspect (logically) the girls energy settled or the salty water was uncomfortable for the ghost and it returned to the family home.  Old-wives’ tales, like throwing salt over ones shoulder into the eyes of the devil, have credence perhaps.  I do know, from experience, that Earth-bound spirits experience strong discomfort when exposed to salt.

Now back to my interest in this story.  My daughter also has an ability to sense ghosts and, when she heard about the Cooneen ghost house, wanted to see and experience it for herself.  By happy coincidence, the Forestry Commission who now have custody of the home and land, had reopened the access and lane to the Murphy home, so it was easy for us to have a look around.  I couldn’t feel anything while I was there but I could see that the setting was now ideally ‘spooky’ and rendered itself well for its reputation.  The planted trees were mature and surrounded the house completely, except for the lane.  My daughter could feel nothing in the house either but on the way up the short lane, close to the house she felt an energy and, on the way back down the lane, at the same spot, she felt the same energy again.  We had found the deceased Mr. Murphy.  I did my usual ‘rescue’ and helped him to return home to the light (heaven) and that was that.  A few months later both of us paid another visit to the Murphy’s former home and this time felt no energy in the building or on the lane, so, hopefully, the entity is reunited with his family in the light and, finally, at peace.

Note;

There are many mentions of the Cooneen Ghost still available.  I have grown up hearing versions of the story and the furore it caused at the time.  It was the subject of much attention and was published frequently, while the disturbance continued, in local and national newspapers.

It made sense to me that the ghost, in a confused state, returned to family after his sudden passing and, unfortunately, missed the opportunity to go to the light at the time.  Then, when the girl started puberty and her energy was volatile and chaotic (as it often is at this time, I’m told), he availed of this energy to make himself known and, most likely, meant no real harm, though he got angry or abrupt at times. I believe he just wanted to get help out of his difficult predicament.

In similar stories that I have read, those who don’t care to believe in the existence of ghosts, blame the girls for, somehow, conjuring some kind of kinetic energy to cause noises and move objects.  They have, in an effort to put logic to the phenomenon, even accused the children of doing it for the sake of attention seeking.

I haven’t researched whether the Murphy’s and the ghost were related.  Perhaps, one day someone will do just that.  My purpose, with these stories, is to entertain you and to add to the wealth of information that I can accept as realistic,  based on my own experiences.