The Summerhill Ghost
Ghost/Paranormal
Thursday 1st, July 2021
In January 1966 stories about 'The Summerhill Ghost' started to make its way into newspapers, this was around the same time a tenement building in disrepair in Dublin's North inner city was being demolished. The building in question was 118 Summerhill, part of a number of buildings which had been previously demolished (116 & 117).
John J. Dunne details this casein a piece titled 'Haunted Dublin' which was published on 11th December 1985.
One of the witnesses, a man named Joseph Byrne gave the below description in an interview with the Evening Press newspaper.
"I was wrestling with an old stove in the basement when I had a feeling someone was standing behind me, I looked around and saw nothing. After a while the same feeling crept over me and I had another look around. I saw a man, dressed in what appeared to be a butcher's striped jacket, standing looking towards a window. I shouted to the others who were all working above me, but when they came down they couldn't see it at all."
This account gives a fairly clear description of the ghostly figure witnessed at 118 Summerhill, a man dressed in a striped butchers apron. Dunne puts forward that this report seems to match up with the tragic story of a butcher named Patrick Conway who is said to have cut his own throat in 1863 in 118 Summerhill.
On another occasion a colleague of Mr. Byrne, a William Gregor is said to have witnessed the ghost while with another colleague in 118 Summerhill, in this instance its reported that Mr. McGregor passed out from the shock of witnessing the ghost butcher.
Dunne talks about all three buildings, 116, 117 and 118 as being haunted. A playwright named Patrick Cullne based his play called 'The Dalers' on his own experiences from when he was a caretaker in 116. Cullen goes on to tell Dunne, 'The house had a bad reputation for ghosts', Cullen went on further to say, 'Especially the basement, which was certainly considered to be haunted'. Cullen said he experienced some of the commonly reported sensations attached to hauntings, like cold spots and sudden drops in temperature.
Further to the incidents in 116, Dunne stated that 117 gained a reputation for being haunted, he doesn't go into much further detail as to why this was the case but as the word spread about 117 being haunted passerbys would quicken their step while passing this building with also attracting crowds on the far side of the street hoping to catch a glimpse of the ghost in 117.
John J. Dunne details this casein a piece titled 'Haunted Dublin' which was published on 11th December 1985.
One of the witnesses, a man named Joseph Byrne gave the below description in an interview with the Evening Press newspaper.
"I was wrestling with an old stove in the basement when I had a feeling someone was standing behind me, I looked around and saw nothing. After a while the same feeling crept over me and I had another look around. I saw a man, dressed in what appeared to be a butcher's striped jacket, standing looking towards a window. I shouted to the others who were all working above me, but when they came down they couldn't see it at all."
This account gives a fairly clear description of the ghostly figure witnessed at 118 Summerhill, a man dressed in a striped butchers apron. Dunne puts forward that this report seems to match up with the tragic story of a butcher named Patrick Conway who is said to have cut his own throat in 1863 in 118 Summerhill.
On another occasion a colleague of Mr. Byrne, a William Gregor is said to have witnessed the ghost while with another colleague in 118 Summerhill, in this instance its reported that Mr. McGregor passed out from the shock of witnessing the ghost butcher.
Dunne talks about all three buildings, 116, 117 and 118 as being haunted. A playwright named Patrick Cullne based his play called 'The Dalers' on his own experiences from when he was a caretaker in 116. Cullen goes on to tell Dunne, 'The house had a bad reputation for ghosts', Cullen went on further to say, 'Especially the basement, which was certainly considered to be haunted'. Cullen said he experienced some of the commonly reported sensations attached to hauntings, like cold spots and sudden drops in temperature.
Further to the incidents in 116, Dunne stated that 117 gained a reputation for being haunted, he doesn't go into much further detail as to why this was the case but as the word spread about 117 being haunted passerbys would quicken their step while passing this building with also attracting crowds on the far side of the street hoping to catch a glimpse of the ghost in 117.
