True Irish Ghost Stories

by St. John D. Seymour

This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.

Genres: Horror, Paranormal, Short Stories, Nonfiction, Classics, Ireland, History

128 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 4, 2009

About the author

St John [variously pronounced 'Sinjin' or 'Sinjun'] Drelincourt Seymour, BD, D.Litt, MRIA was a Church of Ireland clergyman who wrote about Irish history, folklore, and the supernatural.

Reviews

[Jess the Shelf-Declared Bibliophile · Rating 3 out of 5]

The stories related in this collection were intriguing and spooky, for the most part, but unfortunately I did not care for the author’s style of writing. It read more like a bunch of newspaper articles, instead of smoothly transitioning amongst stories and keeping the creepy atmosphere.

[Tatiana · Rating 2 out of 5]

I suppose the "True" in the title and the publishing year should have given me better hints as to what I was getting myself into when I picked this up on my Kindle, but it didn't, so I was unfortunately disappointed with this read. While the very historical aspect of this book is educational and, at times, very humorous, I could not bring myself to enjoy most of this book. Some of the stories were a little eerie and decently elaborate, but most of the time my response was "meh." Here's why.

First off, the only use of transitions in this book comes from the stories being split into different categories, i.e. Haunted Houses or Poltergeists. However, within these categories, there were plenty of times when I didn't realize I was reading about a different haunting until the new ghosts or new hauntees were being introduced. There just simply weren't enough well-developed transitions between the stories to give it a good flow.

Another frustrating but laughable element was the author's need to justify every single story, but the justifications we're ridiculously flawed. "This story was related to us by a well-respected and sober man, so there's no room to doubt the authenticity of this story." They also kept using the sciences of the time, or lack thereof, as an excuse for not having the answers for what causes hauntings. I was frustrated by the multiple assurances of, "Science will soon be able to explain this phenomenon." Basically, it all just sounded like a load of crap. (Please note that none of these quotations are exact. I don't feel like digging through the book again to find legitimate quotations.)

Finally, I was very disappointed at how the stories were related. I understand feeling the need to quote each individual's story exactly how it was relayed to the authors, but this could have been a lot more engaging and much creepier if the stories had been told as narratives instead of factual accounts. I understand after reading the book that this was never the aim of the compilation, but I was still disappointed because the reality of the book did not match the expectations.

So, if you're looking for a creepy ghost story to read, look elsewhere, because this book reads more like a textbook.

[Werner · Rating 3 out of 5]

"There are more things in heaven and in earth, Horatio," Shakespeare has Hamlet observe to his skeptical friend (who dismisses the possibility of a ghostly apparition) than are dreamt of in your philosophy!" That might be a good epigraph for this collection. Assembled by amateur researchers of the paranormal, who were nonetheless intelligent assessors of their material, it represents a collection of actual first-hand observations of "ghost"-like phenomena by numerous apparently reputable witnesses. The authors don't attempt much theoretical explanation of their results, being mostly content to assemble and organize the primary material.

Personally, I don't believe in "ghosts," in the popular sense. But neither do I believe that the conventional, knee-jerk fraud and/or hallucination theory used to dismiss every report like these carries any more automatic credibility than the superstitions it disparages. We know little of the psychic resources of the human mind or soul. About a fourth of the accounts collected here, for instance, actually appear to be apparitions of people who were not yet dead, but dying, to friends or relatives at considerable distances from the deathbeds. Whether out-of-body travel is possible for a person close to death, I don't know; but the circumstances here are suggestive. The same could be said for the ideas of psychic imprinting of visual or auditory sensations, under conditions of extreme stress or emotion; or even of astral time travel while in a dreaming state. None of those ideas are proven concepts, or ever likely to be, and no one would be justified in dogmatically advocating them. But one thing the authors here have proved: a substantial body of claimed experience exists which resists conventional explanation. One can examine it with fascinated interest, or ignore it altogether --but for the Christian, who believes that "all truth is God's truth," there's no need to ignore it out of fear!

[Addie · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's not so much a collection of ghost stories as it is a list of sightings or experiences gathered via newspaper ad (as this was originally written in the beginning of the 20th century). Most of the stories are brief, paragraph length or so, but some are several pages. After the first few chapters, they all blend together and it was difficult to keep reading. But they do give insight on the superstitious beliefs of the time though, so they still have value. I just would not recommend reading it all the way through, but perhaps focusing on certain sections that are most interesting to you.

[Caroline Pfeiffer · Rating 1 out of 5]

love a book about haunted places that does not name a single haunted place

1 star Bc nana gave this book to me and she had good intentions

[Diana Reads · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting book but quite repetitive and vague at times. I enjoyed it nonetheless.

[Susan Jo Grassi · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a certified paranormal researcher and investigator, I love reading material on this subject. This book, first published in 1916, repeats stories sent to the compilers by various reliable people. The first sections of the book are divided into areas of Ireland as well as categories of phenomenon. I was fascinated by the conclusions which really showed an understanding of possible growth and understanding in the field of parapsychology for the future. There is much we don't know and will probably never know but I can testify to how exciting it is to stand in a dark room with a tape recorder
as the room looses all warmth asking questions only to find on review you received answers.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

It took me so much longer than I wanted to read this one, but I finished it. I have mixed feelings about it. I started out reading it with my daughter, but it was just a very dry reading overall, so I ended up just recording the rest for her to listen when she wants later. I don't know why I was expecting something much more lively, but I was. So it was a bit disappointing. However, that being said, the experiences themselves were interesting and it's obvious that the author put a lot of work into collecting and compiling the stories, which he did fairly well in the greater scheme of it all. I kind of wish Goodreads would allow half stars, because it's closer to a 2.5 for me, but it doesn't, so I'm going with 3.

[ashton 🌼 · Rating 2 out of 5]

1/2 read 1/2 audio book. I didn’t care much for how it was written. Definitely got confusing at some spots.

[J.J. Lair · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a telling of a man’s quest to gather ghost stories from Ireland. That is all it is. This person followed a person telling a tale to a room and they disappeared. Or the story where a person heard a noise. This story had a ghost grab her arm!
This would be interesting except that they are in no context. They are quick two paragraph or two page stories. No research into what the ghosts were or why. Maybe I’m spoiled by the work of Amy Bruni or Steve Gonsalves or others, but I felt nothing for this book.

[Nick Davies · Rating 2 out of 5]

I must have had this book for a good twenty-five years, but seem not to have got particularly far with reading it, judging by the slip of paper bookmark (a Boyes receipt - cool!) sitting midway through the first chapter. When I was a teenager I enjoyed a good ghost story, which must've been why I was given or picked up this book - I wasn't sure why I'd not made time to read it previously.

This became clear relatively soon. This is not a collection of creepy and well-told ghost stories in the fictional sense, this is not Jacobs, Poe or James in nature. This is a compendium of responses to an Irish journalist requesting readers send in their experiences, as well as a gathering of a number of other reported incidents in the country, written and published first around a century ago.

The style is classical yet not particularly literary, more journalistic than (M.R. or Henry) Jamesian. Though readable, it did get repetitive rather quickly due to the lack of dramatic tension (umpteen variations on 'there was a big house where it later transpires someone died horribly, there was some noises and/or someone felt cold or scared, but they couldn't find any evidence) and perhaps I have got more cynical and sceptical over the years, so it just fell a bit flat.

[Evelyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

It wouldn't be Halloween without reading some old ghost stories, and John D Seymour's compilation of allegedly 'true' Irish ones, definitely ticked all the right boxes with its enticing blurb on the back cover.

Sadly though, whilst it does have its creepy moments here and there, most of these 'real-life' accounts are quite dull, and hark back to a time where people were deeply religious and in turn, were stupidly superstitious about virtually everything which made them terrified of virtually everything! I'd like to say that times have changed, but when I read up on current affairs and politics, I'm really not so sure...

[Sarah · Rating 1 out of 5]

While some of these stories are a little jarring, I was too distracted by the lack of structure and spelling mistakes. It bounced from story to story without much of an announcement that such was taking place. So I didn't know where I was at or which story I was on half the time. I had to keep reminding myself that these stories took place during or before 1914 as was the original publishing date, which put the stories further out of reach from my everyday consciousness. Good thing I bought it on sale...

[Lynn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Even though I love ghost stories I was not satisfied with this book. I did like the fact that the author sought out people from all over Ireland to share their personal/familial ghost stories, however, the way the book itself was written made it extremely difficult to tell when you were going from one ghostly encounter to the next. I can appreciate that the author wanted to keep the exact words of the people who sent in these accounts...but honestly it was as much fun as reading a shopping list. Some of the content was interesting but overall I would not recommend this book to a friend.

[Jennifer · Rating 1 out of 5]

Oh. My. God. Writing is cringeworthy! The authors go from house to house to house and that's just the first chapter! At times I was confused and left scratching my head as I tried to figure out if we were on a new place or not.

I should point out that I have the version copyrighted in 1974. I hope the newer copyrighted versions are better separated.

[Jovana Savić]

Even though it was written in 1912 it still is written in spirit of modern language, very interesting to be able to understand worries and thoughts from people from a different century, with little to no difficulties

[Esmeralda Serrano · Rating 2 out of 5]

It honestly dragged on the whole time a couple of the stories were interesting but other than I felt like the stories overlapped one another a lot and it was hard to follow at times due to the stories overlapping .

[Ivana S. · Rating 1 out of 5]

Shockingly unexciting and dull for a 'ghost stories' book 😒

[R.L. · Rating 4 out of 5]

English review below the Greek one...

Το βιβλίο πρωτοεκδόθηκε το 1914, μία εποχή που γενικότερα υπήρχε ακόμα μεγάλο ενδιαφέρον για τον πνευματισμό και τα παραφυσικά φαινόμενα, οι περισσότεροι ωστόσο προσπαθούσαν να τα εξηγήσουν υπό το πρίσμα της επιστήμης και ήταν σίγουροι ότι αν όχι στην εποχή τους, έστω μελλοντικά θα υπάρξει μία ορθολογική εξήγηση για αυτά τα φαινόμενα.

Δεν έχουν επιβιώσει ιδιαίτερες πληροφορίες για τον Harry L. Neligan, ο οποίος πιθανόν ήταν απλά βοηθός του John D. Seymour. Ο τελευταίος πάντως ήταν κληρικός και ταυτόχρονα συγγραφέας πολλών βιβλίων σχετικών με παρεμφερή αντικείμενα. Το ενδιαφέρον που έχει το βιβλίο αυτό είναι ότι ουσιαστικά οι συγγραφείς έβαλαν μία αγγελία ζητώντας να τους στείλουν μαρτυρίες με τέτοιες εμπειρίες, πρόσθεσαν αυτές κάποιων γνωστών τους ή και των ίδιων και των οικογενειών τους, έκαναν μία υποτυπώδη κατηγοριοποίηση και έτσι προέκυψε αυτή η συλλογή.

Δεν έχει σημασία αν πιστεύει κανείς σε φαντάσματα, banshees, στοιχειωμένα σπίτια και διάφορα άλλα τέτοια, νομίζω ότι το αντικείμενο έχει το ενδιαφέρον του σαν ανάγνωσμα από όποια πλευρά κι αν το βλέπει κανείς. Εδώ κάποιες ιστορίες έχουν περισσότερο ενδιαφέρον από άλλες και κάποιες είναι πολύ πιο αφελείς από άλλες. Προς το τέλος το βιβλίο αγγίζει πολύ το φολκλόρ με κάποια θρυλούμενα περιστατικά αιώνες πριν.

Αξίζει να αναφέρω κάτι που παρατήρησα, πως επηρεάζει το γενικότερο κλίμα της εποχής τις αντιδράσεις των ανθρώπων. Πρώτον, εκείνη την εποχή αρκετοί θεωρούσαν πολύ σοβαρό επιστημονικό τομέα όλα αυτά τα παραφυσικά φαινόμενα, έτσι αντίστοιχα ο κόσμος δεν δίσταζε ιδιαίτερα να μιλήσει για κάτι που του συνέβη ή νόμιζε ότι του συνέβη - οι συγγραφείς έλαβαν πολλές ιστορίες, σαν μαρτυρίες άλλες είναι μόλις μία παράγραφος, άλλες λίγες σελίδες- και δεύτερον, επειδή μετρούσε πάρα πολύ η κοινωνική θέση, οι συγγραφείς ή οι άλλοι αφηγητές των γεγονότων δεν σταματάνε να τονίζουνε ότι η τάδε ιστορία είναι σίγουρα έγκυρη, αφού μας έρχεται από τον τάδε ιερέα ή τον τάδε κόμη, ή τον τάδε κύριο απόφοιτο του πανεπιστημίου Trinity κοκ

Από την άλλη μου άρεσε που οι συγγραφείς (τουλάχιστον ο ένας από αυτούς ιερέας) αφήνουν ανοιχτό και το φαινόμενο της αμφιβολίας ως ένα βαθμό λέγοντας ότι δεν προσπαθούμε να δώσουμε μία σίγουρη εξήγηση και δεν υποστηρίζουμε απαραίτητα ότι αυτά τα φαινόμενα είναι μηνύματα από κάποιον άλλο κόσμο ή από τον θεό ή απαραίτητα κάποια μορφή τηλεπάθειας και προβολής του νου, είναι απλά κάτι προς διερεύνηση και μπορεί να δοθούν πολλές εξηγήσεις μελλοντικά, σχετικές ή εντελώς άσχετες με τις παραπάνω.

Υποθέτω για κάποιους μπορεί να είναι ένα κάπως ξερό ανάγνωσμα και κάποιες ιστορίες επαναλαμβανόμενες, άλλωστε δεν είναι λογοτεχνικό έργο, ωστόσο χωρίς να ξετρελαθώ εμένα μου άρεσε και το διάβασα πολύ ευχάριστα μέσα σε δύο απογεύματα. Αν είσαι λίγο προϊδεασμένος για το τι να περιμένεις επιλέγοντάς το, αξίζει να διαβαστεί.


This book was originally published on the middle 1910s, an era when there was an interest on what we call "supernatural" and many people tried to access the subject through the prism of science. Many tried to find logical explanations and most believed that science will one day decipher such phaenomena,

Not much is known for Harry N. Neligan who might have been simply an aid to John D. Seymour when compiling this collection. Seymour was a well-known clergy man and writter of several books on the supernatural and similar subjects. In order to collect real stories for this book, they placed an advertisement on newspapers, asking people to write them their experiences or any related story they knew of and thought is credible. These ranged from one paragraph long reports to a few pages long description of events or recollections, supplemented by the author's stories or stories of people they were well-acquainted or related with.

Two things I noticed and I mention here are that a) As many people on this era were taking this subject seriously, many people wouldn't hesitate to talk openly or relate their experiences or anyway what they thought they experienced and b) Due to the importance they were placing on social status, the authors keep relating the credibility of a story with the person concerned eg This comes from Earl so and so, a very sober man or from a Trinity College proffesor or from so and so priest, thus it's credibility is strong etc etc

On the other hand, I liked the approach of the authors (one of then a clergy man), not giving a definite explanation on such phaenomena and not claiming that these necessarily connect to the otherworld or have religious connotations or even have to do with telepathy. They claim that soon an explanation will be found that might or might not have to do with all the above. A bittersweet feeling reading this a century latter, but their belief was that humanity reached the top of their narrow-minded, materialistic ego and from now (then) on, people will turn on a more scientific, intellectual direction, "lifting the human race to a purer and loftier conception of God and His universe".

I think it doesn't matter if one believes on poltergeists, banshees, ghosts, haunted houses and the like. This kind of books always have some kind of interest, whatever one's approach is on the subject. Here some stories are more interesting than others and some seem more naive than others, while towards the end some stories coming from a legendary past many centruries ago, touch on the folklore and mythical.

I guess sometimes the book might feel a bit repetitive and the narration somehow dry, but if one knows in advance that this is supposed to be non-fiction collection of events recalled by several different people and not literature, it worths to give it a try. While I didn't find it extraordinary, I enjoyed it a lot and read it in two afternoons.

[Jackie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Don’t go into this expecting a narrative of exciting ghost stories because what it really is is a historical text with first hand accounts. An interesting bit of Irish history but I couldn’t help but be disappointed with the lack of storytelling or flair

[Kaitlin Drake · Rating 5 out of 5]

Five stars just for the conclusion where the author was ready to throw hands.

I enjoyed the rest of the book as well.

[Christopher Dawson · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was decent at times, but it seemed like a slog at others.

[Chans · Rating 1 out of 5]

2/10

[Jennifer Templeton]

This book was written in the early 1900s and is somewhat hard to read because of it. I enjoyed the stories though and am proud to have read the book.

[Clare · Rating 3 out of 5]

For some Halloween-y reading, I decided to read a book that I'd picked up over the summer in Maine: True Irish Ghost Stories, by St. John D. Seymour and Harry L. Neligan. It is now, as you can see, nearly December. This is because of NaNoWriMo. The most embarassing thing here is that True Irish Ghost Stories is barely a hundred pages long.

A thing I did not realize at first is that this book is a reprint of a work that was originally published shortly after the turn of last century, when Ireland was still part of the United Kingdom. Once you start reading it, it's wildly obvious, because it's written in such an earnestly Edwardian manner. The book is a collection of short anecdotes, organized into categories, interspersed with a lot of arguments about why they are credible and that the fashionable skepticism about their validity is arrogance, arrogance I tell you. The two men who compiled this were obviously smart and well-educated men, who are actually quite vocal in their defense of the Irish populace from charges of "superstition" (a popular anti-Catholic stereotype), but who are entirely convinced that it makes prudent scientific sense to believe in "psychical phenomena" and stuff. It's really kind of adorable. The stories themselves are sometimes sort of short and weird--like "there was a Mrs. S and she lived in this house and saw a figure, and then her sister came to visit and she saw it too" and nothing else really happens--but some of them are quite imaginative and interesting, particularly the ones that are less generically haunted-housey and get into banshees and the like. The banshee stories are particularly awesome. Most of these stories aren't that scary, although there are one or two that feature images that managed to get weirdly under my skin anyway, but that may be because I am a highly suggestible wimp (a bad trait for a Goth, but oh well).

I'd really only recommend this to people who are particularly interested in weird folklore; the lack of a narrative thread and the pseudo-scientific tangents would probably make it a bit of a dry read for people who prefer reading regularly-structured books.

Originally posted at http://bloodygranuaile.livejournal.co....

[Adriel Paine · Rating 4 out of 5]

While reading this book the first page started to make me think twice about reading it because it seemed like it was going to be boring. However on page 5 it said "On her return she asked the mother were the children all right, as she had seen two ghostly forms flit past her on thru door-step! The mother answered that she believed they were, but on going up to the nursery they found both of the children with their throats cut." After reading that I put the book down and took a breather, then opened the book again and read on, after that I just got stuck on the book and put it down almost every stanza, but now where I am, page 51, it’s not as frightening as it was before. I mean like when they say "The ghost of the dag is said to haunt the grounds and the public road between the castle gate and the Dobber Bridge." (70) This isn’t something that is all that scary, it’s like wow they say the dog just haunts it and people only see it. That’s not scary, it’s not like the dog killed people, and if it did then it would have been scary and caught my attention again. However the book started to get my attention again, just because of what was said on page 122. "At the time he paid no attention to it, thinking it was an ordinary retriever, but after he had passed on about two or three hundred yards he found the dog was beside him, and he noticed that its eyes were a blood-red." Now that part made me feel like I’m happy I’m not him, I would have started running not pick up a rock and try to throw it at him. But see if I was to recommend this book, I wouldn’t, it would probably be a waste of time. I'm happy that I have stories to tell now, but it was really boring, and it was basically only scary in the beginning.

[Sofija Kryž · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was expecting more. While a couple of stories indeed made me uncomfortable to walk home at night, most of the stories were something of a pub gossip level. Which would be fine - who doesn't like some quality pub gossip. What annoyed me, though, was that instead of allowing the informants to share their unique impressions as they were, the compilers paraphrased a share number of stories so they would be third person. You know, Mrs X said that one dull evening she saw Mx Y walking somewhere and said "hello". Mx Y did not reply. 5 min later she saw Mx Y again and asked why he did not reply. He said that this is the first time he'd seen her that said. The compilers should mention they personally know Mrs X and she is so trustworthy, so you should believe her.

That constant accentuation that the one who told the story is trustworthy, reputable, etc. was constantly getting on my nerves!

And repetitions! Half of the book was someone hearing someone climbing up and down the stairs, checking the stairs and seeing no one. Or hearing someone breaking crockery, checking it and finding no cups or plates broken. Oh dear. What a tragedy.

And oh, just so you know, there was a lady killed in this house. This every house.

Repetitions are fine when masterfully told. But this one was nowhere near. While it is nice to learn about people's beliefs at the end of 19th - the beginning of the 20th century, this was not that impressive compared to rich Irish/Celtic folklore.

So yeah, a disappointment for me.

[Marrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a rather quick read. Granted, I did skip over two chapters and a rather lengthy conclusion. I thought the book started out well enough, interesting, though nothing to brag about. I don't believe for a minute that any of the stories are true, but it still was interesting enough. By the end, however, I was getting bored and anxious to finish it and move onto my next book. It did teach me more about Irish folklore and ghost stories, but other than that it didn't really offer me anything too exciting. Maybe it's because most of the stories were written in the late 1800s and early 1900s so there was nothing too 'gruesome'. I thought it was really kind of boring all together. Interesting enough to hold my attention for a few hours, but not anything I'd run around screaming about how awesome it is, not that I was really expecting that. Still, I had hoped to enjoy this more than I did. However, it did have good premise and writing so perhaps some people may like it a lot more than I did. I encourage you to read this if you like paranormal things, ghost stories, and anthologies. If not, don't bother.

[Lee Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting and spooky collection of stories that reminds me a lot of Lady Gregory's collection of Irish folktales and ghost stories. Although a few of the chapters were slow (particularly ones in which all the stories were similar, and thus blurred together, which happened a lot in the first three chapters), most of the stories in this book were riveting. And they miiight just give me a few nightmares. Haha.

The story of the father's spirit that went to the girls' boarding school to find his daughter just before he died was surprisingly touching and stood out to me above all the other stories in this collection. I also laughed at the story of the girl who was haunted by the ghost, in the form of a rat, of a guy she "friendzoned" (for lack of a better word, even though I hate that one). And I'd love to visit the house that takes up the last half of chapter IX - if it still stands that is. I want to see the tapestry room, even though it was remodeled into a billiards room the last time the narrator visited it.

Overall, a good read. Maybe I should've saved it for Halloween time to get the full effect of it.

[Kristy Schreurs · Rating 5 out of 5]

1916.
This is when this book was published. So if you are not interested in old English and find Dickens dry do not read this book. I love all of the above and so I greatly enjoyed this book.
The book is written by the author based on compilations of letters and interviews from various people across Ireland. Most of these people sound like gentry and nobility with tales of old manor homes. Quite a few mentions of the fairy folk, old myths and how that plays into paranormal phenomena or perceived phenomena there.
Submissions are written by people only identified by initials, sometimes he will mention famous families of area but not give a name. In 1916 one probably knew which families he meant but that's lost to time now. It's sort of a text books study, it is written in "story" format. More factual observations and straight forward facts of what he was told and by whom. It's a study on ghosts of Ireland not really stories most people would assume it to be.
I found it enjoyable. It's still being read this many years later!