Irish Ghost Lore – Corney the Dublin Poltergeist

Corney the Poltergeist…

Before I begin today’s spooky blog, I want to say a big thank you to all the people who take the time to come here to read my witterings on the strange and unnatural.

As Hallowe’en is slowly emerging from the mists and lurching uncontrollably towards us, I thought it might be nice to provide a special spooky gift: a free copy of my story The Postman’s Tale. I have made it available in EPUB and PDF, so everyone should be able to enjoy it. I recommend reading it in the evening, preferably when wild winds are rattling the windowpanes and making ghostly groans through the trees, whilst you are curled up by the fire with a warm drink. Links to the story will appear at the end of the blog.

Now, on with this week’s tale.

Dublin’s fair city is the capital of Ireland and the largest in the country. It is situated south of the Dublin Mountains, which form part of the Wicklow range. The Irish name for Dublin is Baile Átha Cliath. The settlement was established by the Gaels in the 7th century.

Many years ago, there was a mansion in the city, described as a pretty one, and it was bought by a family with much wealth, who lived there with their servants. Though its precise location seems to have been lost to time, it was believed to have been close to a place called St Stephen’s Green.

Now, this mansion housed more than just the family and its retainers. It was also home to something else – something darker and more terrifying – an entity, a poltergeist who went by the name of Corney.

For a short while the family lived in the house undisturbed, until one day the father of the household injured himself and was forced to get about with the aid of a stick. Whenever he moved about the house he made a thumping noise upon the floorboards.

That very night the stick disappeared.

And everything changed.

The family and servants searched all about the property, looking for the missing item. The feel of the house became more oppressive, and eventually they gave up and returned to bed. The next morning, as they prepared for breakfast, a strange voice was heard calling up from the cellar. The witnesses described it as sounding as if it were speaking through an empty barrel.

The voice introduced itself as Corney, though oddly it denied that this was really its name. All members of the household heard the booming voice.

“A fine morning to you!” it said. “Close the door above, for it is cold where I am.”

A brave servant was sent into the cellar to see who was hiding there, when he returned he was quite shaken, and reported not a living soul in that darkened space.

The thing in the basement became quite active. It moved items about the house, cheekily pinched servants as they worked. It loved imitating the sound of the master’s walking stick thumping against the floor.

The voice often spoke, always from the grim darkness of the cellar. As the days went by it became more of a nuisance, hiding cutlery and hanging vegetables from the store about the house like Christmas decorations. Corney laid claim to one particular cupboard in the kitchen. Nothing was allowed in there – any item placed inside was promptly tossed out.

He would regularly interrupt conversations that occurred in the kitchen. One man was left un-harrassed by this spectral nuisance, and that was the uncle of the family. Unlike everybody else he had no fear of the entity, openly mocking it and calling it “Four Eyes”, one time going as far as to bang on the cellar door with a poker and demand Corney speak to him, but he was only greeted with silence.

The next morning the poker was found broken in two.

He also was silent in the company of priests, claiming he would never speak whilst “those good men were in the house.” When a courageous individual asked for details about the ghost Corney reply, “I was a bad man, and I died the death.” He even named the room in the house in which he had passed.

When asked where he was now he said, “The Great God would not permit me to tell you.”

This troublesome tomb-dodger seemed to have a dislike of being locked up, for he would, with great regularity, destroy any number of locks and keys within the mansion.

As time went on, Corney grew bolder, and the lady of the house found it harder to retain servants. They slept in the kitchen and complained of being terrorised at night by the wicked poltergeist. She tried moving them into the attic, but Corney simply followed them there, announcing: “Haha, here I am! I’m not limited to just one place in the house.”

Only one person ever claimed to have seen him – a young boy of about seven years old, who ran into his parents’ bedroom at night terrified. He described seeing a naked old man “with a curl on his forehead, and skin like a clothes-horse!” (meaning very thin and pale).

One Hallowe’en things took a darker turn when Corney announced that he would be having guests that evening. As that night wore on, many different voices were heard about the house, and come the next morning the water in the house was as black as ink, and the bread and butter in the pantry were streaked with sooty finger marks.

Eventually the family were forced to sell the mansion at a greatly reduced price. It was supposed the house was bought by a widow, though whether she was disturbed in any way by Corney is not known.

It has been suggested that Corney may have been the spectre of an old servant called Cornelius, who died in the property with unfinished business. But the full truth of his origins will – I suppose – never be known.

Thank you for taking the time to read this blog. I do hope it gave you a pleasing shudder. Below is the link to my free story. If you enjoy it please consider supporting me by buying a copy of one of my books from the shop.

Until next week, stay spooky.

Sources
True Irish Ghost Stories – St John D. Seymour (1914)
Wikipedia
yourirish.com