_An Irish Haunting_

Mr. Reginald B. Span, in a most interesting article called "Some
Glimpses of the Unseen," that appeared in the _Occult Review_ for
February, 1906, writes as follows:--

"Another strange incident, which also occurred in Ireland, was told me
by a coachman in my cousin's employ at Kilpeacon, near Limerick. This
man had previously been a park-keeper to Lord Doneraile in Co. Cork. One
bright moonlight night, he was coming across Lord Doneraile's park,
having been round to see that the gates were shut, when his attention
was drawn to the distant baying of hounds, and he stopped to listen, as
the sounds seemed to proceed from within the park walls, and he knew
there were no hounds kept on the estate. His young son was with him, and
also heard the noise, which was getting louder and clearer, and was
evidently moving rapidly in their direction. His first idea was that a
pack of hounds which were kept in the hunting kennels a few miles away,
had escaped and had somehow got into the park, although he had seen that
the gates were closed, and there was really no way by which they could
have entered. The baying of hounds, as if in 'full cry,' sounded closer
and closer, and suddenly, out of the shadow of some trees, a number of
foxhounds, running at full speed, appeared in the clear light of the
moon. They raced past the amazed spectators (a whole pack of them),
followed closely by an elderly man on a large horse. Although they came
very near, no sound could be heard but the baying of one or two of the
hounds. The galloping of the horse was not heard at all. They swung
across the grass at a tremendous pace, and were lost to view round the
end of a plantation. The park-keeper knew that all the gates were shut,
and that it would be impossible for a pack of hounds to pass out, and he
thought the mystery might be solved the next day. However, it never was
explained--by any natural cause. No hounds or horseman had been in the
park. The mansion was closed, Lord Doneraile being away, and no one had
the right of entering the grounds within the park walls. He heard later
that there was a story in the neighbourhood about 'the ghost' of a
former Lord Doneraile 'haunting' the park--and possibly the spectral
horseman was he. I questioned the man and his son closely about it, and
am convinced they were not deceived by hallucination, and that their
account is perfectly true." To this account Mr. Span adds this note:--

"The apparition of hounds and huntsman was witnessed on an estate
belonging to Lord Doneraile, in the South of Ireland (Doneraile Park);
the man who told me the incident was coachman in the service of my
cousin, near Limerick. His young son confirmed his father's account, as
he also saw it. "Yours faithfully,

                    "REGINALD B. SPAN." To throw additional light on the matter Mr. Ralph Shirley, editor of the
_Occult Review_, published the following letter, written to him by Lord
Doneraile:--

"DEAR SHIRLEY,

"It is rather a curious thing that neither Lady Castletown nor Lady
Doneraile has ever heard of the story of the moonlight vision of Lord
Doneraile and the pack of hounds. However, there is a man at Doneraile
called Jones, a chemist, who is a most enthusiastic antiquarian and a
dabbler in the occult sciences, and he takes the greatest interest in
all that concerns the St. Legers. Lady Castletown wrote to him, and the
reply comes from his brother (I suppose he is away), and that I send
you. "Lady Doneraile says it must refer to the third Lord Doneraile of the
first creation, who was killed in a duel afterwards; and there appear to
be a lot of stories which Jones has ferreted out or been told. Of
course, I don't know how far you could say Jones was authentic. All I
can say is that he believes the things himself. "Yours sincerely,

                    "DONERAILE." "_Dec. 27, 1905._"

"I should explain," adds Mr. Shirley, "that Lady Castletown is daughter
to the late Lord Doneraile, and present owner of Doneraile House. Here
follows the enclosure, i.e. the extract made by Walter A. Jones,
Doneraile, from his MS. notes on the Legends of Peasantry in connection
with Doneraile branch of the St. Leger family. Dated December 21, 1905. "I have heard," so it runs, "the following story respecting the Lord
Doneraile, who pursues the chase from Ballydineen through Gloun-na-goth
Wilkinson's Lawn, through Byblox, across the ford of Shanagh aha
Keel-ahboobleen into Waskin's Glen into the old Deer Park at Old Court,
thence into the Horse Close, and from thence into the park. He appears
to take particular delight in Wilkinson's Lawn according to tradition,
for it was there that the noble stag was lost sight of, and of course it
was there he was most searched for. It was only last autumn that two
gentlemen were going to a fair, as I heard, and leading a very fine
horse behind the trap. The night being fine and moonlight, they stopped
at the iron gate there to light their pipes, when a gentleman dressed in
old style, with buckskin leggings, walked through the iron gate, though
closed, and patted the led horse on the neck. They both agreed that he
was most like to gentlemen of the St. Leger family whom they had known. The Radiant Boy also appears here, and for years in the early part of
last century no one would pass there after nightfall. The Lord
Doneraile, who is believed by the peasantry to stand under Lord
Doneraile's Oak, it has been told me positively, was third Viscount. "There is an old man called Reardon here now who saw a gentleman riding
a powerful black horse along Lord Doneraile's route in the middle of the
day, and his sister who was with him failed to see the horseman, though
her brother had to pull her out of his way. "I went up to Saffron Hill last winter to see the ostrich-like ghost
which is there, and I heard a great sweep as of hounds and horses going
past me. Paddy Shea, late herd to Lord Doneraile, also would swear he
saw the phantom Lord Doneraile pursuing the chase often. I have heard
that James Mullaine also saw him in Wilkinson's Lawn, but have not any
further proof. "It is very few people will admit having seen these things. George
Buckley, present keeper of the Doneraile Park, got a great fright one
night which might have been from the same cause." In this case it seems more than likely the huntsman, horse and hounds
were all _bona fide_ phantasms of the dead. _Wild Darrell_

Littlecote, as everyone knows, is haunted by the spirits of the
notorious "Wild Will Darrell" and the horse he invariably rode, and
which eventually broke his neck. But there are many Wild Darrells; all Europe is overrun by them. They
nightly tear, on their phantom horses, over the German and Norwegian
forests and moor-lands that echo and re-echo with their hoarse shouts
and the mournful baying of their grisly hounds.