Poltergeists and banshees, spirit-filled houses, and deathbed scenes pervaded by specters fill this enchanting treasury of tales based on supernatural phenomenon. Compiled from Ireland's abundant reserve of ghost stories, this richly varied collection of legendary and ancestral phantoms, uncanny forewarnings of death, and a host of other unearthly experiences relies on the memories of ordinary Irish folk scattered throughout the isle.
The collection of entertaining tales was the offspring of a newspaper article in which authors St. John D. Seymour, a Church of England priest, and his colleague, Harry L. Neligan, asked contributors to send in their favorite ghost stories, which many happily did. Classified by geographical area, the simple yet compelling narratives -- at once disarming, convincing, and illuminating -- provide amazing descriptions of paranormal experiences. An entertaining, authentic glimpse of late 19th- and early-20th-century Ireland and the superstitious natures of its people, "True Irish Ghost Stories" is a delightful treasury of other-worldly happenings -- to be shared by devotees of Irish lore, mystery lovers, and connoisseurs of the paranormal.

There are numerous books about Irish Fairies, but this was one of the first to focus on the Irish Ghost. The text visits haunted houses from one end of the island to the other. We learn about garden-variety ghosts as well as poltergeists and Banshees, and find out what to do if a 'Headless Coach' shows up. Seymour solicited the stories from newspaper readers, and many of them are from respectable military, clergymen, and gentry. Seymour also wrote Irish Witchcraft and Demonology. True Irish Ghost Stories is a unique and very entertaining read, particularly for fans of Irish tales, as well as the paranormal investigator.--J.B. Hare, May 6th, 2009.

Irish fairy and folklore there were in abundance but there was no book of ghosts. And so I determined to supply this sad omission.

Suddenly a brilliant thought struck me. I wrote out a letter, stating exactly what I wanted, and what I did "not" want, and requesting the readers of it either to forward me ghost stories, or else to put me in the way of getting them: this letter was sent to the principal Irish newspapers on October 27, and published on October 29, and following days. On October 30, the first answers reached me. Within a fortnight I had sufficient material to make a book; within a month I had so much material that I could pick and choose -- and more was promised. . . .