An online magazine about the paranormal, haunted and macabre. We collect the ghost stories from all around the world as well as review horror and gothic media.
Said to be the mass burial place for the dead Irish Independence rebels from 1798, the Croppie’s Acre in Dublin is said to be haunted by their lingering souls.
Said to be the mass burial place for the dead Irish Independence rebels from 1798, the Croppie’s Acre in Dublin is said to be haunted by their lingering souls.
Just beyond the Royal Hospital Kilmainham, near the banks of the River Liffey, lies a stretch of green ground known as Croppie’s Acre or Acra na gCraipithe. To the unknowing passerby, it might appear as nothing more than a tranquil patch of grass and trees, but beneath that quiet surface lies one of Dublin’s most haunted and sorrowful places.
Read More: Check out all ghost stories from Ireland
This was once a mass grave, the final resting place for the rebels of the 1798 uprising and the men known as “Croppies” for their short-cropped hair, a symbol of revolutionary defiance. Hundreds were executed, their bodies dumped without ceremony into the earth, their names and faces forgotten by time. Yet if the stories are true, their spirits have never forgiven such an ending.
The Blood of Rebellion
In the summer of 1798, Ireland was swept by rebellion. Inspired by the ideals of liberty and equality, the United Irishmen rose against British rule. The United Irish were betrayed by one of their leaders and fell into a well-planned ambush.
Many were captured and executed, hanged, beheaded, or shot, their remains discarded in pits near Kilmainham. Croppie’s Acre became their unmarked grave, a place heavy with grief and anger. The monument on 98 Street commemorates fallen Irishmen.
Croppies Acre: Overlooking the National Museum of Ireland, Dublin. //Source: dronepicr/Wikimedia
There have been many archeological investigations in the area, and they have not found any human remains and there have been theories that the bodies was actually tossed in the nearby River Liffey and taken away by the tide. Was the place really a mass grave as the story claims? Local tradition certainly thinks so and it has become a memorial. And with the bloody history, the legend of the place being haunted grew.
A Playground for the Dead
For years the field was used as a football pitch. Children played where rebels once bled into the soil. Players reported feeling strange chills even on warm days, or seeing figures on the edge of the pitch watching silently before fading into nothing.
Some claimed that balls kicked toward the far end of the field would veer suddenly off course, as if struck by an unseen hand. Others refused to play there at all, saying they felt the ground itself shift beneath their feet, as though something was stirring just beneath the surface.
Shadows by the Liffey
In the years since, Croppie’s Acre has been recognized as sacred ground, a memorial to those who died for Ireland’s cause. Yet the hauntings have never fully ceased, although the nature of the haunting remain vague, more like a haunted energy that lingers around the field.
The field has also been closed down for years after being a place were heavy drug users gathered, not really helping the haunted rumours.
Could the Connolly Station in Dublin be haunted? Some claim that the ghosts of the victims from the Dublin Bombing in world war two could still be lingering near the tracks.
Once a place for executions, the place the Ruffinihaus in Munich, Germany is built upon is said to be haunted. It is said that in the dead of night, the undead rises from their graves, still carrying their heads the executioners took.
Where the former country estate Campagne Mon Repos in Bern once was, the ghostly council of the military leader from General Robert Scipio von Lentulus was given in times of unrest. Is he still haunting the Könizwald woods, even after his estate is gone?
One of the old cemeteries in Munich said to be haunted is the Alter Südfriedhof, or the old south cemetery. According to lore, the ghostly voices of the so-called Eskimo Tragedy are still heard at night.
In the darkness of night and under the foliage cover of the forest, the demonic spirit of Uhaml is said to roam. The only way to escape it is getting out of the forest faster.
In the shadows between ghost, creature and witch, the Welsh Gwarch y Rhibyn has been given many names. Like a Banshee she has been said to be a deadly omen, often called The Hag of the Mist because of her presence in wet areas, or the Hag of the Dribble because of the versions where her mouth is dripping with blood.
Unhappy with the lack of beer in heaven, the Bavarian angel never returned when sent on a mission back on earth. To this day, he sits at The Hofbräuhaus bar in Munich, enjoying his brew.
Sometimes called the Devil’s Stone, the ruins of the former Mödling Castle is said to be haunted by a demonic bird-like entity, screeching at night as an omen of death and disaster.
Could a beer festival be haunted? Many have spoken about the ghost of an old brewer at Nockherberg haunting the beer festival, creating havoc to retaliate to what his descendants did to his brew.
After her public death in the tower of the Munich Frauenkirche, many have claimed to have seen the ghost of Fanny appearing at her death anniversary wearing white.
What really happened around the Pollingsried Chapel, and its supposed plague cemetery? Is there really a curse around the area? As far as the ringing of the bells can be heard?
Searching for its name, the utburd ghost from Norwegian folklore haunts the forests, waters and houses its parents left them to die. For the most part, they remained in folk tales, but sometimes, the stories about the dead children got real life consequences.
Moon Mausoleum
4 Comments »