The Bogles of Ballygowan; Or, Never Ruin A Fairy's Ruin

"The Goblin and the Provision Dealer," Arthur Rackham

On August 31, 1866, an Irish newspaper called the “Larne Reporter” informed its readers about an unusual problem facing two unnamed families who lived adjacent to each other in Upper Ballygowan.  At varying intervals during the days and nights, the families were having their homes vandalized by mysterious showers of mud and stones being thrown inside.  Unable to catch the perpetrators in the act, the families asked if the neighbors had any idea who the culprits were.  Nobody did; in fact, residents were shocked and angered that these two innocent families were being treated in such a rude way.

One day, their elusive assailants went further with their attacks: a huge volley of stones were hurled inside their homes.  One of the residents was so irritated by the onslaught that he picked up a musket and fired it in the general direction of where the stones had been thrown.  The response was a peal of evil laughter and another bombardment.  This was shortly followed by a large bag of potatoes being tossed throughout the kitchen of one of the persecuted households.  Whoever or whatever was causing these disturbances, they were obviously pleased by the results.

So far, our little tale sounds like what we today would call a bog-standard poltergeist event.  Paranormal researchers would step forward talking learnedly about spectral forces, the power of the subconscious mind, disturbances in the psychic ether, and whatnot.  These 19th century neighbors came up with a far simpler, and, in its way, more logical explanation: angry fairies.

According to some Ballygowan residents, many years before, a homeowner was so plagued by mysterious disturbances similar to those suffered by the two families that he was forced to abandon the house.  The house stood in increasing ruin for some time, and eventually the families at the center of our story took materials from it to remodel their own buildings, which stood on the same land as the abandoned house.  This infuriated the fairies (or, as they were locally known, bogles.)  Having successfully chased out the owner of the building, they considered the ransacked home to be their personal property, and the disturbances suffered by the two households were the bogles’ way of taking revenge.

The report states that the bogles ceased harassing the two families “some several months later,” so presumably the affronted creatures found another empty ruin that was equally to their liking.

So, if you should ever want to salvage materials from some old home that seems untenanted, be very careful: you just might be trespassing on a prime piece of Fairy Real Estate.