The Ghost on St. Patrick's Day

It was St. Patrick’s Day in Dublin and the town was painted green. This holiday means a lot to the people of Ireland and everyone is so proud when it comes around every year. Not only was the day a big celebration for all of Ireland, it was also a day to reflect and celebrate the country's past. Many stories are told all across Dublin about the wars that were fought and the ghosts that roam around Dublin.

Sean and his friends were out in the streets celebrating St. Patrick’s Day when they walked by an old abandoned grocery store down an alley near Bride Street. Sean was instantly transported to 1888 and was stuck in a vision...

It was a long time ago before cars filled the streets and televisions in homes. Sean was in a house of an old man. He was a grocer named Mr. Mollan and he was left a widower. There were pictures of him and his wife throughout the house but she was no where to be found and he sat crying. He was left in charge of many children and they sat and tried to comfort him after his wife's funeral. The daughters missed their mom very much as well. The family began hearing noises up and down the stairs and into the nursery. They didn't know why these noises were occurring as they had never done anything in their lives to invite spirits in. As much as they missed their mom, they wanted her to be at peace in the afterlife.

The family grew to be very frightened and feared it was a ghost. They were worried about the spirit haunting them and disturbing them. They were very scared especially because it was nighttime. They heard footsteps up and down the halls and breathing beside them. One daughter said she could feel a presence standing right beside them all.

The maid followed Mr. Mollan up the stairs and saw the ghost of Mrs. Mollan standing at the top looking distressed. Mr, Mollan was in disbelief. The ghost looked anxious like she was worried about her family's lives in the afterlife and wanted to protect them at all costs. The maid heard a whisper from the ghost, “ochone, ochone, ochone.”

“Did you hear that?” said the maid.

“You fool!” replied Mr. Mollan. “That’s all in your imagination.” He was trying to justify what he had just seen.

Sean just stood there; the family couldn't see him. It's almost like he was the ghost himself. He couldn't communicate with the family but he wanted to tell them that Mrs. Mollan is only trying to protect them and she doesn't want to hurt them. He wanted to tell them they shouldn't be scared and that she was looking out for them always.

Sean was transported back to reality. How did he see what he just saw? He wasn’t scared or frightened. He was most in disbelief from what he saw. Although the feeling was gone in a second when Sean and his friends continued to celebrate their favorite day in the middle of Dublin.

Sean did some research on the house the next day. They say there were common occurrences like the one on the stairs as long as the family lived in the same house. The family could never get rid of Mrs. Mollan's spirit. To this day, especially on St. Patrick’s Day, the ghost of Mrs. Mollan is extremely active and watches over her house and her family even though they are long dead too.

Author’s Note: As in previous stories, I wanted to include Sean. This time I wanted to include him present day and on St. Patrick's Day with his friends. The original story that is intertwined within this story is traditionally told on St. Patrick’s Day every year in Dublin so I wanted to incorporate that as well. There are so many ghost stories from Dublin but I felt like this one shows the most detail so that's why I'm including it. The original story goes on to show more appearances by the ghost and how it affects the daughters. There is even an instance in which one of the presences feels evil to one of the daughters but I didn't want to include that because I thought it would result in an entirely different feeling for the story. Also, the presence on the stairs that I mention is of the wife's spirit disguised as a little boy in a red hat, but I changed it so it was the wife's spirit to resonate with the characters. I hope this story helps tie the story of Sean together a little bit and show how his life is affected by the supernatural. Also, I hope the sense of Sean being a fly on the wall during the vision is accurately represented.

The Haunted House in Bride Street.