WEBVTT - S04 Episode 19: A View from a Hill 0:00:00.160 --> 0:00:13.360 Any regular listeners of this show will have gathered that, 0:00:13.480 --> 0:00:17.239 unexplained is rather fond of a good old haunted house story. 0:00:18.320 --> 0:00:22.000 Such stories often have the magical ability to conjure a 0:00:22.040 --> 0:00:25.279 sense of unique and specific places, while at the same 0:00:25.320 --> 0:00:28.360 time leave us feeling as though the hauntings are in 0:00:28.400 --> 0:00:32.159 fact occurring wherever we happen to be, as if the 0:00:32.200 --> 0:00:36.879 story itself were the portal through which distant, ghoulish specters 0:00:37.000 --> 0:00:41.440 can seep into our lives. The story of the Cunian 0:00:41.520 --> 0:00:45.239 Ghost House of Ireland is just one such tale, a 0:00:45.400 --> 0:00:48.640 strange and troubling thing, owing mostly to the fact that, 0:00:48.880 --> 0:00:51.520 despite it often being regarded as one of the most 0:00:51.600 --> 0:00:55.520 compelling supposed true life hauntings, there is so little on 0:00:55.600 --> 0:00:59.440 record with which to support this claim. Much like the 0:00:59.480 --> 0:01:02.520 apparent ghost or spirit at the heart of it, the 0:01:02.640 --> 0:01:06.600 story is a slippery and a morpheous one, seemingly rooted 0:01:06.760 --> 0:01:11.800 in real, tangible things, but existing mostly as fable told 0:01:11.800 --> 0:01:15.480 and retold over the years, passed from one generation to 0:01:15.520 --> 0:01:20.119 the next, never quite keeping still, the facts, never quite 0:01:20.240 --> 0:01:25.000 staying fixed. What we do know is the Murphy family, 0:01:25.319 --> 0:01:27.720 the owners of the home at the time, and apparent 0:01:27.800 --> 0:01:32.039 focus of the phenomena were very much real, appearing in 0:01:32.080 --> 0:01:37.039 a census recorded in nineteen eleven. The house too, very 0:01:37.120 --> 0:01:41.120 much existed, and in fact still stands in the County 0:01:41.160 --> 0:01:44.360 of fir Mana located today just to the north of 0:01:44.440 --> 0:01:48.640 the border in northern Ireland. That we have anything of 0:01:48.720 --> 0:01:52.000 record about it at all is due largely to the 0:01:52.040 --> 0:01:55.840 work of Sir Sean Leslie, a writer with many broad 0:01:55.880 --> 0:02:00.000 and varied interests and avid chaser of supposed true life 0:02:00.240 --> 0:02:05.760 ghost stories. Born John Randolph in eighteen eighty five, the 0:02:05.880 --> 0:02:10.760 son of wealthy socialite Leone Jerome and aristocrat John Leslie, 0:02:10.840 --> 0:02:15.000 the second, Sean Leslie grew up within the palatial walls 0:02:15.040 --> 0:02:19.440 of the family stately home, Castle Leslie, in County Monaghan, 0:02:19.840 --> 0:02:24.320 just twenty miles to the east of Coonian. The castle 0:02:24.400 --> 0:02:27.040 is said by many to itself be haunted, though it 0:02:27.120 --> 0:02:29.960 isn't known whether Leslie, who changed his name to the 0:02:30.000 --> 0:02:34.160 Irish Shan out of affection for his homeland, ever experienced 0:02:34.160 --> 0:02:38.120 this himself. Though Leslie credits his time at the English 0:02:38.120 --> 0:02:42.040 boarding school Eton College with fostering his fascination in the 0:02:42.080 --> 0:02:46.040 possibility of ghosts and the paranormal, it wasn't until his 0:02:46.120 --> 0:02:49.800 time at Cambridge University that his passion for the ghost 0:02:49.840 --> 0:02:55.040 story was truly cemented. There he was introduced to Provost 0:02:55.200 --> 0:02:59.880 Montague Roades James, otherwise known by his pen name m 0:03:00.200 --> 0:03:03.800 R James, considered by many to be the finest purveyor 0:03:03.880 --> 0:03:07.680 of ghost stories that ever lived. It is evident from 0:03:07.720 --> 0:03:11.200 his own fictional writings that Leslie was greatly influenced by 0:03:11.240 --> 0:03:16.079 the prolific Mr James. However, it was potentially real accounts 0:03:16.080 --> 0:03:20.480 of ghosts that Leslie was most interested in. Having spent 0:03:20.600 --> 0:03:23.760 much of his life collecting and recording as many accounts 0:03:23.760 --> 0:03:27.440 of true life hauntings he could find, Leslie would eventually 0:03:27.440 --> 0:03:30.919 collate those he felt especially compelling in his nineteen fifty 0:03:30.919 --> 0:03:35.560 six publication Sean Leslie's Ghost Book. It is there that 0:03:35.680 --> 0:03:39.160 Leslie presents what he describes as the last word on 0:03:39.200 --> 0:03:42.640 the famous series of phenomena known as the Counian Ghost 0:03:43.120 --> 0:03:48.000 from which much of the following story is taken. When 0:03:48.080 --> 0:03:52.200 Leslie asked Mr James shortly before he died what he 0:03:52.280 --> 0:03:55.480 really thought on the subject of ghosts, he is said 0:03:55.520 --> 0:03:59.440 to have replied, depend upon it. Some of these things 0:03:59.480 --> 0:04:03.560 are so, but we do not know the rules. You're 0:04:03.600 --> 0:04:15.280 listening to Unexplained, and I'm Richard mc lean smith. The 0:04:15.400 --> 0:04:19.120 small brick farmhouse stood silhouetted and still in the night, 0:04:19.760 --> 0:04:23.880 a black monolith under moonlight, perched up high on the hill. 0:04:25.400 --> 0:04:28.560 To observe this quiet scene from a distance is to 0:04:28.600 --> 0:04:33.000 participate in the grand illusion of permanence, or the world 0:04:33.040 --> 0:04:37.279 seeming for a moment like a grand tableau fixed in time. 0:04:39.000 --> 0:04:42.000 Should we gaze on this house a little while longer, however, 0:04:42.560 --> 0:04:46.120 it would not be long before our illusion was punctured 0:04:46.360 --> 0:04:49.760 by the distant core of a disgruntled crow, or the 0:04:49.800 --> 0:04:53.760 haunting screech of a fox in the undergrowth, or by 0:04:53.760 --> 0:04:57.480 the movement of a thin mist steadily creeping toward it 0:04:57.920 --> 0:05:01.800 from out of the valley below. In fact, should we 0:05:01.839 --> 0:05:04.920 stare long enough, we would see that even the stars 0:05:04.960 --> 0:05:08.359 above that seem so fixed in the sky are in 0:05:08.400 --> 0:05:13.400 a state of constant shift. Inside the house, a small 0:05:13.440 --> 0:05:17.120 fire cracked and crackled in the hearth, as Bridget Murphy 0:05:17.400 --> 0:05:21.160 and her oldest daughter Anne slept under the soft flickering 0:05:21.240 --> 0:05:24.880 light of the flames. Next door in the bedroom to 0:05:24.920 --> 0:05:28.720 their right, eighteen year old Mary, fourteen year old Bridget, 0:05:29.279 --> 0:05:32.640 nine year old Catherine, and the youngest, five year old Jane, 0:05:32.680 --> 0:05:37.280 Anne slept soundly together in their bed, while twenty three 0:05:37.320 --> 0:05:39.960 year old James had the fortune of a bed to 0:05:40.080 --> 0:05:44.120 himself at the other end of the house. It had 0:05:44.160 --> 0:05:47.120 been only a matter of months since eight had become 0:05:47.240 --> 0:05:52.080 seven after Michael Murphy, the father and Bridget's husband, had 0:05:52.120 --> 0:05:55.720 been violently upended from his cart and fallen head first 0:05:55.800 --> 0:06:01.560 on to a rock, killing him instantly. That night, with 0:06:01.680 --> 0:06:05.560 the fire having all but gone out, Bridget awoke suddenly 0:06:05.640 --> 0:06:09.839 in the dark, alerted to what sounded like something moving 0:06:09.880 --> 0:06:14.480 about in the attic above. Although the room, which could 0:06:14.520 --> 0:06:18.120 only be accessed from a stone stairwell outside, was being 0:06:18.200 --> 0:06:21.560 used as a makeshift barn, she knew only too well 0:06:21.800 --> 0:06:27.000 that it was currently unoccupied. Hearing the sound again, with 0:06:27.160 --> 0:06:30.839 Anne fast asleep beside her, Bridget made a quick check 0:06:30.880 --> 0:06:34.200 of the bedrooms, but found all her children accounted for, 0:06:35.920 --> 0:06:39.440 having just returned to the central room. A tremendous thud 0:06:39.800 --> 0:06:43.440 rang out from behind her, followed by the startled screams 0:06:43.440 --> 0:06:46.280 of her four daughters as they bolted from their bed, 0:06:47.640 --> 0:06:51.480 with James joining them moments later. Bridget urged him to 0:06:51.520 --> 0:06:56.400 investigate upstairs, as the rest of the family huddled by 0:06:56.440 --> 0:06:59.560 the hearth, the sound of footsteps could be heard above. 0:07:00.200 --> 0:07:05.080 James inspected the attic, finding nothing inside but bales of straw. 0:07:06.800 --> 0:07:10.960 No sooner had he returned downstairs, a violent bang echoed 0:07:11.040 --> 0:07:16.000 through the house, than another and another, each one louder 0:07:16.040 --> 0:07:20.360 than the next. Make it stop, cried Catherine, as Bridget 0:07:20.440 --> 0:07:23.280 gathered her in her arms, and they all looked anxiously 0:07:23.360 --> 0:07:29.400 toward each other when finally the banging stopped. It would 0:07:29.400 --> 0:07:32.640 be a few nights later when young Jane Anne woke 0:07:32.720 --> 0:07:36.400 up screaming, having felt the bed move across the room, 0:07:36.440 --> 0:07:40.240 and that something had been pressing down on her from above. 0:07:46.320 --> 0:07:51.080 Over the next few weeks, the terrifying sounds continued, always 0:07:51.120 --> 0:07:54.040 beginning late at night in the children's bedroom or from 0:07:54.080 --> 0:07:57.680 the makeshift barn above, but not once did they see 0:07:57.720 --> 0:08:02.960 any sign of a culprit. Confused and scared, Bridget sought 0:08:02.960 --> 0:08:06.040 the counsel of her friends and neighbors, inviting them round 0:08:06.120 --> 0:08:10.160 to hear it for themselves. Together, they sat huddled in 0:08:10.200 --> 0:08:13.400 the center room as the colossal bangs echoed through the 0:08:13.440 --> 0:08:17.880 walls and rattled the windows, or that strange foot dragging 0:08:17.920 --> 0:08:21.200 sound lurched from one side of the ceiling to the other, 0:08:22.400 --> 0:08:27.040 and soon the rumors began to circulate. One neighbor had 0:08:27.040 --> 0:08:30.440 heard that the Sherry family, the previous owners of the house, 0:08:30.840 --> 0:08:35.360 had only stayed one night before hurriedly leaving for reasons unknown. 0:08:36.520 --> 0:08:40.120 The property had remained unoccupied for six months before it 0:08:40.200 --> 0:08:44.640 was sold. Others told of a man that had hung 0:08:44.720 --> 0:08:50.120 himself in one of the bedrooms many years before. By 0:08:50.200 --> 0:08:54.800 now convinced that something other worldly was taking place, Bridget 0:08:55.000 --> 0:09:00.320 turned to their local priest, father Smith for help. Smith 0:09:00.440 --> 0:09:03.040 arrived at the house late one night, keen to make 0:09:03.040 --> 0:09:06.400 an assessment for himself before deciding what could be done 0:09:06.880 --> 0:09:09.520 to find the family in a state of deep distress. 0:09:10.720 --> 0:09:13.640 Asking for them all to gather in the central room, 0:09:13.840 --> 0:09:17.600 Smith solemnly made his way around the house before being 0:09:17.679 --> 0:09:22.760 led upstairs by James to inspect the barn. Returning back down, 0:09:23.360 --> 0:09:28.520 Smith requested permission to stay the night. As the family slept, 0:09:28.880 --> 0:09:33.160 He took a seat by the fire and waited. And 0:09:33.280 --> 0:09:37.160 then it came. It was like the sound of straw 0:09:37.240 --> 0:09:41.440 being rustled from the room above, followed by a tremendous thud. 0:09:42.640 --> 0:09:45.880 As the others ran screaming from their beds. The sound 0:09:45.920 --> 0:09:49.360 only intensified until it was as if a horse was 0:09:49.440 --> 0:09:54.960 kicking at the walls. Without thinking, Smith gathered them together 0:09:55.360 --> 0:10:00.440 and hastily recited Mass. As the family held hands and 0:10:00.600 --> 0:10:05.200 clutched each other tightly, Smith's forthright voice rose over their 0:10:05.320 --> 0:10:10.000 quiet whimperings, and slowly the sickening noise began to dissipate 0:10:10.840 --> 0:10:18.120 until it stopped altogether. Are you always taking care of 0:10:18.160 --> 0:10:20.640 your family? Do you often take care of others and 0:10:20.760 --> 0:10:23.920 not yourself? Now it's time to take care of yourself, 0:10:24.320 --> 0:10:27.800 to make time for you. You deserve it. 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Download the app or 0:11:10.120 --> 0:11:14.480 visit teledoc dot com Forward slash Unexplained podcast today to 0:11:14.520 --> 0:11:25.240 get started. That's teladoc dot com slash Unexplained podcast. As 0:11:25.240 --> 0:11:28.440 Smith relate his findings back to the church, a different 0:11:28.520 --> 0:11:31.880 set of rumors were beginning to circulate in the nearby towns. 0:11:33.200 --> 0:11:36.560 When the girls attended their crochet lessons, others in the 0:11:36.640 --> 0:11:40.040 class would move away from them, pointing and whispering from 0:11:40.040 --> 0:11:43.720 a distance that the family had the black Art and 0:11:43.800 --> 0:11:47.319 had used it deliberately to invite a demon into their home. 0:11:49.320 --> 0:11:53.480 Others rejected the nonsense entirely, believing instead that the family 0:11:53.679 --> 0:11:57.480 were just making the whole thing up. Having spoken to 0:11:57.559 --> 0:12:02.319 Father Smith, the regional bishop instructed local reverend Eugene Coin 0:12:02.679 --> 0:12:07.520 from nearby McGuire's Bridge to get a second opinion. Since 0:12:07.520 --> 0:12:12.160 Smith's visit, the disturbances had steadily intensified and were already 0:12:12.200 --> 0:12:15.520 in full swing. When Coin arrived late one autumn night, 0:12:17.480 --> 0:12:21.920 with an anxious Bridget hurriedly showing him into the children's bedroom. 0:12:22.080 --> 0:12:25.440 Coin looked on aghast at the terror on the faces 0:12:25.480 --> 0:12:28.560 of the girls lying down on their bed as a 0:12:28.640 --> 0:12:33.679 series of bangs rattled out around them. Turning to two 0:12:33.720 --> 0:12:35.920 men in the room who had also come to help, 0:12:36.559 --> 0:12:39.600 Coin told them to take hold of the children's arms 0:12:39.600 --> 0:12:42.560 and legs to make sure they weren't the source of 0:12:42.559 --> 0:12:47.560 the disturbances. At the next break in the bangs, While 0:12:47.600 --> 0:12:50.640 being careful not to hurt the children, the men did 0:12:50.640 --> 0:12:55.120 as they were told and held them down. Satisfied they 0:12:55.120 --> 0:12:59.160 were sufficiently restrained, Coin took a seat at the end 0:12:59.160 --> 0:13:02.640 of the bed, but almost as soon as he'd sat down, 0:13:03.080 --> 0:13:07.680 the thumping started again, continuing for ten minutes until the 0:13:07.720 --> 0:13:11.200 other two men leapt suddenly from the bed, crying out 0:13:11.240 --> 0:13:16.160 in horror. Something had pushed them off, they cried. Having 0:13:16.200 --> 0:13:20.600 felt nothing himself, Coin resisted the urge to move, but 0:13:20.760 --> 0:13:24.400 just moments later, with his eyes firmly on the children, 0:13:25.080 --> 0:13:29.520 became the most peculiar sensation at his back, as if 0:13:29.559 --> 0:13:33.440 something else in the room had drawn right up to him, 0:13:33.480 --> 0:13:38.920 and then the bangs started again. Just then, a Collie, 0:13:39.160 --> 0:13:43.520 the family farm dog, wandered into the room, giving Coin 0:13:43.679 --> 0:13:48.000 an idea. Picking the dog up, he placed it under 0:13:48.000 --> 0:13:52.600 the bed. Whatever is there, he said, I ask you, 0:13:53.360 --> 0:13:55.880 if you have the power to do it, pushed the 0:13:55.920 --> 0:14:01.840 dog back out. A deafening cacophony of engulfed the room 0:14:01.960 --> 0:14:06.160 like nothing they'd heard before, sending the dog leaping and 0:14:06.280 --> 0:14:08.680 yapping from out of the bed in a fit of terror, 0:14:09.200 --> 0:14:14.000 before scurrying out of the room altogether. As Father Coyn 0:14:14.400 --> 0:14:17.480 later explained to Bridget, though he regretted to be the 0:14:17.520 --> 0:14:21.320 bearer of such disturbing news, there was no doubt in 0:14:21.360 --> 0:14:24.840 his mind that they were sharing their home with something 0:14:24.880 --> 0:14:36.720 malicious and most likely diabolical. In the following days, Father's 0:14:36.800 --> 0:14:40.520 Coin and Smith continued to visit the house, often together, 0:14:40.960 --> 0:14:44.040 as they attempted to bring comfort to the family, but 0:14:44.200 --> 0:14:48.200 also with talk of performing a possible exorcism, it was 0:14:48.280 --> 0:14:50.920 vital for them to get a better understanding of what 0:14:50.960 --> 0:14:55.520 they were dealing with. On each occasion, after the children 0:14:55.520 --> 0:14:58.480 had been put to bed, the knocking would start up, 0:14:59.440 --> 0:15:04.880 sometimes instantly, but other times a good hour later. One night, 0:15:05.400 --> 0:15:09.040 with the children fast asleep and the house completely silent 0:15:09.440 --> 0:15:11.680 save for the sound of the fire in the hearth, 0:15:12.640 --> 0:15:15.840 Coin requested to hear more about the strange noises that 0:15:15.880 --> 0:15:19.720 seemed to emanate from the attic room. As father Smith 0:15:19.760 --> 0:15:23.240 stayed with Bridget by the fire. James lit a candle 0:15:23.800 --> 0:15:27.280 and led Coin into the second bedroom, the gentle light 0:15:27.320 --> 0:15:30.280 of the candle pushing the shadows away as they went. 0:15:31.520 --> 0:15:34.920 The room was sizeable, with blinds pulled down over both 0:15:34.920 --> 0:15:38.560 its windows, and in the corner a bed covered with 0:15:38.600 --> 0:15:43.880 a white quilt. Together, they stood for a moment and listened, 0:15:44.680 --> 0:15:47.400 their faces bathed in the orange light of the candle 0:15:47.800 --> 0:15:52.560 as the rest of the room was shrouded in darkness. There, 0:15:52.640 --> 0:15:56.600 said Jane, suddenly, pointing to the ceiling. Do you hear it? 0:15:58.200 --> 0:16:03.240 Coin strained to listen. It was barely perceptible at first, 0:16:03.720 --> 0:16:07.600 as if a small animal were burrowing into straw, Yet 0:16:07.640 --> 0:16:10.560 it was clearly moving from one side of the room 0:16:10.600 --> 0:16:15.800 to the other. Asking James to stay put, Coin took 0:16:15.800 --> 0:16:18.640 another candle and slowly made his way out of the 0:16:18.680 --> 0:16:21.920 house and up the stone steps to the attic door. 0:16:23.360 --> 0:16:28.120 Pushing it open. Coin peered into the darkness, lit his candle, 0:16:28.680 --> 0:16:33.440 and stepped inside. As he stood in the silent room, 0:16:33.480 --> 0:16:36.960 pushing the shadows back with the candle light, he saw 0:16:37.000 --> 0:16:42.720 nothing but bundles of straw. Moments later, Coin returned to 0:16:42.760 --> 0:16:46.000 the bedroom, where once again he could hear that peculiar 0:16:46.080 --> 0:16:50.600 sound coming from the room above, having asked James to 0:16:50.680 --> 0:16:55.320 repeat the test. This time, Coin stood below as James 0:16:55.400 --> 0:17:00.000 went upstairs to investigate, with the priest carefully listening out. 0:17:00.600 --> 0:17:04.560 Despite clearly hearing James enter the room, not once did 0:17:04.560 --> 0:17:14.480 the other noise desist. As soon as James joined Coin 0:17:14.600 --> 0:17:19.800 back downstairs, something even more peculiar occurred. As both men 0:17:19.920 --> 0:17:22.600 would later go on to a test, It felt as 0:17:22.600 --> 0:17:26.520 if something had rushed down from above, shooting past them 0:17:26.520 --> 0:17:31.080 like a gust of wind, straight down into the floor. Unnerved, 0:17:31.480 --> 0:17:34.639 Coin ordered James to lift up the blinds, and in 0:17:34.680 --> 0:17:37.680 an instant the room was bathed in the hazy light 0:17:37.720 --> 0:17:42.119 of dawn. Then, turning to look back into the room, 0:17:42.440 --> 0:17:46.440 James gasped in horror, Pointing a finger toward the bed, 0:17:47.640 --> 0:17:55.760 Coin slowly turned around. The quilt was moving softly, billowing 0:17:55.800 --> 0:18:00.800 about as if being blown by the wind. Coin stepped 0:18:00.800 --> 0:18:04.320 forward and brushed his hand over it, and felt, for 0:18:04.359 --> 0:18:07.320 a moment as if a barrel of eels were squirming 0:18:07.359 --> 0:18:12.600 about underneath it. Stepping back, he watched with alarm as 0:18:12.640 --> 0:18:17.840 the amorphous sheet seemed gradually to fix into shape, outlining 0:18:17.840 --> 0:18:21.560 what appeared to be some kind of figure lying underneath. 0:18:23.119 --> 0:18:26.280 At the point where a chest might be. Coin watched 0:18:26.280 --> 0:18:29.760 with amusement as the quilt began to rise and fall, 0:18:30.200 --> 0:18:33.760 as if that chest were heaving up and down, struggling 0:18:33.760 --> 0:18:39.320 to breathe. And then suddenly the entire quilt began undulating violently, 0:18:39.880 --> 0:18:42.520 as if whatever was under it were in the final 0:18:42.640 --> 0:18:47.920 throes of death. Wasting no more time, Father Coin broke 0:18:47.960 --> 0:18:52.440 immediately into mass, directing it toward that shape, as a 0:18:52.520 --> 0:18:56.400 steady din of what sounded like a hideous gurgling flooded 0:18:56.440 --> 0:18:59.480 the room, as if something were dying right in front 0:18:59.520 --> 0:19:03.840 of them. All the while he kept on spitting out 0:19:03.840 --> 0:19:07.560 the words with ever increasing intensity, as the bed began 0:19:07.600 --> 0:19:11.200 to rock back and forth, lifting the legs inches from 0:19:11.200 --> 0:19:15.159 the ground, And then, as quick as it had begun, 0:19:15.720 --> 0:19:26.680 the quilt dropped down and the mayhem ceased. As were 0:19:26.840 --> 0:19:29.520 traveled far and wide at the apparent hauntings in the 0:19:29.560 --> 0:19:32.879 Murphy's home, more and more people requested to come and 0:19:32.920 --> 0:19:37.080 observe it for themselves. One evening, a well known horse 0:19:37.200 --> 0:19:39.480 dealer arrived at the house to see what all the 0:19:39.480 --> 0:19:43.679 fuss was about. Sitting next to his driver as they 0:19:43.680 --> 0:19:46.640 approached on his pony and trap, there was no doubt 0:19:46.760 --> 0:19:50.080 some apprehension as they caught sight of that small stone 0:19:50.119 --> 0:19:53.680 house perched high up on the hill before them, its 0:19:53.720 --> 0:19:58.200 windows like eyes flickering ominously with the candle light from within. 0:20:00.359 --> 0:20:03.119 All was quiet as the driver brought them to a 0:20:03.160 --> 0:20:08.000 stop outside. James, who had been expecting them, greeted the 0:20:08.000 --> 0:20:11.879 horse dealer before showing him inside, while the driver was 0:20:11.920 --> 0:20:17.199 instructed to wait alone under the moonlight. It was some 0:20:17.320 --> 0:20:20.480 time later, as the driver blew into his hands to 0:20:20.560 --> 0:20:23.679 keep them warm, that he noticed the silhouette of a 0:20:23.760 --> 0:20:27.000 figure walking toward him from out of the distant dark. 0:20:28.600 --> 0:20:31.639 The driver watched it as it drew closer and closer, 0:20:32.080 --> 0:20:35.920 until eventually it passed him by and disappeared into the night. 0:20:37.240 --> 0:20:40.120 It was strange, he thought, since there was some distance 0:20:40.200 --> 0:20:45.199 from the nearest neighbor, or village for that matter. Thinking 0:20:45.280 --> 0:20:48.000 nothing more of it, the driver had just turned his 0:20:48.080 --> 0:20:51.480 attention back to keeping warm when he caught sight of 0:20:51.520 --> 0:20:55.120 another figure approaching from out of the same direction as 0:20:55.119 --> 0:20:58.560 the one before, only for them to again pass straight 0:20:58.560 --> 0:21:04.160 by without a word and then vanish. Grabbing a torch light, 0:21:04.760 --> 0:21:08.120 the driver held it out behind him and squinted into 0:21:08.119 --> 0:21:13.040 the dark, but saw nothing. Turning back, he jumped at 0:21:13.040 --> 0:21:15.960 the sight of yet another figure emerging from out of 0:21:16.040 --> 0:21:19.760 the distance, again from the same place as the other two. 0:21:21.200 --> 0:21:24.760 Calling out, the driver demanded to know their business, but 0:21:24.960 --> 0:21:28.639 got nothing in response, as all the while the figure 0:21:28.920 --> 0:21:33.639 drew nearer and nearer, walked past the cart and vanished 0:21:33.800 --> 0:21:37.240 back into the night. Just then, a heavy gust of 0:21:37.280 --> 0:21:40.640 wind swept across the hill, blowing out the driver's light 0:21:41.040 --> 0:21:44.520 and throwing the pony into a frenzy, neighing and stamping 0:21:44.720 --> 0:21:47.480 and raising up on two feet before the driver could 0:21:47.480 --> 0:21:51.920 bring it under control. It was with some relief when 0:21:51.920 --> 0:21:54.920 his employer emerged moments later from out of the house 0:21:55.560 --> 0:22:05.040 and demanded to be taken back home. Though both father 0:22:05.160 --> 0:22:08.280 Smith and Coine urged the church to grant permission to 0:22:08.280 --> 0:22:11.639 conduct an exorcism, in the end it was decided not 0:22:11.800 --> 0:22:15.840 to take such drastic measures. Perhaps one of the most 0:22:15.920 --> 0:22:20.159 unusual incidences occurred shortly before Father Coyne was due to 0:22:20.200 --> 0:22:25.200 transfer to another parish. On one afternoon, while out visiting 0:22:25.240 --> 0:22:28.159 a sick neighbor of the Murphys, Coin was passing the 0:22:28.240 --> 0:22:31.520 Murphy household when he decided to check in on the family. 0:22:32.960 --> 0:22:35.600 Little had changed since he last saw them, but on 0:22:35.640 --> 0:22:38.960 this occasion he had a holy pix with him, containing 0:22:38.960 --> 0:22:42.960 the consecrated host wafers of bread, which are considered in 0:22:43.000 --> 0:22:47.439 Catholicism to be the body of Jesus Christ. As more 0:22:47.480 --> 0:22:52.400 of an experiment than anything else, Coine entered the children's bedroom, and, 0:22:52.600 --> 0:22:55.359 holding the pics aloft, made the Sign of the Cross 0:22:55.400 --> 0:22:59.440 with it. This moment was followed immediately with such loud 0:22:59.520 --> 0:23:02.800 bangs every one else present through themselves to the ground 0:23:02.840 --> 0:23:07.399 in fear of what might happen next. Panicking Coin was 0:23:07.440 --> 0:23:09.639 then said to have placed the picks on the floor, 0:23:10.040 --> 0:23:13.159 at which point the sound seemed to travel through the 0:23:13.240 --> 0:23:17.400 wall down toward the small holy container, before dropping under 0:23:17.440 --> 0:23:20.480 the floor below it, moving deeper and deeper into the 0:23:20.560 --> 0:23:25.320 ground until it could no longer be heard. In the end, 0:23:25.760 --> 0:23:30.400 Unable to escape the strange phenomena, Bridget Murphy eventually decided 0:23:30.440 --> 0:23:34.400 to pack up and move the family to America. Though 0:23:34.400 --> 0:23:37.200 it isn't known what happened to them after their arrival 0:23:37.320 --> 0:23:40.320 in America, or if they continued to be plagued by 0:23:40.359 --> 0:23:44.679 similar hauntings, some have reported that passengers traveling on the 0:23:44.720 --> 0:23:47.840 same boat as them heard peculiar noises coming from the 0:23:47.880 --> 0:23:52.280 family's cabin late at night. As for the clergyman that 0:23:52.359 --> 0:23:55.119 had spent so much time with the family, as Shawn 0:23:55.160 --> 0:23:59.040 Leslie noted, their involvement apparently was said to have led 0:23:59.080 --> 0:24:04.400 to two of them suffering spinal meningitis and facial paralysis, respectively, 0:24:05.359 --> 0:24:15.960 while a third suffered a complete nervous breakdown. Unexplained. The 0:24:15.960 --> 0:24:19.520 book and audiobook, featuring ten stories that have never before 0:24:19.600 --> 0:24:23.280 been covered on the show, is now available to buy worldwide. 0:24:23.560 --> 0:24:26.960 You can purchase through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Waterstones, 0:24:27.119 --> 0:24:32.119 among other bookstores. All elements have Unexplained, including the show's music, 0:24:32.200 --> 0:24:35.760 are produced by me Richard McClain smith. Please subscribe and 0:24:35.840 --> 0:24:38.720 rate the show wherever you listen to podcasts, and feel 0:24:38.720 --> 0:24:41.120 free to get in touch with any thoughts or ideas 0:24:41.160 --> 0:24:44.159 regarding the stories you've heard on the show. Perhaps you 0:24:44.200 --> 0:24:46.280 have an explanation of your own you'd like to share. 0:24:46.680 --> 0:24:50.240 You can reach us online at Unexplained podcast dot com 0:24:50.359 --> 0:24:55.240 or Twitter at Unexplained Pod and Facebook at Facebook dot com. 0:24:55.520 --> 0:25:07.159 Forward slash Unexplained Podcast. Now It's time to take care 0:25:07.240 --> 0:25:11.439 of yourself. To make time for you. Teledoc gives you 0:25:11.480 --> 0:25:14.640 access to a licensed therapist to help you get back 0:25:14.760 --> 0:25:18.560 to feeling your best. Speak to a licensed therapist by 0:25:18.600 --> 0:25:21.960 phone or video any time between seven am to nine 0:25:21.960 --> 0:25:26.280 pm local time, seven days a week. Teledoc Therapy is 0:25:26.320 --> 0:25:30.480 available through most insurance or employers. Download the app, or 0:25:30.600 --> 0:25:34.879 visit teledoc dot com Forward slash Unexplained Podcast Today to 0:25:34.960 --> 0:25:39.919 get started. 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