Many years ago, a cat known as Dick became an unlikely fixture within the offices of the Dundalk Democrat on Earl Street. Sometime after Christmas, the cat managed to slip inside the building and soon ingratiated himself with the paper’s editor, an elderly man who appeared quite taken with the animal.

Dick remained in the offices for years. While not universally adored, he was largely tolerated by staff for a practical reason: the basement had a persistent rat problem, and Dick proved very effective at keeping it under control. For many, his usefulness outweighed the inconvenience of sharing a workplace with a resident cat.

Not everyone was so forgiving. Some of the younger printers complained bitterly about the mess Dick left behind, particularly when they were the ones instructed to clean it up. Grumbling about “cat duties” became part of daily life in the print rooms.

One Christmas, however, Dick vanished. When staff returned after the holiday break, he was nowhere to be found. Most assumed he had slipped outside during the closure and had been unable to get back in. The matter might have ended there, were it not for what followed.

Several months later, stories began circulating among the night staff that the ghost of Dick was haunting the building after dark. These rumours reached a climax one evening when an apprentice emerged from the basement in a state of near hysteria. He claimed that the old cat had confronted him there – but no longer as the familiar, scrawny pest-catcher. According to the apprentice, Dick had grown to an enormous size, his eyes glowing and flashing red as he threatened him in the darkness.

The older printers were unconvinced. More cynical voices suggested a different explanation altogether: that the apprentice, having grown weary of cleaning up after the cat, had poisoned Dick during the Christmas period – and that guilt, rather than the supernatural, was responsible for the terrifying vision.

Whatever the truth, the incident left a lasting impression. From that night on, the apprentice refused to enter the deserted parts of the building alone. –