In November 1995, reports of supernatural activity emerged from the Iralco factory (now Decotek) in Collinstown, County Westmeath. Several early-morning workers claimed to have seen an elderly woman dressed in period clothing walking through the facility around 6am. Witnesses described her attire as an old-fashioned, cream-coloured frock. One observer saw the figure for 12 seconds, while another admitted he didn’t think she was a ghost—but found it highly unusual for an elderly woman to be present at such an hour in a secured industrial site.

A journalist from the Westmeath Examiner noted that the factory stood at Barbavilla, a location historically tied to a violent event during the agrarian unrest of the 1880s. On Easter Sunday, April 2, 1882, Mrs. Maria Smythe, wife of Henry Smythe, was fatally shot while walking home from church along the avenue leading to Barbavilla House. It was believed she was mistakenly targeted, with her brother-in-law William Smythe thought to have been the intended victim. The killer was never brought to justice and is believed to have escaped to Australia.

The factory’s proximity to the scene of this unsolved murder has led some to speculate that the apparition could be linked to the tragic past of Barbavilla House.