In 2006, a family living in the Corrach Bui housing estate in Rahoon—a suburb of Galway City—reported a chilling series of paranormal disturbances that had plagued them for seven years. The Corcoran family claimed their home was haunted by two malevolent entities: the spirit of a hostile woman and a ghostly child.

The haunting was far from subtle. Family members reported being physically attacked—dragged from their beds, scratched, and, in the case of the father, beaten by an unseen force. John and Kate Corcoran, the parents, described terrifying encounters in almost every part of the house. Their ten-year-old daughter, Julie Ann, appeared to be particularly vulnerable. According to her parents, the spirit of the child would lure Julie Ann from her room in the middle of the night, drawing her towards the staircase. Fearing for her safety, Kate said she had to lock the bedroom door at night to prevent her daughter from leaving the house under the spirit’s influence.

However, the most harrowing experiences occurred in John and Kate’s bedroom. On numerous occasions, John awoke to find the ghostly figure of a woman standing silently at the foot of their bed. When he nudged Kate to ask if she could see it too, she confirmed that she could. Whenever John turned on the television, the apparition would fly out the window—except on the nights when she refused to leave.

Some believe this spirit harboured a jealous fixation on John and wanted to keep him away from Kate. On one occasion, the entity grabbed John’s arms and twisted them painfully behind his back, leaving him in agony as he struggled to break free.

It has been speculated that the source of these hauntings may be linked to nearby Rahoon Cemetery, which is believed to contain the unmarked graves of famine victims. Whether coincidence or cause, the Corcoran family’s story remains one of Galway’s most unsettling modern ghost accounts.