Lough Derg is the lowest and largest of the three great Shannon lakes. On still nights its long inlets carry sound for miles — and, some say, voices that don’t belong to the living.

Along the shore, witnesses report indistinct, drifting figures: grey shapes that never quite resolve into faces. Brief encounters, but never forgotten.

Most famous is the Phantom Boat. It is heard travelling north, the dip of oars steady on the dark water, voices and faint music carrying over the lake. Often no vessel can be seen at all; when it does appear, it seems empty, moving with its own purpose.

One oft-told tale concerns an English visitor who, seeing the unseen rowers at work, hurled a stone into the darkness. The stone came back with force, followed by mocking laughter. He fled and, so locals say, never returned.