As far as I can tell, a property once known as Shireen House was once located on land that is now attached to Mount Melleray Abbey.

Fiona and Rena O’Haggerty were twin sisters who were born in 1859, and they lived at Shireen House. It would be fair to say that the two were “free spirits” and that in such restrained times, many in the wider community would have been somewhat shocked by the kind of behaviour exhibited by the sisters – harmless though it was. As an example – as teenagers, it was said that they once stripped naked and climbed in to a murky pond only for one of them to discover a massive bull frog had come a little too close for comfort. The two young women screeched as they ran, still without garments, across the yard towards the house in full view of stable hands and house staff, giving them all an eyeful. While the lads working the land seemed to enjoy the show, the house cook was not so pleased and required a sip of whiskey to get over the shock!

According to records, the two sisters were illiterate and they cared little for social convention, much to the chagrin of their weary but loving father, Morvin. Their mother, Lotta, was delicate in terms of her health and was unable to put reigns on them. One morning, Morvin announced that he was going to have the two sisters married off and that he had already chosen their husbands for them, but the sisters pleaded with him not to do this and the issue was never raised again. Instead, they would go on as they were, living in their own little world.

Indeed, the two would age together but never grow up. They loved dressing up in outrageous clothes with mismatched colours and their mischievous – but never malicious – antics were well known in the area. The two were assigned a supervisor when they accidentally started a fire, but the two plotted and the woman assigned the task of keeping watch, eventually gave up and couldn’t wait to get away from them.

Despite their shared love for life, the two tragically died by suicide at the age of sixty and were buried together in a double coffin as per their wishes.

The joyful ghosts of the two women were said to haunt the driveway to the old house. The sound of them singing and laughing would often be heard here. One witness was a young man who was out one day making deliveries, when his cart suddenly drew to a stop and his horse became agitated. As he calmed the animal, he happened to notice two, tall ghostly women walking across in front of him. They appeared to be carrying a net, and the vision was accompanied by the sound of shrill laughter.