The Everyman Palace Theatre has stood proudly on Cork’s MacCurtain Street since 1897. With its gilded balconies and plush red velvet seats, it has been a beloved landmark for generations. Yet when the curtain falls and the audience goes home, some say a few figures from the theatre’s past return.

During a performance of Dancing at Lughnasa, one audience member felt something brush against his knee. Turning, he saw a woman in period dress silently gesturing to pass. But when he stepped aside, his companion whispered that no one was there. In the blink of an eye, the mysterious woman had vanished.

Staff have also reported unsettling encounters. Backstage technician Seán Spillane has admitted that while locking up at night, he often feels an unseen presence following him. “Of course, when an old building goes to sleep there are creaks — but there is definitely something there,” he recalled.

Even more striking was the experience of a sound engineer, who swore he saw a man in a cloak and top hat brush past him in an empty corridor — only to fade into nothing before his eyes.