Five spooky Kilkenny ghost stories

Written by Sean Walsh, Birchfield, Kilkenny:

"I heard this story at home from my mother...

There was a man named Mr. Byrne of Castlecomer going from Kilkenny to Carlow with a load of flour. When he came to this cross-roads a woman met him and asked him for a lift; he carried her. She was not long up on the car, when the horse stopped and was not able to stir. Then the woman got down off the car and told the man to meet her at the same cross-roads on the following night. The man went to the Bishop of Carlow and told his story. The Bishop went to the cross-roads with all the people of Carlow, and they met the man there. The Bishop prayed and asked the man to know was the woman coming and he answered no. The Bishop asked the man again to know was she coming and the man answered yes. The woman came in a ball of fire around the man and the Bishop bade her stop. The he asked the woman what claim had she upon this man, and she answered that she had no claim on the man. Then the Bishop banished her to the Red Sea."