Everyone likes a good scare every now and again, and Belfast offers plenty of investigative opportunities for all you wannabe ghostbusters. 

The city is packed with ghostly goings-on, whether you’re looking for traditional yarns of abandoned lovers and headless horsemen or creepy buildings with plenty of bloody tales to tell.

So, if you fancy grabbing your flashlight and doing a spot of supernatural snooping, here are just some of the ghosts to look out for...WhooOOoooOOOOOoooo

The Ghost of Smithfield Market 
Biddy Farrelly, otherwise known as the ghost of Smithfield Market, is said to haunt the area around Gresham Street, directly behind CastleCourt Shopping Centre. Rumour has it that Biddy was an ex-lover of Luke White, a successful businessman who owned a bookstall in the market. After he moved to Dublin to find fame and fortune, Biddy pined for her former flame, turning to drink to help her forget her woes. When Luke died, he is said to have left some money to his old girlfriend which Biddy promptly used to drink herself to death, believing she would join her true love in Heaven. Unfortunately for Biddy, it didn’t work out as planned and her ghost still walks around the market, searching for her first, and only, love…. 

Galloper Thompson the Headless Horseman
Every city has a headless horseman story and Belfast is no exception. According to legend, the apparition of a man on horseback, with head tucked under his arm, can be seen in the area around Alexandra Drive in the north of the city. He is said to be local man and intrepid traveller Gordon Thompson who claimed that, if he died and didn’t get into Heaven, he would come back and haunt his ancestral home, Jennymount, which once stood on the site of Alexandra Drive. Exactly where the headless bit comes into the story, we’re not quite sure… but one suggestion is that he was beheaded by an old mill guillotine. Gruesome stuff...

The Belfast Flaxworks Ghost 
Belfast has a proud industrial heritage, centred on the city’s once-proud linen mills. One of them, the old Belfast Flaxworks mill in the Markets area (near St George’s Market), is rumoured to be haunted by a former employee, Helena Blunden. Aspiring singer Helena died in 1912, after tripping over a mop and tumbling down a flight of stairs inside the mill. Legend has it that her screams can still be heard in a print shop which now occupies the site where the mill once stood.

Crumlin Road Gaol
If you’re looking for things that go bump in the night, you can’t afford to miss Crumlin Road Gaol in North Belfast. The gaol, once home to some of the city’s most notorious criminals, is said to be haunted by all manner of spooky spectres, including a young boy who took his own life after being threatened by the prison hangman.

Pub Ghosts
They don't call them spirits for nothing, and several Belfast bars claim to have their very own resident ghost. Check out the famous Crown Bar and the Shankill Road's Rex Bar where staff will share some suitably spinetingling tales. Or join a Haunted Pub Tour and delve deeper into the mists of time...

And finally...
If you still crave a rave from the grave, take a trip to the Linen Hall Library where old Belfast tomes might just unearth some slumbering bones waiting to be disturbed. And check our listings for Ghost Walk, Bus and Boat Tours to keep you on your toes.