Join master storyteller Kieran Fanning as he visits every county in Ireland through 32 spine-chilling tales. Here’s a sneak peek from Dublin!
THE DOLOCHER
If you walk up the steps at St Audoen’s Church in Dublin’s Cornmarket, you will arrive at one of the gates of the original Dublin City Wall. It was known as the Gate of Hell because in the 18th century it led into a notorious part of the city known as Hell. Overlooked by a large wooden statue of the Devil, Hell’s taverns and gambling dens teemed with the city’s worst lowlifes, thieves and murderers.
Nearby, around where the Brazen Head pub now stands, the Black Dog prison housed some of the area’s most depraved criminals. It was also the birthplace of a demonic ghost called the Dolocher, who terrorised Hell and the surrounding region.
Our story begins with the murder of a young woman in the Liberties. The killer, a man called Olocher, was soon arrested, tried and sentenced to death by hanging. He was held in the most secure cell in the Black Dog prison. However, he managed to avoid the noose by taking his own life.
An expectant crowd waited at Gallows Road (now Baggot Street) for the cart that would deliver the prisoner to his execution. They protested loudly when they heard the news that Olocher had killed himself. They wanted a hanging. They wanted a spectacle. They wanted to see justice done. The prison authorities were severely criticised for allowing such a thing to happen and, though an investigation was carried out, they couldn’t explain how it had occurred.
The following day, a prison guard was found unconscious in the Black Dog. One side of his body was paralysed and his clothes were in tatters. When he came to, he recounted being attacked by a dark beast in Olocher’s cell. He described the demon as being half human, half black pig. Rumours spread that it was the angry spirit of the recently deceased prisoner, Olocher. Prison staff became nervous, especially at night.
One night, about a week later, another prison guard went to relieve his colleague, a man called Carolan, who had been on sentry duty, only to find the man’s clothes and musket at his post, but no sign of the sentry himself.
‘The Olocher,’ gasped the guard, rushing off to alert the authorities. ‘The Olocher must have devoured him!’
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