| There is a stretch of bogland west of the town of | | | | reported of being "pulled" towards one particular |
| Ardee in County Louth in the north east of the | | | | stretch by some mysterious force. |
| Republic of Ireland, that covers about 25 square miles | | | | Investigations took place, organized mostly by locals |
| running towards the village of Drumcondrath in County | | | | initially and by geological experts on soil and bogs later. |
| Meath. The bog is crossed by two narrow, twisting | | | | The experts concluded that the movements in the bog |
| roads that are bumpy and uneven. Very few people | | | | were not geologically possible. They did however |
| live on these roads with just a scattering of small | | | | discover that at night the bog gave off a hue of |
| cottages that are occupied mostly by an older | | | | reddish light to the western side, which they could not |
| generation of people. The remnants of some old | | | | explain. It was like a fog hanging close to the top of |
| deserted houses lay along the lonely isolated terrain | | | | that section. |
| bearing testimony to a backward existence | | | | Numerous tales of a magnetic pull towards the bog |
| generations ago when harvesting the fruit of the bog | | | | abound from people, some of whom might be the |
| was the only way to earn a living. | | | | worse for wear with drink on their way home through |
| Once out in the centre of this small bogland, one could | | | | the bog, and others who were extremely credible, |
| be anywhere such is the disconnection with everyday | | | | sober and lucid in their descriptions. In the late |
| life. Silence is the dominant sound. During even the | | | | seventies, two people mysteriously disappeared whilst |
| sunniest day, the eerie feeling of discontent and | | | | walking home through the bog at twilight. Their bodies |
| unidentified tension is palpable. Decades ago, people | | | | have never been found despite extensive searching. |
| from the town of Ardee would come out and cut their | | | | After that incident the bog became a virtual no-go |
| winter supply of turf. Nobody comes anymore, | | | | area, although there have been numerous incidents |
| however. | | | | during the intervening 30 years. |
| It is a subject not talked about by the locals, but the | | | | One theory about the "presence" in the bog may have |
| bog contains, it is said, a fearful secret that led to the | | | | validity. In the early seventies, Ireland was hit by a |
| virtual de-population of the area. Those residents | | | | meteor shower in the north east of the country. It is |
| remaining are old and would not talk about what | | | | thought that a meteor landed in the bog of Ardee and |
| sometimes is called the "presence" in the bog. From | | | | sank so deep to be beyond trace. Could this have |
| the early seventies, stories began to emerge about | | | | something to do with the strange presence in the bog? |
| strange movements in the topography of the bog akin | | | | Assuredly there is something strange in this eerie |
| to wave like shifts. Earthy sounds emanated from the | | | | place. But is it an ghostly presence or an alien one? |
| western side and animals belonging to local farmers | | | | The question remains: why doesn't somebody in |
| which grazed on solid ground near the bog started | | | | authority investigate? |
| disappearing. Children out playing near the bog | | | | |