Beware of The Pooka

Pucks Castle is one of a number of fortified castles built around the mid-1400s to defend the perimeter of Dublin. Other castles along the pale in this area include Shankill Castle, Shanganagh Castle, Bullock, and Kilgobbin Castle. The name ‘Puck’ is derived from the word ‘Pooka’ in Irish which means ghost or spirit and lends itself to a local legend of it being haunted. In June 1867 Jane Eleanor Sherrard, the daughter of a local Englishman disappeared near the castle after she went out to pick flowers for her table. The police organized a widespread search but the last ever confirmed sighting of Jane was by the local postman who reported seeing Jane picking flowers at the castle. To this day the circumstances surrounding her disappearance remain unknown. There is very little information about the castle’s history except that it provided a refuge for King James II and members of his army after fleeing the Battle of the Boyne in 1690.