In the autumn of 1919 a cottage in the townland of Tullynafoyle, near Newtownsaville in County Tyrone, became the centre of local excitement. The household of a man, his wife, his elderly mother and a 13-year-old nephew reported bricks falling down the chimney, broken windows, smashed crockery, torn clothes and scattered flour and meal. Much of it happened by day. More than 700 curious people made their way to the isolated cottage to see for themselves.
Suspicion fell on the nephew. When questioned, and shown a mariner's compass he was told could detect lies, he confessed. He explained that he had climbed onto the roof and pushed loosened chimney bricks down into the house, then gone back indoors with a book. As alarm grew he escalated, breaking windows, hiding things and tearing clothes, always staging them so he would not be suspected. Asked why he had not owned up earlier, he reportedly said that no one asked.
The case is a useful comparison with the Cookstown ghost of 1874, which was never resolved.
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