St. Leger's Ghost

Frank Taaffee - Athy on the Past

THE ST. LEGER GHOST

On the Kildare side of the Barrow was Grangemellon castle. Col. John St. Leger, its owner, was known as 'handsome Jack.' This man, subject in a Gainsborough painting, was not just a good-looking playboy. At the age of 26, he was a Colonel and in the 1790's, he was appointed Governor of Ceylon, and afterwards officiated at Madras, where he died a sudden death. 'Handsome Jack' is now said to haunt Grangemellon. He has been seen travelling from the gates, in a ghostly coach, driven by four horses and a headless coachman, and attended by headless footmen.