Spooktober 2026: Headless Mary — The Ghost of Griffintown

Dark Poutine. Proudly and creepily Canadian

Monday, October 12, 2026 - 1 hour 4 minutes

Episode 440: In 1879, Montreal’s Griffintown was a crowded working-class neighbourhood shaped by Irish immigration, heavy industry and life along the Lachine Canal. On June 27, Mary Gallagher entered a tenement at the corner of William and Murray streets, where a morning of drinking with her friend Susan Kennedy ended in a brutal killing for which Kennedy was accused.

The crime became one of Montreal’s most enduring ghost stories. For generations, residents have said that Mary returns to the corner every seven years, searching for her missing head. In this Spooktober episode, we examine the documented case, the legend it inspired and the changing neighbourhood that kept her story alive for nearly 150 years.

Sources:
The Ghost of Griffintown: Mary Gallagher's Haunting Legend
Mary Gallagher | Haunted Montreal
Mary Gallagher – The Ghost of Griffintown / WKT2 26
Calling all ghost hunters: Headless Mary may return to Montreal tonight | CP24
Headless Mary | Scholastic
Meurtre de Mary Gallagher | Wikipedia
The Gazette, Montreal, Quebec, Canada · Tuesday, July 08, 1879
The British Whig, Kingston, Ontario, Canada · Monday, June 30, 1879
Montreal Gazette, Quebec, Canada · Wednesday, October 01, 1879
Montreal Gazette, Quebec, Canada · Saturday, October 04, 1879
The Gazette, Montreal, Quebec, Canada · Thursday, July 03, 1879
The Montreal Star, Quebec, Canada · Saturday, July 05, 1879
The British Whig, Kingston, Ontario, Canada · Saturday, November 29, 1879
The Gazette, Montreal, Quebec, Canada · Tuesday, October 07, 1879
The Montreal Gazette Thu, Oct 02, 1879 ·Page 4
Ottawa Daily Citizen • Mon, Jun 30, 1879 • Page 1 • (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada)
The British Whig, Kingston, Ontario, Canada · Monday, July 07, 1879
St. Louis Globe-Democrat, Missouri · Thursday, October 02, 1879
Ottawa Daily Citizen, Ontario, Canada · Thursday, October 02, 1879
Ghost of Griffintown | Concordia
Les origines d’une légende irlandaise… montréalaise ! | banq.qc.ca