Portsmouth: Molly Malone’s Pub

Portsmouth in New Hampshire is the 3^rd oldest city in the United States. In the 1800s it hosted over forty brothels that serviced the thousands of seamen that visited this port every week.

Molly Malone's when it was open.

Molly Malone’s is an Irish Pub that once was located on the second floor of a building in downtown Portsmouth. The building that housed this pub was one of these brothels. It is said the fancy ladies that worked at this location in the 1800s and early 1900s would perch or hang out the 2nd-floor windows to attract their clientele.

As patrons would walk up the stairs to enter the pub they passed several portraits of these working ladies.

A recent owner of this pub, Jeff Cutter feels the bar still hosts two of these fancy ladies. He calls them “the ladies.” On several occasions, he saw these two spirits looking out the pub’s windows late at night.

He states they were attempting to get the attention of those passing by on the street below. Cutter describes them as lovely, wearing 19th-century gowns and waving to people who walk along State Street.

Besides Cutter, several people who work or live in neighboring buildings have reported seeing these two ghosts. Two sisters both in the nineties, state they often saw the two ghostly women peering out the pub’s windows.

Cutter mentioned that the ladies liked to play pranks. At the end of night shifts employees would often find one of the 1^st floor Ladies restroom stall doors locked from the inside.

This baffled everyone because these stall doors have slide locks and the doors reach to one and a half inches from the floor so it would be impossible for someone to lock them from the outside--not being able to crawl underneath.

The first few times this happened Cutter recounts they broke down these doors, thinking a female patron must have passed out inside the stall from drinking too much Guinness, only to find no one there.

Molly Malone's Bar

Cutter’s two ladies also liked to mess with the kitchen staff. Cooks often had their arms tugged and one cook recounts an incident involving the kitchen radio.

A dishwasher remarked he liked the song playing on this radio. The cook then noticed the volume on the radio turned up. No one was by it, but he saw the radio’s dial turning on its own.

In a finale note Cutter remembers the ladies always were protective of him. He recounts two separate instances that happened while his silent partner visited the bar.

The first time he and his partner--who rarely came to the pub--were having a heated argument. They stopped when a stack of glasses at the end of the bar flew off in the direction of his partner. Several witnesses saw this happen.

Two weeks later a similar incident occurred. The two men were arguing again when suddenly several glasses flew off the bar and smashed on the wall near his partner.

After this, Jeff Cutter bought out his partner’s share of the bar.

There are other ghosts besides Cutter’s two ladies in this building including a spirit seen wearing a long white coat in the pub’s basement. This room in the 1800s was used as an apothecary.

In 2008 this pub closed down. This saddened many of the local residents who have fond memories.

A final note for ghost hunters--the building still stands.