A MYSTERY NOISE, which has been described as driving one family “demented” is being investigated in Killarney. The noise was first reported in the Beaufort area, which is a village located 15km from Killarney, nearly a year ago.

Now Co Kerry TD Michael Healy-Rae is asking the government for its help in finding out the source of the noise. He has put two parliamentary questions to Environment Minister Phil Hogan, on 7 and 14 March of this year, and his most recent question pointed out that the “mystery noise has been occurring in the area of Glencuttane Lower, in Beaufort, Killarney since April 2011″.

Deputy Healy-Rae states that since the noise cannot be measured or complained about to the local authority “as we are unsure what is causing it”, he is asking whether there is a facility within the Department of the Environment that can investigate the matter on behalf of the local residents.

He told TheJournal.ie that he is calling on the minister to “send out people to try and come to the bottom of it” and find out what is causing the noise. He said audiologists and other experts could be sent to Beaufort, and it would not cost a lot of money.

Deputy Healy-Rae said that people were being disrupted by the “very unusual and very annoying” noise and that one family in particular were “driven demented” by it. He questioned whether his parliamentary question had been read properly, as he clearly stated in it that the cause of the noise was not known. The TD added that he had attempted to enter the question a third time to clarify this, but it was disallowed as the ceann comhairle deemed it a repeat of a previous question.

“I am dealing with gobbledygook here, ” said Deputy Healy-Rae.

Minister Hogan said that noise complaints are a matter for local authorities, and that his department recently contacted Kerry County Council to enquire whether a complaint had been received about the noise nuisance.

He said that the council received a complaint suggesting a water treatment plant was responsible - it was investigated and it was discovered it wasn’t causing the noise.

He has invited people affected by the noise to contact the Environment Services Department in Kerry County Council on (066) 7162000 or by emailing environ@kerrycoco.ie.

Beaufort resident Barry Lynch spoke in a video on Youtube about the hum, and said that it is noticeable at some times more than others.

He says he is not saying it is supernatural, and it could be something “very obvious in the near vicinity”. He said people as far as 25km away had heard the noise as well. (Video via Camerahide)



Beaufort isn’t the first town to have experienced strange sounds – they have also been reported in England, Russia, and New Mexico. Though conspiracy theories abound about its cause, there is still no answer as to what or where the strange noises are emanating from.

Have you heard the mystery hum?