Mary Gallagher of Griffintown
Mary Gallagher was killed by decapitation in Griffintown, Montreal, on 27 June 1879. Local folklore says her ghost comes back every seventh year to look for her head.
Wikipedia records that Mary Gallagher, an Irish-Canadian woman, was killed by decapitation on 27 June 1879 in Griffintown, Montreal, then a mostly Irish neighbourhood. VICE describes the start of that day: between 6 and 7 in the morning on 27 June 1879, Gallagher turned up with Michael Flanagan at a house on William Street, where it meets Murray Street. The house was home to Susan Kennedy and her husband, Jacob Mears, whose surname VICE says is also spelled Myers or Meyers. Kennedy said both visitors had been drinking but looked sober.
A folk legend grew around the killing. The Main reports that, since 1879, a ghost is said to visit a Griffintown street corner at seven-year intervals to reclaim a murdered woman's head. CTV News gives the same account: Gallagher revisits William and Murray streets at seven-year intervals, searching for her missing head.
"Mary Gallagher was a 19th-century Irish-Canadian woman who was murdered in the then-Irish dominant neighbourhood of Griffintown, Montreal, Quebec. Allegedly a sex worker, Gallagher was killed via decapitation on 27 June 1879. Since her murder, she has been the subject of significant folklore, with some claiming that her spirit haunts the area to the present day.[1][2][3][4]"