Tradition: Canadian Mythology
Alternative Names: Sister Marie Inconnue, The Headless Ghost of French Fort Cove
Category: Ghost
The Myth
The Headless Nun is a restless female ghost said to haunt French Fort Cove in Miramichi, New Brunswick, Canada. She is identified as Sister Marie Inconnue, an eighteenth-century resident of the area whose life ended when she was beheaded. Her head was never recovered, and her spirit is believed to wander the surrounding woods and waterways, searching endlessly for the missing part of her body.
The circumstances of her death differ between versions of the legend. In one telling, a mad trapper attacked Sister Marie, severed her head, and fled into the forest carrying it away. In another version, two sailors murdered her after she refused to reveal the location of a hidden treasure. Regardless of the details, her violent death and the disappearance of her head left her unable to rest, condemning her to roam the area as a headless apparition.
The Headless Nun remains one of the best-known ghostly figures associated with French Fort Cove. Her legend gives the quiet cove and its surrounding woodland an eerie reputation, as the spirit is imagined wandering through the place where she met her fate, still searching for the head that was taken from her.
Sources
“Headless Nun.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Accessed October 15, 2026. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Headless_Nun