Ghostly Apparitions in Ireland

Haunted Castles

The Ghostly Apparition of Lady Margaret

People who have visited Belvelly Castle in County Cork have seen the apparition of Lady Margaret haunting the tower house. In the 17th century, Lady Margaret Hodnett was a flirtatious woman with many suitors and a vast collection of mirrors. When one of her suitors Clon de Courcy decided he had had enough of being kept waiting around he decided to starve Lady Margaret and her entire family into submission.

After a year the Hodnett family was ready to surrender but Lady Margaret had lost her beauty during this time. She was surrounded by unburied corpses and skeletons. When Clon rejected her she smashed all of her mirrors. To this very day, you can see the ghostly apparition of Lady Margaret roaming about the castle rubbing patches on the walls to make them shine like mirrors.

Five Ghosts

At Malahide Castle in Malahide, County Dublin you can encounter five ghosts roaming about. The castle was built in 1185 by the Talbot family who owned it until 1975. Except for a period of ten years when Cromwell had the family evicted and gave the property to a man named Mailes Corbett, one of the five spirits. While living at the castle Corbett did atrocious things like desecrating the chapel of the old abbey near the estate. This Englishman was hung for his crimes.

Now it is said that the apparition of Corbett appears on the castle grounds every year. At first, there seems to be a whole soldier in armor in front of your eyes but soon the armor falls to pieces. Another interesting ghostly apparition is that of the Talbot court jester, Puck, who was at the castle in the 16th century. While Lady Elenora Fitzgerald was visiting at the castle, Puck fell in love with one of the noblewomen.

One night poor Puck was discovered outside of the castle walls stabbed through the heart The jester swore before death that he would come back to haunt the castle. He made sure his presence was known in 1975 when the contents of the castle were being sold and in the photos taken you could clearly see the jester's dwarf-like apparition.

Strange Happenings

Charleville Castle in Tullamore in County Offaly is well-known for being haunted and has been featured on shows like "Scariest Places On Earth" on Fox and "Most Haunted" on Living TV. During their stay, many guests have reported strange happenings and paranormal investigators and psychics agree.

The castle was built in 1798 for the first Earl of Charlesville William Bury and his family. It remained in the Bury family until 1963 at which time Colonel Charles Howard Bury died suddenly. The property is now owned by a woman named Bridget Vance and is being restored to its original Gothic Revival beauty.

Construction workers at the castle say that the ghostly spirits of Charlesville have been awakened, They've heard voices whispering and classical music playing all around. Sounds of children in what was once the nursery have been heard.

Stories are told about a little girl named Harriet, who died tragically while playing on the stairwell in the early 1800s. Her ghostly apparition has been seen in the stairwell and while walking down the stairs people say they've felt a cold gust of wind rushing past them. Harriet can be heard in the rooms around the castle moving furniture, talking, and giggling.

Supposedly this castle was built on land that once belonged to ancient druids and about the castle grounds ghostly hooded figures have been seen.

The Haunting of Sabrina

Ross Castle in Lough Sheelin in County Meath sits on the shores of Lough or Lake Sheelin and has the reputation of being one of the most haunted places in all of Ireland and even Britain. The Lord of Devon Richard Nugent also called The Black Baron built the castle in 1533.

Legend has it that in 1536 the Baron's daughter Sabrina fell in love with a handsome young man named Orwin who was the son of the O'Reilly chieftain. They met on a bridge on the edge of the property but the couple was not considered an appropriate match since the girl was English and the boy was Irish.

Sabrina and Orwin decided to elope and took a boat out upon Lough Sheelin. Tragically a storm struck and in the turbulent waters of the lake, the boat overturned. Falling into the shallow waters Orwin struck his head upon a rock and died. Sabrina was rescued and awoke three days later. When she saw the body of her lover laid out in the palace chapel, she let out a blood-curdling scream. A short time later she died from shock and both she and Orwin were buried in a mound on the castle grounds.

The ghostly apparition of Sabrina now haunts Ross Castle searching for her lost lover, Her agonizing wails can still be heard in the early morning hours in the back room of the castle. Visitors have reported the presence of the Black Baron on many occasions. This apparition supposedly roams the grounds grieving for his dead daughter Sabrina.

Other haunted places

The Ghost of a Black Newfoundland Dog

At St. Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin, the ghostly spirit of a black Newfoundland dog can be seen sitting at the base of the life-sized marble statue of Captain John Boyd and laying outside on his master's grave.

Rather than leave his dead master the dog chose to starve to death, after one of the largest funeral corteges ever seen in Dublin. Captain Boyd and his dog walked about Dublin together. In 1861 Captain Boyd became a hero when he helped to organise the attempted rescue of over 135 ships along with their crews that were wrecked in a storm between Howth and Wicklow. At that time Kingston was known as Dun Laoghaire and after the ships were wrecked there were bodies everywhere and pieces of the ships. Boyd lashed himself to his crew and set out to sea in a futile attempt to try to save lives and drowned along with his men.

The Ghostly Spirits of the Lunatic Asylum

At the abandoned Lunatic Asylum in Cork District at one time the most horrid things happened. People have heard the tortured screams of ghostly inmates. The asylum was built in 1798 by the author of the first book on Irish psychiatry William Saunders Hallaran. He also invented the Hallaran Chair which was a rotating chair that spun hysterical patients about at 100 revolutions per minute. Today it is said that the derelict part of the complex is haunted by the unfortunate souls of those who had to spend their lives at the asylum. Paranormal investigations have not only seen ghostly spirits of the inmates but have recorded their voices.

The Devil On Horseback

At the ruins of the Ballingarde House in County Limerick, a sinister figure has been seen on horseback. Supposedly it is the devil or one of his dark apostles roaming about. The dark tales began with Edward Croker, who was with Cromwell's New Model Army. The story goes that one dark night a mysterious stranger on horseback appeared from nowhere on the road next to the carriage in which Edward Croker was riding.

At this time the two men spoke and the conversation ended with a dinner invitation to Ballinsgarde House. While at the house the stranger, who got drunk collapsed in the morning and a servant removed his boots only to discover that instead of feet the stranger had hairy, cloven feet. Later it was discovered that hoof-marks had been seared into the floor by red-hot feet.

Satanic Club

The mysterious and creepy hunting lodge known as The Hellfire Club in the Dublin mountain was a satanic club. The members of the club dressed up to resemble Satan. They enjoyed drinking whisky and butter from a cauldron and possibly might have devoured a servant girl while she was still alive.

The Hellfire Club was founded in 1736 by the very wealthy first Earl of Rosse Richard Parsons, who was also the first Grand Master of the Irish Freemasons. He practised black magic using ancient Dionysian scrolls and gained the reputation of being a sorcerer. The scrolls had been stolen from the Great Library of Alexandria in 1270. Parsons wrote a book "Dionysus Rising" and started the Sacred Sect of Dionysus.

The sect celebrated the joys of Bacchus and Venus, drinking, and sex. Later on, this became the Hellfire Club where huge screaming black cats were captured, caged, and then roasted until four days later the devil appeared granting them their wishes. Surely the spirits that roam here are to be avoided and are not of the friendly kind.

The Ghosts of the Opera

At the Grand Opera House in Belfast, you'll find several ghosts, unfortunately, many of them have not been identified. Cast members coming down from the dressing rooms on the top floor have seen a face peering at them from a round window. While standing on stage opera house staff members have had a feeling that someone was behind them but have seen no one.

Actors have experienced the feeling of being followed while they're in the stage area. One ghostly apparition is a mysterious figure that is dressed in a long, black cloak and has always been spotted on stage. It could supposedly be the spirit of an actor who has played his role and perhaps is still waiting for the curtain to go down.

While investigating the opera house the Northern Ireland Paranormal Research Association have been contacted by two deceased stagehands Harry and George who worked at the theater in the 1980s. Other workers identified have been an unnamed woman who cleaned the opera house and an electrician who also worked there. It must be that for these spirits during their living years the pay was good, so why leave the opera house even after death.

A Ghostly Welcome

After you have traveled about Ireland and seen and perhaps experienced some frightening things and thought that sitting down with a pint of ale would relax you, think again. Especially if you have wandered into Grace Neil''s Bar in Donaghadee, County Down because you might just be having a pint with a ghostly spirit.

One of Ireland's oldest pubs Grace Neill’s was built in 1611. It was originally known as The King's Arms and renamed after Grace Neill, who ran the inn for many years and died at the age of 98 in 1918. However, even after passing on, she appears to have chosen to remain at this pub. The ghostly spirit of an old woman in Victorian garb has been seen in the dark corners of the inn. She is also seen at the front bar where she straightens glasses and furniture as well as switches lights on and off.

In death as in life, she continues doing her tasks. .On the second floor a strange kind of shuffling has been heard and people have felt some kind of invisible presence pass through them as they stand on the pub's staircase. However, have no fear and enjoy your pint of ale because the apparition of Grace is a friendly one and enjoys welcoming people to the inn.