Ireland's most haunted places: The White Lady of Kinsale, Loftus Hall, and Hellfire Club
Eva Osborne
Charleville Castle in Offaly recently made it onto Tripadvisor's list of the top 10 scariest places in the world.
The castle, which can be found in Tullamore, is said to have paranormal activity connected to an eight-year-old girl who died there.
The little girl, named Harriet, was the youngest daughter of the third Earl of Charleville, who died on the main staircase of the building at the age of eight in April 1861.
Her presence in the castle has been reported many times: singing, laughing, screams. Some people think they have caught her on their cameras in the shadows or mists in the pictures in the castle.
But Charleville Castle is just one of many places in Ireland that are said to be haunted.
Loftus Hall in Co Wexford is said to be one of Ireland's most haunted buildings.
Tailte Éireann said legend has it that, one stormy night, a stranger approached Loftus Hall on horseback and was invited in by the Tottenham family who were living there at the time.
"While playing cards with the stranger, the young Lady Anne Tottenham dropped a card and while bending down to retrieve it, she caught a glimpse of the stranger under the table – he had cloven hoofs instead of feet.
"With that, the stranger shot through the roof. Lady Anne never recovered from her ordeal and was locked in the tapestry room where she died years later.
"Servants and family members reported seeing her ghost wander the house at night. The hole in the roof where the stranger, believed to be the devil, shot through could never be repaired," Tailte Éireann said.
Charles Fort, Co Cork
Charles Fort in Co Cork is an imposing 17th Century structure located on the water's edge near Kinsale harbour. It is known for hosting the 'White Lady of Kinsale'.
Following the Irish Civil War, the fort was left largely abandoned until it was identified as a National Monument in 1971.
According to Spirited Isle, the haunting at Charles Fort arose from a "shocking family tragedy".
When widower Colonel Warrender became Commander of the fort, he moved there with his only daughter, Wilful. Wilful was engaged to a young soldier and they married soon after her arrival at the fort.
"On their wedding night, during a romantic walk along with ramparts, Wilful noticed some beautiful flowers on the rocks below and expressed a wish that she should have some," Spirited Isle said.
"One of the guards volunteered to climb down to get her a flower if her newlywed husband would take his place on guard while he did so.
"This was agreed and the young soldier asked his bride to return to their room and wait for him there."
It took longer than expected for the guard to climb down and get the flowers and, in that time, the newly-wed young soldier fell asleep.
Colonel Warrender, a strict commander, spotted what he thought was a sleeping guard while doing his last round before retiring for the night.
"He was infuriated and demanded that the guard stand up at once. But now in a deep sleep, the young soldier did not hear the Commander's warning and when he did not stir, the angered Commander took out his pistol and shot him without a second thought."
When Warrender discovered who he had shot and killed, it was too late for the young soldier.
"On learning that she had been widowed on her wedding night and by her own father's hand, Wilful was overcome with grief and rage and threw herself from the battlements. Later that night, her father also took his own life.
"Wilful now appears as a lady in white, wandering through the vast fortress. Witnesses have spotted her - still dressed in her wedding gown - ascending the stairs in the building she shared with her father, before vanishing into thin air."
Leamaneh Castle, Co Clare
The tower house of Leamaneh Castle was built between 1480-1490. Part of the tower house was demolished and replaced by a four storey manor house around 1648 by Conor O’Brien and his wife Máire Mhathuna, also known as Máire Rua O’Brien or Red Mary.
According to Tailte Éireann, Red Mary’s third husband was John Cooper, who was a Cromwellian Officer.
It was believed she strategically married him to ensure the castle and lands remained with her family. The castle did pass to her son, Sir Donough O’Brien, before falling into ruin by the end of the 18th century.
Many legends surround ‘Red Mary’, including marrying 25 more times each lasting a year and a day before divorcing.
It is alleged that she would hang servants who displeased her, victimised trespassers, and denied rights of way through her land.
With so many ongoing feuds, it’s reputed that ‘Red Mary’ came to a very bad end. Her red-haired ghost is said to appear in two different places: Druid’s Altar near Clare Castle, and Leamaneh Castle.
The Hellfire Club, Co Dublin
Montpelier Hill, also known as the Hellfire Club, was an old hunting lodge built around 1725 by William Conolly.
According to Dublin's Outdoors, there was a originally a cairn with a prehistoric passage grave in the area where the building now stands. A recent archaeological dig uncovered this.
Stones from the cairn were taken and used in the construction of Montpelier Lodge. Shortly after completion, a storm blew the roof off.
Local superstition attributed this incident to the work of the Devil, a punishment for interfering with the cairn. Montpelier Hill has since become associated with numerous paranormal events, Dublin's Outdoor's said.
"The original name of the lodge has been displaced and the building is generally known as the Hellfire Club.
"When the lodge was damaged by fire, the members of the Hellfire Club relocated down the hill to the nearby Stewards House for a brief period. This building also has a reputation for being haunted, most notably by a massive black cat.
"Today Montpelier Hill and much of the surrounding lands, including Killakee Estate (now called Lord Massy’s Estate), are owned by the State forestry company Coillte and are open to the public."
Coilte said there are many legends associated with Hellfire, showing the house as an object of occult activities and housing brief appearances of the Devil.
