An old hotel where the devil appeared during a game of cards.
A hunting lodge in the mountains where a devil-worshipping cult summoned Satan.
Cell doors slamming and lights flicking on and off at Ireland’s biggest empty prison.
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These are the supernatural stories from some of Ireland’s most haunted places.
They include Loftus Hall in Co Wexford, below, a vast mansion that once had to be exorcised.
Leap Castle in Co Offaly, home to the spirits of a murdered priest and a governess and Kilmainham Gaol in Dublin.
LOFTUS HALL
This vast mansion, near Hook Head, Co Wexford, is regarded as Ireland’s most haunted house.
Loftus Hall is said to have hosted the devil and is home to poltergeists and ghosts walking through its many corridors.
Its haunting tale comes from 1766, when a stranger appeared at the door there on a stormy night.
The daughter in the house, Lady Anne Tottenham, was enamoured by the stranger and they played cards each evening in the Tapestry Room.
One night she dropped a card and as she bent down to retrieve it, she saw the stranger had cloven hoofs.
On sight of them, he shot straight through the roof in flames.
Lady Anne never recovered and stayed locked in the room and died years later.
Her ghost has been seen at night, wandering the halls, by servants and family members.
The house – which dates back to The Black Death – had to have an exorcism performed on it at one stage, due to the amount of paranormal activity in it.
Over the years it has been a convent, a school for girls and a creepy hotel. It is not in use and is in need of extensive renovation.
It has featured in horror films – such as The Lodger – and been used in paranormal TV investigations.
KILMAINHAM GAOL
This historic prison is the site of reported poltergeist activity, dark entities, apparitions and sounds such as cell doors slamming and the trudging of boots.
Opened in 1796, the prison has homed some of Ireland’s most notorious criminals. Many of those incarcerated at Kilmainham died in their cells.
It closed in 1924, after one of the most significant events in Irish political history.
It was the location of the execution of 14 men behind the Easter Rising of 1916, including Padraig Pearse and James Connolly.
Ghostly goings-on began being widely reported from the 1960s onwards.
The governor at the time, Dan McGill reported seeing the lights on in the chapel at night, so he went and turned them off. However, once he was outside again, they came back on, and this happened regularly.
A painter in The Dungeon told of being slammed against the wall by an unseeable force while he was working there.
Kilmainham Gaol is now a museum, Ireland’s largest unoccupied prison. Tourists have reported the sight of people walking the corridors in what they thought was period dress. They assumed they were actors – but they were not.
HELLFIRE CLUB
It’s real name is Montpelier Hill, but it’s known to all as The Hell Fire Club due to its ominous links.
At its zenith sits a hunting lodge, where most of the creepy tales come from.
Set in the Dublin Mountains, Montpelier Hill was home to an ancient passage grave and a cairn.
One of Ireland’s wealthiest men, James Speaker Connolly built a hunting lodge there in the 1700s. He destroyed the cairn in the process and it is believed aggrieved spirits wanted revenge.
Shortly afterwards, the roof of the secluded lodge blew off in a storm.
When Connolly died, it was sold and became a meeting place of a group called The Hell Fire Club.
It was founded by Richard Parsons who was known for dabbling in Black Magic.
Its members were known for amoral behaviour and were said to be Satanists and devil worshippers.
They dressed like the devil in hooves and horns and said black masses and summoned Satan. Servants and animals were sacrificed in its rituals.
One spooky tale is how a young, curious farmer went to find out what they were doing.
Afterwards, he was left trembling and terrified and never spoke for the rest of his life.
LEAMANEH CASTLE
Leamaneh translates as Horse’s Leap – a reference to the mode of death its 17th century owner Red Mary used on her enemies.
Red Mary – or Maire Rua as she is also known – lived at Leamaneh Castle from 1640.
She turned it into a splendid home, which was unusual at the time, when defence was a priority of homes, not decoration.
She was known to a be a bloodthirsty, ruthless woman who had 25 husbands.
When her second husband Conor O’Brian died she roared out: “What do I want with dead men?”
Her third husband made a comment about Conor and she kicked him so hard in the stomach he died.
To do away with enemies, she drove them over the Cliffs of Moher on horseback.
Leamaneh Castle, on the edge of The Burren, is now a ruin, with only a shell remaining.
Ravens circle overhead and the formidable Mary is said to haunt the ruins.
LEAP CASTLE
Situated in Leap, near Roscrea, this spooky site has been described as the most haunted castle in the world.
It has featured in worldwide paranormal investigations, such as TV’s Scariest Places On Earth and Ghost Hunters International.
Leap Castle which dates back to the 13th century where it was built by the O’Bannon clan – has been home to horrific spirits and ghastly events and has a long history of bloodshed and brutality.
Home of the Darby family in the 1700s, it is said Mad Captain Darby buried a crock of gold and then murdered the servants who helped him hide it.
Ghosts are said to walk its walls, corridors and archways. An ancestor Mildred Darby told how a ghost would come and lie on people in their beds, and they would feel a great weight upon them.
Later, it went into the hands of the O’Carroll family. The Blood Chapel is where one O’Carroll son murdered the other to gain power.
The ghosts of little sisters Emily and Charlotte, who lived there in the 15th century, are said to be seen on the battlements. Other spirits include a murdered priest and a governess, an old man and a ghost monk.
For generations, there have been reports of light streaming from its barren windows at nightfall and the smell of burning rubber.
DUCKETTS GROVE
The Georgian mansion was built in 1745 by wealthy landowners The Duckett family. Today it is a ruin, having never recovered from being gutted by fire in 1933.
The blaze may be linked to a curse that was put on the property and the Duckett family after a tragic death.
William Duckett was having an affair with a local woman, who fell off her horse and died when she was riding on the property.
Since her death, the wailing of a banshee can be heard throughout its halls, warning the listener of impending personal tragedy. This wailing has been speculatively linked to at least two deaths.
A lot of paranormal activity has been reported in the house –strange occurrences such as the noise and fuss of a busy kitchen, disembodied voices, mysterious sightings and apparitions.
The ghost of William has been seen, still riding his horse and often pulling up outside the front door.
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