Would you dare to venture up against some real life haunted spirits this Halloween? If so, keep on reading.
If you’re a Halloween enthusiast, an adrenaline junkie or have a hunger to find out more about the supernatural world, then these are the places you should be visiting in the run up to Halloween:
- Ghost River. (KILKENNY)
Kicking off our list is Kilkenny, home to the first Irish witch trial so it should come as no surprise that the area should be listed.
During a great flood in 1763, a crowd was crossing over John's Bridge when it collapsed, unexplained, drowning 16 people in the river below.
Since then, locals have reported seeing strange figures floating in the waters, scratching at the banks, leaning against the current structure and floating on the morning mist, looking in the direction of Green's Bridge.
2. Kyteler’s House. (KILKENNY)
Now a popular pub and restaurant, Kyteler's House undoubtedly deserves a mention, because what adrenaline junkie wouldn't like a scare and a munch at the same time!
Born at Kyteler's House in 1280 into a well-established family, Dame Alice was a noblewoman who went on to marry four times.
Legend has it that she poisoned her fourth husband, with her children all vouching that she was guilty of using sorcery against their father.
It's also said that she was executed by an angry crowds and ironically the restaurant which now stands on the site of her demise, burned down in December 2009.
This is the world’s earliest recorded witch trial. Visitors report sightings of a sinister female apparition on occasion, thought to be that of Dame Alice.
3. Kilkenny Castle. (KILKENNY)
The Castle was home to the Butlers of Ormonde until it was sold to a Castle Restoration Committee in 1967, before being passed into the hands of the OPW.
There are as many as 41 ghosts said to roam its grounds, many of them of the Butler family.
A painting of the tenth Earl of Kilkenny, Black Tom, hanging in the Castle was found slashed under mysterious circumstances in 2010 and if that's not spookilicious enough for you, an electric counter often finds that there are 100 extra people in the castle at night when the site is closed.
4. Huntington Castle. (CARLOW)
Huntington Castle is still the home of the family whose ancestors constructed the castle centuries before. Huntington Castle was first constructed by Sir Laurence Esmonde in 1625, who caused quite a family scandal, when he married Ailish O’Flaherty, a devout Catholic and granddaughter of the Pirate Queen Gráinne Mhaol.
If you're searching for unusual experiences then all you'll have to do here is venture to the basement where you'll find the Temple of the Goddess.
In 1976, the former dungeons and old kitchen of this 17th century plantation castle became the home of the Fellowship of Isis, a spiritual organisation founded by Olivia Robertson, her brother Lawrence Durdin-Robertson and his wife Bobby.
And Shock, this one has ghosts too. Many visitors swear that they've seen the ghost of James Leslie, the Bishop of Limerick. Not to worry though, they say he's friendly?!
5. Loftus Hall. (WEXFORD)
No Irish haunted list is complete without this one. Known as Ireland's most haunted house, the mansion opened its doors to the public for the first time in 30 years in 2012.
Owner Aidan Quigley now hosts guided interactive tours, which he says are not for the fainthearted as it is said to be often visited by the Devil!
Legend has it that during a storm at sea, a dark stranger approached the Hall on horseback after his ship was driven into nearby harbour due to rough seas.
He was invited in to seek shelter and spent some days with the Tottenham Family who were living at the Hall at the time. The young Lady Anne Tottenham was especially taken with this dark stranger and fell head over heels for him.
One night during a card game, she dropped a card and upon bending down to retrieve it, she noticed that this dark stranger had cloven hoofs instead of feet. As soon as he realised what she had seen, he shot through the roof in a ball of flames.
Anne never recovered, she went into a state of shock and madness and her family locked her in the tapestry room for fear that anyone would see her.
She died a couple of years later, still quite young, but her death was no release as servants and family members reported seeing her wandering through the house at night.
The family had the local catholic priest Fr. Broaders exorcise the Hall but he could not exorcise the tapestry room. I suddenly hate tapestry.
