It's officially spooky season.
Whether you believe in ghosts or not, a trip to one of these places after dark is not for the faint-hearted. These are (allegedly) some of the most haunted spots in the South East.
1.Grannagh Castle, Co. Kilkenny
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Legend has it, the story behind this ruin is so violent, the mortar used to build this castle was mixed with blood. Sources say the castle was once owned by a countess who would imprison her enemies in tunnels and abandon them to die. Other accounts report the countess would hang peasants from the castle for her own spectacle. Not so inviting now, is it?
2. Duckett's Grove, Co. Carlow
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This abandoned house has long been called "haunted", appearing on an episode of the Syfy's paranormal show Destination Truth.
According to local legend, the house was once owned by the Duckett family; Willian Duckett, head of the estate took a lover, and the woman lost her child when her daughter fell from a horse on the estate. Bitterly angry and bereft with grief, the woman put a curse on the family, to bring them death, despair and ruin.
Over the years accounts have emerged of hearing voices in the old house, seeing a phantom horse and carriage, floating balls of light, and various apparitions.
3. Haunted House at Carroll's Cross, Co. Waterford.
If you have ever driven the stretch of the N25 between Waterford and Kilmeaden, you may have passed this old house, which carries many rumours of paranormal activity. Legend has it people were hung from the forest near the house, and there is a tree with nothing but brown grass around it, a place where nothing can grow as it saw so much death. Some accounts mention a poltergeist in the house, and that anyone who occupied the property was compelled to leave just weeks after moving in.
4. Loughmoe Castle, Co. Tipperary
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These medieval ruins near the village of Loughmore are said to harbour some painful memories. The castle is said to be haunted by a male spirit who supposedly took his own life in the mid 18th century.
5. Shankill Castle, Co. Kilkenny
This 18th century castle is a beautiful tourist attraction, so you would be forgiven for assuming it harbours no secrets. According to a former resident, the property is haunted by the spirit of Peter Aylward, whose body was placed in the vault in the 1700s, and subsequently stolen.
Sybil Cope, who once lived in the house told the Irish Examiner that Peter haunts a particular corridor in the building, where she would often get a chill. "The legend goes that he was never properly laid to rest and his ghost now roams the upstairs corridors because it is never at peace."
6. The "Blackcaps", Ballinamona, Co. Waterford
The former road between Waterford city and Tramore is said to be haunted by the spirit of a man, who died by suicide there many years ago. According to local accounts, there was once a small stone bridge near the new roundabout located after Waterford Airport and just by Ballinamona. Before the new road was constructed, locals spoke of the ghost of a man who would lean against the stone bridge, with his legs crossed and his arms folded.
7.Coolbawn House, Co. Wexford
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In the 19th century this enormous house would have made a great impression on any visitor; unfortunately the house was burned down during the Irish Civil war and has been abandoned ever since.
Built in the 1800s, legend has it a young servant girl was struck by lightning as she stared out a widow into a storm. The ghost of the young girl is said to now haunt the house, and she continues to stare out the window as she did during her sudden death.
8. 16 Court Street, Enniscorthy.
In the summer of 1910, a poltergeist tormented the occupants of a room at no.16 Court Street, Enniscorthy, A man called John Randall was the centre of the spirits attention and he was pulled from his bed numerous times. The case is one of Ireland's most famous poltergeist stories pic.twitter.com/FSPt9URv3t
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Walking down Court Street, Enniscorthy today, you would never suspect anything spooky had happened on this quiet residential street. However just over 100 years ago, the street was all over the news, as accounts of a poltergeist at no.16 emerged.
According to the Irish Independent, the property was owned by the Redmonds in 1910, who rented out rooms to lodgers. Three tradesmen were sharing a room, when one man, named John Randall, woke to find the bedclothes pulled off him on the bed. At first he suspected his fellow lodgers were pranking him, until their own beds slid forcibly across the floor. The unusual movements in the room attracted attention, and the Guardian even sent a reporter to the room to investigate. The journalist, named Nicholas Murphy, was sceptical of the accounts, until he himself witnessed John Randall being dragged out of the bed by an invisible force.
John Randall allegedly lost 3 stone after the incident, and was a shell of himself afterward.
9. Sopwell Hall, Co. Tipperary
This magnificent house and grounds are currently on sale for €8.5 million.However, it may not be the price thats putting off investors, but the stories that lie therein.
This property was formerly Kinelagh castle, until it fell into Cromwell's hands. By the mid 18th Century the property had become Sopwell Hall, as a tribute to another Sopwell house in Hertfordshire England, and was owned by a Colonel Francis Sadleir. When Francis died his son was supposedly drinking over his fathers corpse, and ended up dragging it to the top of a flight of stairs and letting it slip. The coffin is said to have crashed down the stairs, and anyone who has ventured through the house at night can hear a scream followed by the sound of dead weight being dragged down the staircase. Supposedly, Colonel Francis has been so disrespected, he refuses to rest.
10. Loftus Hall, Co. Wexford
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Perhaps the most famous of all "haunted" locations in the South East lies on the Hook Peninsula. Most of us know the story of Loftus Hall, where allegedly a stranger was welcomed out of a storm and into the home by the residing Tottenham family. The stranger was playing cards when one card fell to the floor, causing Anne Tottenham to bend down and see that the stranger had a cloven foot.
The man is said to have shot up through the roof of the house, creating a hole which as "never been repaired". The girl Anne subsequently became very mentally ill, and allegedly spent her last days in the Tapestry Room, where she refused to eat or drink, waiting for the mysterious stranger to return.
