Saturday, March 16, 2013

Mysterious Tales from Haunted Ireland

YouTube is filled with wonderful paranormal videos. I can easily get hooked on the many historical videos about haunted places. Lately, I've found some YouTube videos about haunted European castles, hotels, and pubs. I thought now would be the perfect time to share some ghost stories that take place in Ireland, because I like to post something Irish around St. Patrick's Day.


Here are a few of my favorite stories! For those of you who are reading my blog in email form, you might not see the videos. So please go to my actual blog to watch these.

First up, Charleville Castle! I found several videos about this place, but I liked this one best. It has a great introduction and nice storytelling.

Part one



Part two



The second half of this story finishes with a New Orleans haunted hotel story. I'm not including more about that beautiful place, since it doesn't fit with the Irish theme. If you'd like to see the rest of this program on YouTube, here's Part 3 and Part 4.

I found these videos on the GhostWatching YouTube channel. I love just about every video this person has collected. If you're not afraid of getting addicted to watching great ghost videos, here's the channel:

GhostWatching

Many of the places in these videos are beautiful. I think one of my reasons for being interested in haunted houses is the wonderful old architecture.

Charleville Castle staircase

Cool as the architecture is, I wouldn't go out of my way to stay in Charleville Castle. Would you?

County Wicklow

This next story concerns an Irish farm that stands on haunted land. The story starts off almost charmingly, as ghost stories go, and then gets not so cute. I thought this video was really well done and I enjoyed listening to the story tellers' accents. Watching this, I felt like I was sitting down with a friend, hearing their personal story.  



What did you think of the last story that happened in the trailer? I'd be interested to hear your opinions on what could have caused that phenomenon! 

Leap Castle

Some people say that Leap Castle is the most haunted castle in Ireland. The castle has a troubled history, filled with murder, a dungeon, and even a little "elemental" creature. This is a video from the Most Haunted show. Even if you're not into watching their overnight stay in the castle, I still recommend the history filled introduction and personal accounts. That would be about the first 10 minutes of this show.



I know it gets a little goofy by the time the men are arguing over whether to have a seance. So if you're not into that night vision, everyone is green with glowing eyes, while waiting for something to happen stuff, you might want to stop watching there. You need to be in the mood to imagine what's happening, since you're taking their word for cold spots, weird noises, etc. Watching other people wait for something to happen can get a bit tiresome for me, but I am really fascinated by the psychic on this show. The highlight of this episode for me is when he interacts with the "elemental" spirit. This was the first time I heard of that sort of thing.

http://4girlsandaghost.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/leapcastle.jpg

I also have to share the Celtic Animal Signs I ran across recently! They're a lot like regular zodiac signs. In fact my "Swan" sign sounds an awful lot like my regular Libra description. I'm sure all you Libras will like that one! Take a peek: What's Your Celtic Animal Sign?


28 comments:

  1. Great spooky angle to St. Patrick's Day! :) Love that Charleville Castle Staircase.

    My celtic animal sign is Fish/Salmon. As I'm a Leo, I was kind of expecting it to be the cat.

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  2. Little Gothic Horrors ~ Thanks! It is a beautiful staircase. I like looking at it so long as I don't focus on what happened there.

    How funny about your animal sign! Did the fish description sound accurate to you?

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  3. Lovely post Justine! I think Ireland must be one of the most haunted places in the world. If you like the architecture of the old buildings, you might like this site, if you've haven't been before, the photos are so spooky and wonderful:
    http://www.abandonedireland.com/

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  4. It sounds kind of Piscean, which is what I'd associate the fish symbol with. The swan, on the other hand, is an animal that fits nicely with Libra.

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  5. The Wild Fairy ~ Welcome to my blog. :) I just read your profile and I can see why you're here! I'm glad you enjoyed this post. That means something extra special to me, since you live in Ireland!

    Thank you so much for sending the abandoned Ireland site. I can see I have a lot to look at here! There are some nice descriptions/stories under the photos too. This should be entertaining!

    Little Gothic Horrors ~ That makes sense. I thought the swan was a nice fit too! I found mine flattering, but I haven't read the others yet. I like learning about different symbols and signs.

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  6. The "Emerald Isle" is rich in Ghost Tales and Folklore....

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  7. Dr. Theda ~ Very true. I've run across a lot of paranormal stories from Ireland, and I've always liked the way they're told. There seem to be a lot of ghost stories coming out of Scotland too.

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  8. I used to love watching Most Haunted during the first few seasons, I never missed an episode, but then it just became silly and obviously over dramatised and fake! I do love the history aspect of the show though and the fact that we get to see inside these wonderful haunted buildings. I have watched the Leap Castle one before but it was a while ago so I'll have to refresh my memory!

    I've been subbed to GhostWatching for about a year! It's probably one of the most interesting channels on YouTube in my opinion! There are so many videos to while away an evening when you have nothing to do! I haven't seen a video from them on my feed for a while though!

    I didn't know there was even such thing as a Celtic Animal Sign! Mine turns out to be a cat which I'm quite happy with! I would have loved to have been a stag/deer though! :P

    I'm definitely going to check out these videos later tonight.. it's best to watch these in the dark. I'll comment again on what I think of them! :D

    Happy St.Patrick's Day! ~ ♥ ~

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  9. Oh this post is so interesting! Ireland is positively bursting with hauntings and ghost stories, we are a superstitious bunch after all! I live in County Laois, not far from Co.Wicklow or Co.Offaly (where Leap Castle is), and I have heard LOTS of stories about Leap Castle for sure... Must plan a trip there soon! Anyway, I live in Co.Laois but mostly regard Carlow as my hometown, that is where my grandparents and the majority of my family live, and there is no end of reported hauntings there. Have you heard of Ducketts Grove before? It is an old 18th century house built on a huge estate that is now open to the public, destroyed by an unexplained fire in the 30's and strongly rumoured to be haunted by a banshee. Also the ghost of the servants of the house and a phantom horse and carriage are said to have been seen too! My grandfather claims to have heard the banshee whilst working on the grounds in the 50's (he would have been 20something), apparently 2 days later his father died of a heart attack. I have been to Ducketts Grove many times and not heard, felt, or seen anything but my grandfather refuses to go near the place! I also went to Huntington Castle in Clonegal for a ghost tour on my birthday last year, I leapt at the chance as it isn't usually open to the public apart from the Summer months. Of course everything was dramatised and there were actors scaring the shite out of you as you walked around, but it is all based on true stories! The most heard of one is the Irish soldier who was shot by his own comrades after returning to the castle dressed as an English soldier, his ghost knocks on one of the doors at the front of the castle. Also there are apparitions of a maid that cleans the doorknobs with her long hair (apparently while she was alive she had turned up to the castle to work and the cruel lady of the house had told her she had to bring her own things to clean the house with, not having any cloths or towels, she used her hair to clean), and monks in the garden outside! Very interesting stuff!

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  10. Nice and creepy. I love the old houses with their unique architecture and grand staircases.

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  11. Love this post! I miss Ireland SO much; I would love to take another trip there someday. We saw quite a few castles during our two week stay, but I'm not sure any of them have a haunted history.

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  12. Arsenic and Old Lace ~ I'm not up on Most Haunted enough to know one season from another. I started watching it on YouTube, probably after it was off TV. I'll have to compare some earlier seasons to the later ones some time. The show has good points and not so good points for me. The introductions and history stories are great. I love the psychic on the show. He comes across as genuine to me, but he's entertaining either which way. I could do without the arguing among the investigators and the screaming. If a few of these people are always going to be freaking out, I think they should just stay home!

    GhostWatching is a great channel! I've spent a lot of time watching through the playlists, and there are still more to go. Those videos have the storytelling aspect I like. It looks like their last updated video was four months ago.

    I'm not surprised that you'd like to get the cat sign! Although I know you're into deer too, after seeing your Christmas photos. I wasn't aware of the Celtic Animal Signs either. That page was just something I accidentally ran into and ended up liking.

    I agree that it's best to watch these ghost videos in the dark! You've probably seen all of these already, but they're fun to rewatch. I look forward to hearing what you think about the occurrences!

    Happy St. Patrick's Day to you too! :)

    Aoife ~ I'm glad you enjoyed this one! It's always good to hear from someone who lives in the country I'm writing about. It's like I passed a test if you liked this. :) The superstition and the stories are something I like about Irish culture. I like to think my Irish heritage is part of why I'm into the paranormal and storytelling. Speaking of my Irish heritage, Duckett is one of the names in my family tree! So that name sure stood out to me in your story.

    I can definitely see why your grandfather was spooked enough to not return to that area. I know what it's like to avoid a place because of the negative feelings/stories/associations you have with it. There's a haunted bar around here I just will not visit again! Were you reading my blog last year around this time? I wrote a story about creatures in Irish stories and the banshee was one of them.

    From what I've seen online, Leap Castle has quite a reputation. It doesn't look all that evil, but the history of that place sounds pretty dreadful. Have you heard stories about that elemental creature that's said to haunt the place? I'm curious about that creepy thing!

    Your Huntington Castle experience sounds very cool. I wonder why an Irish soldier would come back dressed as an English soldier? It's amazing how often soldiers and monks are the ghosts in these stories. Cleaning doorknobs with hair? That must have been some long hair! I can't think hair would clean all that well. It would have been in the interest of the mean woman of the house to get that maid some supplies! I'll have to see if I can find any pictures or videos about the place.

    Thanks for sharing your personal experiences, as someone who lives in Ireland!

    Julie ~ Yeah, I should have known you'd like the architecture aspect of these haunted places! I know you've seen a lot of buildings in various forms of abandonment and decay. The staircase really is something, although as I wrote to earlier, I don't like thinking about what happened on it!

    Marisa ~ Thank you! I loved Ireland too. It's the kind of place that calls you back. I think I'd be happy living there. Do you remember the names of any of the castles you visited?

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  13. Oh how cool, you could be a descendant of the very family that lived in the Grove! My grandfather won't actually talk about it anymore, very frustrating to me as I love to hear about these kind of things! Yes I remember your last post on Irish folklore and legends, the banshee is definitely the scariest Irish legend I think, I often wonder what one must sound like.. Like I said I would love to talk about it with my grandfather but he just won't! I suppose he is from a generation where they truly believed in ghosts and the like, it would be very serious to him. One of the stories I've heard about the 'elemental' ghost that inhabits Leap Castle is that it is the ghost of a member of the O'Carroll family that had leprosy, and that is the reason for her disfigured face and the smell of rotting flesh that appears before she does.. Not very nice! It would make a bit of sense though! Oh I forgot to say that the soldier at Huntington Castle was disguised as an English soldier to get past the English soldiers surrounding the Castle. I suppose he had hoped his friends would recognise him!

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  14. Aoife ~ Hey, you never know! I sure wouldn't want to hear a banshee. There does seem to be that stoic attitude with older men sometimes. That and sometimes people are afraid of being judged if they talk about their paranormal experiences. Obviously you wouldn't be judging him, though. I can see why the topic would be serious for him, especially since he associates it with a tragedy in his life.

    Your explanation for the elemental makes a lot of sense! I hadn't thought of the person having a disease that would give them those very symptoms. Pretty gross.

    Oh, that does clear things up about the soldier. I guess he was disguised a little too well!

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  15. You know in some parts of Ireland, they still rope off small sections of woodland so no one disturbs the fairies that live there. My husband saw it when he was working there for the Summer a few years ago.

    Ali

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  16. Ali ~ That's true! I remember hearing a story about that years back. As I recall, some construction was halted for that reason. That probably seems unusual to a lot of Americans. I don't think we'd ever see areas roped off for fairies here. Not that a lot of Americans don't believe in the paranormal, cryptozoology, aliens, etc. Fairies seem to be uniquely Irish. It's funny how we can believe in some otherworldly things and not others!

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  17. I'm kind of surprised that fairy lore didn't take on in the US, considering there were a lot of Irish immigrants. There's a strong history of fairies in popular culture in Australia from our British and Irish heritage. May Gibb's, "Gumnut Babies":

    (http://www.google.com.au/search?um=1&hl=en&biw=1376&bih=888&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=gumnut+babies&oq=gumnut+babies&gs_l=img.12..0l3j0i5j0i24l6.39802.44044.0.46152.13.13.0.0.0.0.254.1910.0j3j6.9.0...0.0...1c.1.6.img.CeF6yM9r3ME)

    and Ida Rentoul Outhwaite's fairies:

    (http://www.google.com.au/search?um=1&hl=en&biw=1376&bih=888&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=ida+rentoul+outhwaite&oq=Ida+Ren&gs_l=img.1.0.0l4j0i24l6.251063.253458.0.256948.7.7.0.0.0.0.233.857.0j1j3.4.0...0.0...1c.1.6.img.XU7yl47tr1Y)

    are national treasures here. Not to mention that we seem to call everything "fairy"! ;)

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  18. Little Gothic Horrors ~ Well, I can't say for certain who believes in fairies and who doesn't, but we just don't hear about them all that much here. My family history, which a relative was nice enough to record a few generations back, stated that my Irish relatives were superstitious and believed in all sorts of things. They came here a few hundred years ago, and one would assume they brought their superstitions with them. Maybe they just didn't talk about those so much in America, because the superstitions aren't mentioned after that point.

    I shouldn't be surprised that fairies are a part of your popular culture, with all those fairy names for things! Was/is there an actual belief in them too? Snugglepot and Cuddlepie are very cute. They remind me of Kewpies! I'm familiar with Ida Rentoul Outhwaite's fairies. Those are so pretty. I think I have a few of her illustrations pinned on Pinterest. Probably the little witch and the girl standing on a flying bat. I didn't know she was Australian. She's someone cool to have associated with your country!

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  19. Well, no one would be roping off sections of woodland so as not to disturb the fairies, like Ali said happens in Ireland, although that would be adorable! :) There's just a general sentimentality about fairies here.

    Perhaps it is because Australia still had a very strong connection with Britain in the early 20th Century, during the time of the "Fairies of Cottingley Glen" sensation, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and the spiritualist movement. I guess Aboriginal Dreamtime mythology is full of nature spirits too, so it would be easy enough to integrate fairies into the mix. May Gibbs' gumnut babies weren't technically "fairies" but they were little creatures of nature. And yes, they are like Kewpies. :) It is cool that Ida Rentoul Outhwaite was Australian. I love her work.

    By the way, with all this talk of Irish ghosts and banshees, have you ever seen the movie 'High Spirits'?

    http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095304/

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  20. Little Gothic Horrors ~ Nowadays it seems pretty amazing that so many people believed the Cottingley Fairy photos were real. But then, those were the days before Photoshop. I think people are a lot more likely to question what they see in photos now. It's to the point where people won't even believe what they see in a real photo that hasn't been tampered with! The early 20th century was a lot less cynical a time for better or worse. I didn't know about the connection to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. That really surprised me!

    I know I've had 'High Spirits' recommended to me, and I'm pretty sure you were the one recommending it. It sounds like it could be pretty funny, especially after watching all these serious haunted castle videos!

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  21. I believe it bombed at the box office, but I think it's adorable. It's quite hard to get hold of on DVD, but I think it may be on YouTube to watch. It's chock full of haunted Irish castle-y stuff. :) Here's a trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RIHuK89xEw

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  22. Little Gothic Horrors ~ Best line in that trailer: "I know looks aren't everything, but they could help so much." :) I can't remember if you've seen National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, but I recognized the wife in that movie in this. (Beverly D'Angelo) She looks about the same in both movies.

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  23. Yes, I've seen 'National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation'. It was on TV here again at Christmas. :) Beverly D'Angelo did 'High Spirits' the year before 'Christmas Vacation'. Liam Neeson was in 'High Spirits' too, just before his career really took off. Apparently the DVD is available from Amazon UK... I'm kind of tempted to get it now, after all this Irish ghostie talk. :)

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  24. Little Gothic Horrors ~ Good! You hadn't seen it before, right? I feel like you told me you hadn't seen it at some point. What did you think of the movie? I watch it every Christmas, along with 'A Christmas Story'.

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  25. I've seen bits and pieces of it over the years, but never the whole movie. It tends to come on TV here on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, which are usually hectic. Last year it was Christmas Day so I finally got my act together and recorded it. :) Hilarious! I still have to watch 'A Christmas Story'. I'll let you know when I've had a chance to watch that one.

    I ended up ordering 'High Spirits' from Amazon UK. I got the DVD of 'Arsenic and Old Lace' in the mail today... Sandy's new blog name is responsible for me succumbing to that particular temptation. Haha.

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  26. Little Gothic Horrors ~ I'm glad you finally got a chance to see the movie in its entirety. There are so many classic, quotable moments that mostly come from Randy Quaid. I'm thinking of some just now. :)

    I take it you've seen 'Arsenic and Old Lace' before? It's cute. I haven't watched it for years, but I'm feeling inspired to see it again because of Sandy's blog name too!

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  27. You know how much I love quotable movies/TV shows! ;) I'm sure I'll find a use for this quote at some point:

    "Can I refill your eggnog for you? Get you something to eat? Drive you out to the middle of nowhere? Leave you for dead?"

    Yes, I saw 'Arsenic and Old Lace' a long time ago on TV. Might have even been in England and it was a colourized version. I remember really enjoying it, so I'm looking forward to seeing it again. We're going to watch it today. James sure is getting a good dose of old movies at the moment. :)

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  28. Little Gothic Horrors ~ Yes I do! Haha! Oh, that's classic. "Nah, I'm doing just fine, Clark." I can see them now with their Bullwinkle mugs. :)

    Eddie: I don't know if I oughta go sailin' down no hill with nothin' between the ground and my brains but a piece of government plastic.

    Clark: Do you really think it matters, Eddie?

    Then there's that whole bit about how the part of his hair would never be the same if he hurt his head! :) I laugh every time at that scene, and I've seen that movie countless times. Somehow the lines just keep getting more and more funny!

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