Personal Experiences

First-hand narratives of supernatural encounters.

The Whispering Mummies of St Michan’s Church, Dublin

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In 2010 I took my mother on a visit to an unusual and macabre attraction in Dublin: the mummies of St Michan’s church. Located near Dublin’s Four Courts, St Michan’s church is Dublin’s oldest parish church north of the River Liffey. Founded in 1095 and named after a Danish Bishop and built on the site of an ancient oak grove, the present church dates from 1685. Until the 16th century monks from Christchurch Cathedral the church congregation and from 1547 it was part of Christchurch Cathedral parish. Restored in 1998, St. Michan’s now belongs to the Protestant Church of Ireland. The church retains many of its original features such as the galleried interior and organ. The organ dates from 1724 and is one of the oldest in Ireland that is still in use. It is claimed that Handel practised for the first performance of ‘Messiah’ on this very organ.

Beneath the church lay the vaults, which are the main attraction to the church. Here many of Dublin’s most influential families from the 17th-19th centuries were interred. The Shears brothers, who were executed by the British following the Rising of 1798 and a copy of the execution warrant is also on display in the crypt, where it instructs the condemned men to be hung, drawn and quartered. Also interred in the vault are the Earl’s of Leitrim who lay in highly decorated coffins. Many of the bodies deposited in the vault are in such an excellent state of preservation that their features are discernible and they bones and skin intact. The conditions for mummification are caused by a combination of the dry atmosphere of the vaults, methane gas emanating from the ground and the limestone walls which are resistant to moisture acting together to dry out the bodies. The most famous mummies in the vault are those of the alleged crusader, the thief and the nun. The crusader, mummy believed to have been a soldier returned from the Crusades, has had his legs broken and crossed, in order for it to fit the coffin. He lies with one of his hands is lifted slightly in the air and legend has it that those who touch his finger will have good fortune. The mummy known as the thief has had his feet cut off and his right forearm is missing, some say as punishment for his crime. Recent scientific and historical research however, has disputed the validity of the stories surrounding the crusader and the thief.

Our visit to the church was on a wet and dismal day in June. After looking around the church our tour guide and 6 other people entered the underground vaults through a metal door and clambered down some very wet steps. There was a passage in front of us and in the dim light, alcove areas could be seen which contained the ornate coffins of the well to do departed. The tour guide explained who the coffins belonged to, what the family names and crests were and then we moved on toward the end of the passage, where we saw the open coffins and the mummified bodies. Towards the end of the tour my mother wandered to the end of the passage where there was a part that had not been excavated. She told me that while she was peering into this area she became aware of voices around her, “a sort of whispering, murmuring noise” and felt it was rather oppressive in the passage. She said she began to sense that there were many people around her, pressing close, which was not the case. She remembers “I did not feel frightened, just aware of this whispering and I could not make out any words, but I felt as if I was in a press of people. There was no wind entering the passage the metal door had been firmly shut behind us and I could not account for the noises.”

It is interesting to note that there have been previous reports of strange whisperings and voices heard within the vaults, as well as reports of being touched by unseen hands. Could it be that the vaults contain the restless spirits of the dead, or is it more likely that visitors to the vaults experience movements and sounds caused by ‘infrasound’? Infrasound refers to extreme bass waves or vibrations with a frequency below the audibility range of the human ear. Although these waves cannot be heard by the human ear, they can be felt and have been shown to produce a range of effects in some people including anxiety, extreme sorrow, and chills. Perhaps this would account for my mother’s feeling of oppressiveness in the passageway, the feeling of being in a press of people and hearing ghostly whispers.

Haunted vaults or not, my mother is undeterred: “I very much enjoyed it. I would not mind going again, but I certainly would not want to be there on my own….”

Visitor Information

Address: Church Street, Dublin, Dublin, Ireland

Public transport: Bus: 134 from Abbey St.

Tours: Mon-Fri 10-12:45, 2-4:45, Sat 10-12:45

Admission Prices:
Adults €4.00
Children €3.00
Students and Seniors €3.50
Family (2 Adults + 2 Children) €12.00

References

2009-2014 Ghost Catcher UK & Ireland© All rights reserved. All my posts are copyright and if you do wish to refer to them or use anything from them on your site, please credit this site.

Ross Castle Investigation November 2010

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This investigation followed the regular format of walk arounds and vigils in individual rooms. However, this investigation was different in that the focus was on experimenting on a séance in the lower tower room.  The purpose was to communicate with spirits and a planchette and alphabet cards laid out on the table were used.

One concern of individuals taking part in this séance was that of safety. Therefore the member of the team; who had tried some controlled experiences or instructions in what it feels for spirits to come close; was chosen to lead the proceedings. The member of the team who has had experience of working in spiritual development circles explained that, just as with living people, not all spirits are friendly. Also, if the spirit in contact was murdered this may create strong unpleasant feelings among those who have not had such experiences with communicating with in the past. Therefore, those who were prepared to be ‘touched by spirit’ were chosen to take part in the séance.

Here it was attempted to make direct communication with spirit through the participants’ psyches or ‘higher selves’. Instead of deciphering feelings from spirit, questions were asked.  A protection ritual was led by the team leader, which sought to protect the participants with a white light. This meditation was used more to get the participants into the correct mindset for connecting with spirit, though it also sought to create a psychic protection barrier.

The participants were asked to keep an open stance, with legs uncrossed, feet on the floor and a finger always on the planchette. This was done in order to keep spirit energy flowing and to align chakras. Crossing legs or arms would create interference and disrupt energy flow.

According to the leader of the séance, spirit does not move the planchette, but communicates with the participants’ psyche or energy field to make them move the planchette where it wants it to go. Here spirit works with the participants’ spirits in order to physically move the planchette, as the spirit communicating has no physicality in order to do this itself.

The séance leader called for any spirit to come to the table. This could have been any spirit whatsoever, not necessarily a spirit attached to the location. It could have been a spirit connected to an individual in the room or any spirit that wished to communicate. Those spirits who did not wish to communicate were not forced to.

The details of the séance will be kept confidential at this time in order to allow further unbiased investigation. However, one event of interest occurred while speaking to a mischievous spirit. Here one member of the group had chosen to remain in the living room below. However, the mischievous spirit announced that it wished to play a game with this member of the group. A loud bang was heard from downstairs and upon checking it was found that a change in air pressure in the living room, due to the heat from the log fire, had caused a door to slam loudly on its own. Could this have been due to a mischievous spirit playing a prank on the individual in the room, or merely natural causes?

Those individuals who participated in the séance had minimal experience of using a planchette and were sceptical of such methods. It was clear that quietly all individuals at the table had been conducting their own experiments to catch out fakery. However, all individuals came away from the séance saying that if someone was controlling the planchette it was very cleverly done as it was almost impossible to push the planchette in a controlled way. Seemingly the planchette moved where the spirit in communication desired it. All in all it was a very interesting experience, worthy of further experimentation and research.

 

2009-2014 Ghost Catcher UK & Ireland© All rights reserved. All my posts are copyright and if you do wish to refer to them or use anything from them on your site, please ask permission first

The Voice in the Baby Monitor, West Cork, Ireland

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A few months ago I was contacted by a family living down in West Cork who were being plagued by the activities of a poltergeist resident in their home. The family lived in an old farm-house on Mizen Head. The family had tried to research the history of the house but found out very little other than it being the old family home of their landlord. Next to the residence is an even older crumbling house, so the land appears to have been in use for a few hundred years.

The word “poltergeist” comes from the German word “poltern”(to “rumble”) and “geist,” which means “spirit.”  Poltergeist literally means “noisy spirit”, although a poltergeist is neither a spirit nor a ghost according to parapsychology experts. The nature of poltergeists has long been a subject of debate within paranormal circles and poltergeists are usually described as an invisible force and entity, rather than spirits.

Poltergeists differ from what is normally thought of as ghosts. Ghosts are generally considered to be the spirits of dead people. They can be intelligent and interactive, or merely an imprint playing over events of the past.  Poltergeists on the other hand are a different kind of spirit or entity. These particular spirits seem to be able to interact with the material world sometimes with malevolent force, often moving objects, making rapping noises and other activities.

Many in the paranormal investigation field believe that the majority of poltergeist activity is not due to ghosts, but is due to uncontrolled psychokinesis; it is therefore caused by living people. Despite this theory, there is still a small amount of cases that can not be explained naturally and so poltergeist activity may be caused by a ghost manifestation or by a person unknowingly causing psychokinesis effects.

According to the family the house was very active and they felt there may be two spirits occupying it. One of these spirits they feel is harmless and they were happy to live with it, but the other they felt was more sinister and would have  liked to have had it cleared from the house.

In the baby’s room they once heard a disembodied voice on the baby monitor saying “Don’t worry, I’ll look after you”.

In the main bedroom they have heard whistling and footsteps, particularly walking around the bed. They have all been in the kitchen and heard these footsteps coming from the bedroom above. The lady of the house had a wrought iron mannequin in this bedroom and saw it move despite it being extremely heavy.

The couple both saw the shadowy outline of a man on the landing. The figure appeared to be tall; around 6ft. They reported being downstairs and seeing legs walk across the top of the landing. They heard walking up and down the stairs.

In May 2010 they experienced the living room door repeatedly opening despite being left closed. They also found the stair gate open several times on this date despite being left closed. A week before this the kitchen door was also opened by itself.

The couple have also felt as if they have been ‘prodded’ by unseen hands and have experienced something blowing near their ear while watching television. Items have also gone missing for several days at a time only to reappear in a place which had already been searched.

The couple have several children and their children have not  reported any paranormal activity or become scared. It is unclear as to whether the children were present in the house or not during any incidents mentioned. The lady of the house  in particular seemed concerned about the unpleasant entity she felt is present in the house and would like to have a ‘clearing’ if possible. She reported having sleepless nights due to feeling scared.

This residence is very worthy of investigation to see if the poltergeist activity is due to a spirit manifestation or psychokinesis unknowingly caused by a living resident of the house. However, the family have recently and suddenly moved away from the house. Whether this was due to the strain of living in a haunted residence, or other reasons, is not known at present.

West Cork Angel?

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On 1st May 2010 Steve was driving towards Goleen from Bantry with Susan and another passenger. It was around 5am in the morning and the road was clear. Steve was driving past Kilheangul Burial Ground at around 40 miles per hour and noticed in his peripheral vision that the gravestones appeared to be ‘glowing’. He saw a large looming, glowing white shape that he took to be a very tall Celtic cross, also glowing. Steve felt eerie and the hairs on the back of his neck stood up, although the other passengers did not notice the cemetery. The moon was almost full so Steve puts this experience perhaps down to the moon reflecting off the gravestones.

On 6th May 2010 Susan drove me to Kilheangul Burial Ground at around 11pm to take photos of the location in order to find a possible explanation for the ‘glowing gravestones’. Susan stayed in the car while I got out to take photos. While Susan was backing up the car into a nearby lay-by she turned her head towards the cemetery and saw what she believed to be a very tall glowing white statue of a man or angel. She thought nothing of it at the time, as this is the kind of sight expected in a cemetery. Susan describes the figure as that of a tall, solid looking man with curly hair. The figure was glowing white, which she took to be moonlight reflecting off granite. However it was a cloudy night with no moonlight. The figure appeared to be turned towards the direction of myself taking photos.  Meanwhile I took several photos and saw no such figure amongst the stones. I did however notice a quick flash of light amongst the gravestones which I put down to being a reflection from the car headlights.

Upon returning home Susan asked me if I had taken a picture of the ‘statue’. When I reviewed the photos taken there was no such figure and I had not seen any figure with my naked eye. Susan felt rather emotional following the experience. The next day they returned to the burial ground in the hours of daylight in order to find the ‘statue’ that Susan had seen. However there was no such statue. Susan does not believe it was the nearby tree or the white Celtic cross. She believes it was taller and in a different position to these. Upon reviewing the photos Steve also believes the thing he saw was much taller than the Celtic crosses present and in the same area as Susan’s sighting.

Both Steve and Susan would like to pass off what they saw as having natural origins such as tricks of the light. However, it is unusual that what they saw seems to be similar: a large figure of some kind glowing white. Steve, Susan and I also do not have any knowledge of Gaelic, but upon researching the name of the Gaelic name of the cemetery found that ‘Aingeal’ means ‘angel’. Could this have been an angel or guardian spirit watching over the burial ground?

Charleville Castle Investigation, January 2010

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Charleville Castle

Charleville Castle is an impressive Gothic revival style castle located near Tullamore, Co. Offally.  The castle is situated in Ireland’s most ancient primordial oak woods, believed once to be the ritual grounds of Ireland’s druids. The land on which Charleville Castle stands was part of the ancient monastic site of Lynally during the 6th century. Later, in the early days of Ireland’s colonization the lands became the focal point for the first Stuart, and later more violent Elizabethan, plantations. The lands, which were originally ruled by the O’Moore clan, were securely planted by the mid-fifteen hundreds and a dynasty was established which lasted into the late nineteenth century.

The castle itself was built by Charles William Bury, Earl of Charleville and was designed by Francis Johnston, one of the most esteemed architects of the day. It took fourteen years to complete this gothic fantasy fortress, whose outside appearance was designed as a celebration of victory over the third French revolutionary expedition to Ireland.

The castle had to be closed temporarily at times due to the owners living far beyond their means. However, upon each re-opening, new features were added in flamboyant celebration such as the ceiling within the dining room designed by William Morris. The castle owner was known as an eccentric character who hosted lavish parties. The castle played host to Lord Byron, who held many parties here, attracted to the castle due to the owner’s eccentricity.

The castle remained uninhabited from 1912 due to the economic hardship of these troubling times and by 1968 the roof had been removed. However, restoration was commenced by Michael McMullen in 1971 and later by Constance Heavey Seaquist and Bonnie Vance, the current owner.

Charleville Castle is said to be haunted and it has been visited by numerous paranormal investigators and psychics. Guests of the castle have reported unusual goings on at the castle as well. Reports have been made of clocks chiming where there are none; chairs rocking with no occupants; a child crying where there is no child; disembodied voices, footsteps heard in the dead of night and glowing fogs floating past. The dungeon is said to be the haunted by the entity of a sadistic torturer and the spirit of a child who slid to her death from the banister of a staircase is said to haunt the stairwell.

Myself and the Bumpz In The Nite team awaited the investigation with great anticipation and opened the investigation out to the public. After setting up equipment, such as a monitoring bay in the library and CCTV cameras in various places of interest, two groups were formed to investigate differing areas of the castle. One team began on the top floor, where the nursery was situated and the other began in the dungeon area. Both groups also contained ‘sensitives’.

staircase

My group first investigated the nursery, staircase and surrounding rooms. We experienced cold spots, but nothing more of interest. Another sensitive in the group did not pick up on anything, however I felt that something was ‘playing hide and seek’. On playing back a digital recording taken of me asking if any spirits were playing hide and seek an audible groan could be heard which was not heard by our group at the time. However, there were many cats loose in the building, so the sound of a cat cannot be discounted, although the EVP did not sound particularly feline. To me it seemed to be confirmation that a playful spirit had in fact been present.

The group in the basement and dungeon area reported unpleasant feelings and the sensitives in the group picked up on an unpleasant male entity which did not want them there.

The ballroom provided much more interesting results. One group experienced noticeable drops in temperature and cold spots. The room itself was not heated and extremely cold, but the drops in

ballroom

temperature were extreme enough for the us to notice them despite this. The cold spots also seemed to move around the chairs we were sitting in. When I and the other sensitive called out we heard a few taps upon request. The other sensitive also picked up on several spirits in the room including a rather insistent female spirit who kept whispering a name and date. I myself felt that the spirits in the room were playful; giving us some signs of their presence initially and then ignoring the group for their own amusement. A later play back of digital recordings taken during the EVP session here yielded some remarkable results. Several times when I was calling out for signs of presence, such as knocks on walls and furniture, I was replied to by an unknown male voice answering in the affirmative.

The group who had previously been in the basement moved on to the staircase and nursery where the sensitives of the group picked up on the spirits of children. An individual who was manning the monitors also had an interesting experience to report as they saw a bright light pass by the door when they could clearly see that the teams were in rooms far away from the library. They also reported a large amount of orb phenomenon in the area of the corridor and stairway leading to the nursery when the groups had been gone from the area a long time.

Next we investigated the dungeon and basement which provided many knocks, bangs and moving of shadows which seemed to follow the us around. The area felt quite unpleasant, but this may have been more to do with its appearance rather than any unpleasant entities. The other sensitive in our group picked up on a man here who may have worked in the kitchen.

dungeon

After each group had investigated all areas of the castle once, they once again separated off to investigate the places they wished most to return to. These were the ballroom and the dungeon. Following this it was decided to hold a séance in the library. This was decided as myself and two others who had been chatting and laughing in there during the break time had heard many taps and knocks, as if the energy of their laughter had drawn some spirits attention.

I led the séance which I found very difficult having only ever joined in a séance once as a spectator before. It felt like a baptism of fire somewhat. I was assisted by the other sensitive. Upon calling out there were several taps felt on the table, between my fingers and that of the person next to me. This alarmed us both, as the vibrations could be felt and yet there was nothing under the table that could have caused them. When asked to move to the other side of the table, the tapping sound complied. Eventually the tapping lessoned and petered out as if the spirits energy or attention had run out.

library

Following the investigation we found several interesting pieces of evidence such as strange voices on EVPs and also a photo which contained an unusual figure. The photo has been sent for further analysis. These pieces of evidence will be put up on the Bumpz In the Nite website in the future (http://www.bumpzinthenite.com/) Myself, the team and members of the public thoroughly enjoyed investigating this location and most who had attended were in agreement that this castle is most probably haunted and worthy of further investigation.

Richill Castle Investigation, Co. Armagh, January 2010

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The first paranormal investigation of the year, my first as an official team member of BumpzInTheNite, took place at Richill Castle  in County Armagh.

The land on which Richill Castle is built was part of the lands under the control of the chiefs of the clan O’Neill who were kings of Ulster and claimants to the high kingship of Ireland. In 1607 Earls Hugh O’Neill and Rory O’Donnell fled Ireland with a hundred or so lesser chiefs. The lands then became property of the English Crown.

Francis Sacheverell, the owner of lands in 1610, first built  a house here. In 1660 the then owner Major Edward Richardson, an English officer who was M.P for Armagh and also High Sheriff of the County who was married to a descendant of Francis Sacheverell, decided to build a larger house on the lands. He designed and built an elegant and comfortable unfortified manor house and the lands surrounding it developed into a thriving village known as Richardson’s Hill. Over time this became shortened to Richill.

Members of the Richardson family were very high-profile and held in great esteem in the area, serving as M.Ps, as magistrates and military commanders, contributing greatly to the commercial and social life of the area. The wife of William Richardson, ‘Dolly’ Monroe, was a famous Irish society beauty.

In 1906 Major Berry owned and lived in Richill Castle with his wife Blossom. When Blossom died she was buried in the grounds, but on Major Berry’s death she was re-interred in Kilmore graveyard. In 1925 the Ministry of Labour in the Northern Ireland government used the castle as an agricultural college. The castle and lands later passed hands several more times until the present owners, the Lyttle family, purchased it. The Lyttles have restored much of the main building and gardens to its present appearance, but there is much more work and maintenance to be done to restore the building to its original grandeur.

Richhill Castle is so well-known for its ghosts that the Ulster Paranormal Society meets there regularly to experience the hauntings. Dolly Monroe, who was married to William Richardson, is its most famous ghost. According to the current owner, Gordon Lyttle, who has not seen any of the ghosts of the castle himself; “My sister-in-laws relatives have though – one of her sisters chatted to the spirit of a lady on the stairs and reckons it was Dolly. “I tend to resent the fact that people can see things, while I live here and I can’t. If they prove there is a ghost here I will accept it.”

We conducted our investigation by first doing a walk around so that we could familiarize ourselves with the building. After setting up our equipment including video surveillance cameras and a monitoring station we began the investigation proper. We started off in a room upstairs with a table in the centre. Both I and others in the group took turns to call out but with no reaction. I did feel footsteps on the floor boards at one point, but this could be attributed to somebody in habitation next door moving around, as the part of the building next door was part of the Lyttle’s private residence.

Next we investigated the ‘death room’, the room people inhabited when they were sick or dying. We conducted a séance here but had no activity to report. We did however find an interesting light anomaly in a photo taken of somebody sitting on the bed that almost looked like a smoky halo above his head.

We later investigated one of the bedrooms on the ground floor. Here a sensitive picked up on a little girl in long white socks standing near the window. However, he felt it was residual haunting, similar to a playback of a past event and as such there would be no response to our calling out.

We continued our investigation, repeating in the upper floor, but our endeavours were fruitless. Those in the monitoring station did record an unusual bang from the ‘death room’ when we were all in the room with the table which could not be accounted for and there were a few interesting light anomalies on the video footage, but other than that there was little of interest.

Death Room

Throughout the investigation all members of the team spoke of feeling quite comfortable and at ease in the castle, nobody reporting any eerie presences.

On this occassion we had no activity of interest, but we will however return to Richill Castle to conduct further investigations. Spirits do not perform upon command, just as living people do not, so we hope to return to Richill Castle in the hope that they will one day be more cooperative with us.

Ghosts of the Roadside

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In many parts of the world people report encounters with the spirits and ghosts who roam motorways and lonely back-roads. These spirits seem to be looking for a way home or appear to be hitchhiking to the destination they were heading for when death cleaved them from this mortal coil. Other people claim to have seen ghostly cars that disappear as they reach a certain bend or area of a road. Some people even report phantom carriages being pulled by ghoulish horses and driven by spirits dressed in period clothing.

One such report is located in Wroxham in Norfolk, England. Here is the story of the witness:

“It was about 11.30pm and my friend and I were coming home from an evening out. We had not been drinking that night and my friend was driving. We had travelled down that road many times before and the traffic was light. As we drove down the road towards Wroxham we came through an area that had tall trees on each side. We were not driving very fast; about 30 -40 mph. It was then that we both saw two red tail lights up ahead of us on the side of the road. As we neared them we realised it was a van parked half on and half off the road. There was no traffic behind us, only a couple of cars coming towards us. They were at enough distance to pass the van safely.  My friend indicated and we pulled out to pass the van. The car coming towards us flashed its lights , which was silly because there was plenty of room, so we just dismissed it.

As we passed the van, we realised it was on the bank and the passenger side had hit a tree. The van doors were open and there was a man standing at the open drivers side door. The van was lit up inside and as we passed I noticed there was a big gouge in the hedge and a tree branch sticking out; its bark shaved off. One of the headlights of the van was broken too. There was no one else, there was nothing in the road or anything so we drove on.

We had not gone far, about 100- 150 yards, when we thought we had better go back and see if we could help. We pulled in and turned the car round and went back. When we arrived at the area we saw nothing. There was nothing there; no gouges in the bank, no van, no tree branch, nothing ! We drove on until we could turn round. We were both rather scared. We went back the way we had come, but at the spot where we saw the van crashed there was nothing. We drove home rather fast after that.

The next morning my friend went back with her husband and myself and there was nothing to be seen; no marks on the road or hedge, no broken branches, no pieces of broken headlight. Nothing. Later on when we discussed it thoroughly and concluded that the car that flashed its lights at us was doing so because, although my friend and I definitely saw the van, maybe he did not, which caused him to react as he thought we were overtaking nothing ! I have travelled that road over a hundred times since then, probably more, at all times of the night and day and I have never ever seen anything since.

My friend and I share the same birthday and the same year, so maybe that was why we both saw the same thing or maybe this caused us both to hallucinate the same thing at the same time…….but I dont think so.”

There are many other such tales from all across the world and it seems such places have often been the site for traumatic unexpected deaths, such as by car crash.  Perhaps one day these lost spirits will find their way to their destinations, or perhaps they will forever dwell along the lonely roads where they met their death.