Welcome to Ghost Catcher Isles, chronicling the weird, wonderful and eerie of the isles of Great Britain and the Republic of Ireland. Come with me on my adventures into the strange and paranormal
During my recent investigation at Ross Castle I managed to freak myself out somewhat. I believe most of my fear was due to suggestion (due to learning of a particularly unpleasant spirit lingering there) and my own mind. However, this prompted me to become concerned with issues regarding protection from negative spirits. Especially since I have managed to sign myself up for another night in Ross Castle in a few weeks!
On speaking to a Medium about the issue I was told about how occassionally spirits attach themselves to an individual and come home with them. To prevent such a thing happening the Medium told me that it is good to mentally or verbally thank the spirits following the investigation, and ask them to remain in the location. She also recommended asking the spirits to leave you alone if you are feeling fearful or need peace and quiet. This reminded me of something my mother told me about years ago regarding the spirit that was lingering in the retirement home she used to work in. As she was a manageress there she had to sleep over in the room where she had experienced paranormal activity. In order to get a decent nights sleep uninterrupted she would keep a bible, a cross and a glass of water near the bed and say out loud “I need to get some sleep. If you don’t bother me, I won’t bother you.” She said this seemed to do the trick.
I hope this may be of use to other budding ‘ghost hunters’. I intend to use these tips on my next trip to Ross Castle, at least for my piece of mind.
I joined this public investigation with a friend who is also interested in the paranormal.
The location was beautiful, but marred only by the poor weather. It poured with rain the whole time which scuppered our camping plan.
Duncannon Fort is located on the coast of Wexford. Duncannon Fort, which was built in 1588 and incorporates a maritime museum, Arts centre, café and craft shop and is open daily to visitors from June to September.
The place has a long history of battles, sieges, mutiny, plague, hangings and fires, so plenty of deaths went on in this location.
We had an inital walk around in daylight hours and the equipment of both paranormal groups was set up, including video recording equipment.
During the investigation my friend heard a young male voice say ‘hello?’ near the entrance to the moat. The next morning another person heard a young male voice say ‘hello?’ in the dungeon.So, maybe the same spirit?
passage
Not far from the moat and dungeon there was a tunnel/ passage and I felt a strong tap on my arm from my right side. I thought it was the girl next to me, but she denied it. I then called for it to make itself known by tapping me again or making a noise and a loud tap immediately came from beside me. I nearly jumped out of my skin! We searched the walls, ceiling and floor of the tunnel to see if anything could have dropped or caused the tap on my arm or the tapping noise, but nothing we could see was there to cause it. Pretty creepy….
Down in the cells I also had a strong feeling of a presence and saw subtle movement as if a guard was patrolling backwards and forwards. I don’t feel that the spirit was aware of us, it seemed as if it was a ‘recording’ of past events in the cell. They say that buildings and rock may ‘record’ the events of the past and project these like a video when atmospheric conditions are correct.
cell
In one of the buildings both my friend and I had images of a nurse going about her duties popping up into our minds. However, as there were hospital style beds present in the room, it may have been due to suggestion.
At the bottom of the museum, in the creche area, we also felt a strong ‘tap’ on the side of the play boat in what seemed to be response to a request for a tap. The tap was strong enough for those close to the source to feel vibrations. All people in the boat denied moving around at the time of the tap, but perhaps this sound could have been due to flimsy nature of the fibre-glass material.
During the investigation I was also put under hypnosis at one point. This was in the museum. The outcome of this is that I indicated that there was a female presence in the room, called Anne, who had a connection with the date 1921 and with an item in the museum. I had an image of a lifebelt pop up and pointed to a room in the museum where there turned out to be a lifebelt. We searched documents in the museum for any signs of an ‘Anne’ linked to the date 1921 and found some information to follow up. I found this experiement interesting, but I am not sure how ‘under’ I actually was and how much of the information I gave was due to suggestion.
For me this was an excellent investigation as it was the first time I had experienced any physical paranormal activity. However, the paranormal teams told me it was actually a ‘quiet night’ there. I would love to investigate this place further.
Check out this great video of the investigation, thanks to Monkeyfudge:
This was my first investigation so I arrived feeling slightly bewildered, nervous and yet excited. The investigation was being held in a hostel in Drogheda. This hostel had a few paranormal activity stories behind it, one such event even recorded in a book written in the1800s. According to this story a ghost was seen by the father of the resident family and then a commotion heard from the children’s bedroom. Upon inspection of the bedroom the children were found battered and bruised and the floorboards torn up. There was no sign of the nanny and she was later found at her mother’s house. She died a few days later from shock. Another more recent story is that of a backpacker who rolled over in bed in the night to see a small boy staring at him silently in the centre of the room.
During this investigation I was able to learn about some of the methods and equipment being used. The equipment being used ranged from video cameras to EMF readers, while the methods of choice were EVP recordings, vigils and trigger objects, among others.
We were split into small groups and had a first walk around for 20 minute sessions in each room and then later 40 minute sessions.
For my part I enjoyed each session, but the most interesting for me was in the attic. Here I sat near the inner wall and I experienced an odd sensation as if someone were sitting beside me. I felt cold all along that side, my right-hand side. I began to feel uneasy about this and so swapped places with a team member sitting near the window to the far left of the attic. She said she felt warm and comfortable there. I can not be certain if there were a breeze, but the lady who swapped places did not notice any. So, could it be I sensed ‘something’ in the room with us?
We also conducted vigils in the room where the children where found in the story. Nothing came up as far as I know, but all agreed that there was an oppressive, ominous feeling to the room.
Other things that happened to others on this investigation were soap being thrown by unseen hands (a prank by a team member perhaps? Or something more ghostly?), scratches appearing on a team member’s skin the next morning, movement in front of a mirror, a loud ‘bang’ in the attic when requested during a vigil, unseen hands moving cutlery in the kitchen and noises from the bathroom.
I also had an unusual experience in the night, but as I was half conscious at the time, I can not say for sure it was paranormal or my own dream state. I just remember feeling as if someone stroked my head in the night. I am a light sleeper, so perhaps unseen ghostly hands did stroke my head and rouse me. Or was it just a dream brought on by suggestion?
All in all it was an enjoyable experience and I think this hostel deserves further study.
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