paranormal

Ross Castle with Bumpz, Co.Meath, October 2009

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Ross

So once again I found myself at Ross Castle, this time helping to guide a paranormal investigation with BumpzInTheNite. It was a small investigation of only 6 people in total including myself. However, three of the individuals attending considered themselves ‘sensitives’.

We started off in the top tower room where I had previously experienced a lot of activity in the form of knocks, bangs and growls. However, on this night it was very quiet. We did hear a sound like talking from outside the door, but upon inspection we put this down to the water tank gurgling and filling up. Temperature fluctuations were experienced near the bed and two individuals saw what they thought was a shadow passing across the window nearest the bed, crossing in front of the bed post.

Next was the lower tower bed room. Here one of the attendees began to feel very unwell with a headache. I experienced something tickling me on my back and there was nobody sitting close to me. Another female attendee experiences something tickling her arm. The three sensitives, including myself, sensed a menacing male presence in the room. Upon asking the presence if it wanted us to leave the fellow who was experiencing a headache was slapped on the back of his neck by unseen hands, as if to communicate that he was no longer welcome.

We moved down to the tower sitting room. The two females sat together and began to feel a female presence near them, one of them believing she was being tickled on the arm. The room was generally very cold, but there was a cold spot in front of the two females, which seemed to move when males moved near. The sensitives in the room felt the spirit of a small woman and a child in the room. There was also still the ominous presence of the male energy on the stairs, as if he had followed us from the room above and was watching us with keen interest. In this room a chair was seen to move very slightly and there were a few tapping on the stairs.

Tower sitting room as seen from the stairs

The unpleasant presence on the stairs slowly began to grow stronger and it was then that I had a very unusual and frightening experience. I am not sure if it was due to some hidden psychic abilities on my part or just my mind playing tricks due to the atmosphere of tension, but all I know is that I found it very unpleasant. I began to feel an overwhelming sadness and tears began to well up in my eyes. I felt that this was the emotion of one of the female spirits in the room being transferred to me, possibly that of the little girl. Shortly after this I began to shake uncontrollably as if afraid, although I myself didn’t feel afraid. It was as if I was experiencing the emotions of another person. I called out to the little girl in the room and asked her if she had been hurt in someway in life by the man on the stairs and received a tap in confirmation. I asked her if she was trying to tell me she was afraid of him and received another tap in confirmation.

We had spent a fair amount of time in this room so it was decided to take a break. However, I was still shaking and the shaking became worse when I left this room. All three of the sensitives felt that we should return to the room as we felt the spirit was seeking our protection. We felt guilt for abandoning it. We spent another few minutes in the sitting room where we made it known to the presence on the stairs that we would not be intimidated and that was would protect the child.

It was then decided that we should take a break as everyone felt drained. Following the break we began to investigate the ground floor rooms. We started off in the Green Room. Here we heard tapping and shuffling in the corridor and sensed a presence outside the door. I asked the presence outside the door if it wanted us to leave the room so it could enter and heard a tap. We left there and decided to investigate the corridor. But then we sensed that whatever had been in the corridor had in fact left and gone into the Green Room as it requested!

We next investigated the Yellow Room. Here one of our party felt very unwelcome and threatened and believed he sensed a man watching angrily from the corner of the room. Another person felt that the presence was a ‘grumpy old man’. All of us agreed that the atmosphere in the room felt unpleasant, so we left and moved on to the en-suit room. Upon entering the corridor on the way to the en-suit room, one of us felt a tap on the arm. In the en- room people felt very uncomfortable near the window, as they felt as if something was in the corner of the room near the curtain. It was not a negative energy, but just unpleasant as if a trickster was there waiting to pull a trick. Three of us even did not want to hang our feet over the edge of the bed as it felt like someone would pull our feet from underneath it!

Following another break we decided to return to the lower tower bedroom and the sitting room. In the lower tower bedroom the atmosphere felt more threatening than before. Three of us began to experience headaches and I even began to get an earache. At around the same time one of our party, the one who had felt unwell in this room previously, experienced a slap to the side of his head. It was as if the male presence was showing off his power. This was his place and we were not welcome. We all agreed that whatever was in this room did not want us there and it was unsafe to linger, so we moved back to the sitting room.

Back in the sitting room it at first felt very calm. But after a while one of our party sensed a powerful energy at the top of the stairs. He felt that it was watching us, but he did not know its intention. He felt that it may have been building up its energy to do something. We believed this spirit to be ‘scraggy’. We also once again felt the presence of the child, but it was calm.

I believe that ‘scraggy’ was in fact at the top of the stairs protecting us and the child spirit from the threatening presence in the lower tower room. However, the story is that ‘scraggy’ likes to play unpleasant trick for its own enjoyment, so we did all feel on edge. The room itself felt calm and we did feel that ‘scraggy’ was in charge and keeping the malevolent male presence at bay. So much so we even thank ‘scraggy’ before we left the room.

We wrapped up the investigation here at around 3am, all of us feeling drained of energy and somewhat afraid of the place!

For my part I can’t explain what happened to me when I felt sad, threatened and was shaking, but it was very powerful. The thing that interested me most about this investigation is that we had decided to hold back telling the guests any of the stories attached to the location in order to limit suggestion. But they still picked up on things, such as the unpleasant man on the stairs and the woman and child, which I had experienced with other mediums in this location. I had also previously experienced scraggy’s protective influence and clash with the ‘man on the stairs’ with another medium. I also spoke to the family who run the castle and they told us many people had picked up on the presence on the stairs. Even their youngest son had recently told a guest to be careful of ‘the man on the stairs’ because he ‘tries to push you’. It is all anecdotal evidence, but surely too much of a coincidence?

Ross Castle: http://www.ross-castle.com/

BumpzInTheNite: http://www.bumpzinthenite.com/

Wicklow Gaol, ‘The Gates of Hell’, September 2009

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wicklow gaol


Proclaimed as one of the most haunted places in Ireland, Wicklow Gaol has a history of cruelty and shame. Built in 1702 and finally closed in 1924, it was locally known as ‘The Gates of Hell’. Within its walls were penned in thousands of prisoners during the Great Famine, the 1798 Rebellion and the War of Independence. Conditions inside the gaol were harsh and inhospitable meaning that many inmates died from maltreatment, starvation and disease. It is currently once again open and now functioning as a tourist spot offering the ‘Wicklow Gaol Experience’. Meanwhile the lost souls who breathed their last within its walls still walk its corridors.Gaol

The investigation began around 10pm with a talk about equipment and the history of the place. We then did a walk around, spending 10-15 minutes in each location, such as the solitary confinement cell. In the hall near the geneology office there was some activity. I myself felt as if there was a male presence in the geneology room, looking in through the window in the door with interest. The presence didn’t feel menacing, it felt more as if curious. Other members saw shadows moving across this window as if someone was walking behind the door. One female also believed she heard breathing close to her face Another interesting area was in the room decorated to look like the deck of a transportation ship. Inside the cabin several individuals began to feel ill, including myself. I began to feel nauseous and headachey, the headache only dissipating upon leaving this area for a break.

After the walk around we split off into two groups. We started off in the cells. The first cell we entered was due to my choice as I had felt a presence in it earlier in the walk around. Shortly after sitting down on the bed I experienced what felt like someone tugging my trouser leg and not long after it felt as if someone was stroking my arm and shoulder. I couldn’t feel a breeze at the time, which may have caused the sensation, although unfortunately we did not have time to return to this cell to double check.cell

We investigated another couple of cells following this, but there was no activity noticed. We then went up to the rooms made to look like a transportation ship. In the cabin area I once again began to feel sick and headachey, so much so I had to sit outside the cabin. I called out here and there were a few low thuds in response. I also sensed a male presence. I very much felt that it was the same presence as I felt in the hall. It was as if he was following and watching us with interest. Another thing of interest about this area was that several people complain about the batteries of their equipment running low. My camera batteries were fully charged prior to entering this area, and while inside they were reduced to only one quatre capacity. It seemed as if something here, either a presence or something to do with the atmosphere, was sucking out energy; including the energy of the investigators as people were complaining of feeling sick here.

Finally we went down to the bottom of the gaol to the old laundry room, now decorated to look like a school house. Here I called out and during this a growl was heard. This was at around 1:15am. We also heard a short sound of what could have been a female child’s voice humming. Here an EVP session was done with questions. A couple of us saw the light underneath the kitchen door block out several times as if someone was walking in front of it. We opened up this door to see if there was anyone there, but the kitchen was empty.

Unfortunately we didn’t have enough time to return to some of the places we wanted to investigate further. It was, however, a very interesting investigation.

The night following the investigation I also had a very unusual dream. In the dream I saw a young teenage girl wearing a sack like garment being held by two people as they chopped off her lovely long wavy brunette hair. I don’t know if the dream was the result of suggestion or perhaps due to a psychic link with the location. But as I was refered to casually as ‘the psychic girl’ on this investigation, perhaps these visions are less to do with suggestion than I thought.old laundry

I enjoyed this investigation very much as the building was of great historical interest to me and I experiences a little paranormal activity. I would very much like to explore this location again, but perhaps with more time allowed.

Visit Wicklow Gaol: http://www.wicklowshistoricgaol.com/

Ross Castle Investigation, 29th August 2009

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Following the last investigation here where we appeared to have a lot of activity, a new investigation was set up in a rush. This investigation was to include a medium, a sound expert and historian.

However, the investigation yielded few results. The most we found was a bathroom door handle moving while someone was in there and everyone else was in the living room and an eerie feeling in the hallway and en-suite room.

Although there was little activity, this was interesting in itself. It seems to show how if ghosts exist, they do not perform for us upon demand.

The most interesting thing yielded from this investigation was a set a photos taken in the eerie hallway, which showed a blue-green light anomaly which appeared to move positions in the photos.

Some people believe such light anomalies, or ‘orbs’, are the first instances of energy building up by a spirit attempting to appear.

These pictured were shown to experts who advised me of the natural causes:

“it is likely to be a little lens flare, which is probably caused by the bounced flash in the mirror at the end of the hall and as a result of the angle of your shooting.”

See below for the photos:

Light anomaly on the cupboard

Light anomaly on the floor

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Spirit Animals

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I was recently on an on-line forum where a member was questioning the existence of animal ghosts. This got me to thinking about the subject of animal spirits.

I agree with the possibility that the spirits of animals may linger on. We humans are also animals after all, so why should there not be the possibility of animal ghosts too?

My childhood pet was a cat called Sooty. She lived a until a very good age, dying when I was around 15 years old. When she was alive she had a preference for sitting on the back of the sofa near my head. Kind of like a fluffy feline head-warmer. After she passed away I often got a sense that she was sitting in her regular position on the back of the chair, keeping me company. And then I remembered that she was in fact dead! I had this feeling on numerous occasions. It wasn’t an unpleasant feeling though. It was quite a peaceful and comforting feeling to have her there.

Dingle and IMy other childhood pet was a cat called Dingle. He was half Persian and half regular moggy. He had a dish face and extra long claws, which used to pick along the carpet noisely as he walked. When Dingle was alive he could be heard picking his way up the stairs and he would often yowl outside my parent’s room or sometimes my room when he wanted a midnight snack or to go outside.  Dingle also lived to a grand old age and died when I was around 18 years old. After Dingle passed away, he could often be heard doing this same routine at night. I certainly heard him picking his way up the stairs with his long claws many times in the dead of night, and both my mother and father heard the same, plus on one occasion his yowl. Even my father who is a total sceptic remarked that it often seemed like Dingle and Sooty were still with us.

Our family have moved away from there now, but I still wonder if Dingle and Sooty are keeping a new family company in the house they loved so much while alive.

Creepy Convent, Co. Cavan, August 2009

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In daylight hours we visited an ominous looking abandoned convent in Co. Cavan. This was not so much of an investigation, rather more a walk around to take photos and gain an impression of the place.

We headed to the basement first, which was pitch black. The majority of the basement level felt fine, but one particular corridor and the large room it led to felt particularly unpleasant.  Orbs were to be seen in the corridor, but these could have been due to dust or flying insects. The large room felt very creepy and one of the group remarked that it felt like people had been punished here.

Corridor

We moved on to the upper levels which included the cells of the nuns and a possible boarding school area. Throughout the walk around here we heard loud banging of doors, which was most probably due to the wind. However while descending one particular staircase two of the group believed that they had heard whispering voices. I did not hear anything myself, but I do know I got goosebumps while descending those stairs.

stairs

This location was very interesting and it seems shameful that it is standing there disused. It also appears to be a place which could do with further investigation, particularly on that staircase and in the basement.

The Fort, Duncannon, Wexford, 6th June 2009

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Duncannon Fort

Duncannon Fort


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

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

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:

The Hostel, Drogheda, 9th May 2009

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The Hostel

The Hostel


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.