Haunted Britain : a Guide to Supernatural Sites Frequented By Ghosts, Witches, Poltergeists and Other Mysterious Beings

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She learnt that the ghostly boy was a member of the Blake family, the original owners of the house. The then owner of Malahide Castle, John Talbot, was unceremoniously evicted and Cromwell gave the fortress to Miles Corbet. Yet its majestic splendour is tinged with a fearsome reputation, for it was always maintained that, whenever one of its branches fell, a member of the Charleville family would die. Of course, the passage of time has obliterated any remnants the paint or clay with which those long ago worshippers may have decorated the stones and their surroundings.

a b c d e Nicholls, Edward (2019). "5 Most Haunted New Forest Pubs". The Spooky Isles . Retrieved 24 February 2021. Nestling amidst the foothills of the Slieve Bloom Mountains, the gothic revival Kinnitty Castle has had a long and turbulent history. During the restoration another man whom colleagues described as "very religious and tea total" was painting in the dungeon area of the prison, when a huge gust of wind suddenly blew him against a wall. Battling hard against the mysterious tempest, he managed to fight his way from the dungeon, where his ashen face and shaking hands were vivid testimony to his brush with the uncanny force. He point blank refused ever to work in, or even visit, the gaol again. Although Rainey confessed the truth many years later, Timothy Lavery’s indignant spectre was singularly unimpressed and continues hover around the old well, which some call "Buttoncaps Well" in his honour. In 1664 the estate was granted to Colonel Thomas Winter, as a reward for his military service and, two hundred years later, his descendents sold it to the Bernard family.

4. Ancient Ram Inn, Gloucestershire

Looking at this this pretty place, you might find it hard to believe that it was once named the Most Haunted Village in Britain in the Guinness Book of World Records in 1989. An astounding 12-16 distinctive ghosts have been reported to reside in the village so it’s easy to see why it’s so popular for ghost-hunters hoping to catch a sighting.

Sorley Boy MacDonnell (1505-1589), inherited the families Irish estates in 1556. He was taken prisoner by his brother-in-law, Shane O’Neill, at the battle of Glentaisie in 1565 and held captive for two years, before his kinsmen set him free, having murdered Shane during a banquet called to negotiate a truce between the two families.

Stationed at the castle was another soldier called Timothy Lavery who bore an uncanny resemblance to Robert Rainey. Before Jennings died he was able to tell his brother what had happened, although he insisted that Lavery had been his assailant. In the 16th century, O’Carroll of the Leap held a lavish banquet at his family fortress and invited a rural branch of his own sept to partake of his hospitality. Then there is the crying child whose heart-rending sobs have been heard by several people. On one occasion a guest walked up to the first floor landing and found a group of children playing a game. She called out to them but they just ignored her. Next moment they had skipped off down the hall and disappeared.

With such an eventful and often gruesome history, it is inevitable that Kilmainham Gaol should have several ghosts. They have no place in the cosy and certain world of academia, but belong in the children's playground, the local pub, sundry other windswept haunted places and, of course, the popular imagination.Others have caught glimpses of a furtive figure flitting across reception and disappearing close to the stone fireplace. Springhill– the 17th-century Plantation House, home for nearly 300 years of the Lenox-Conyngham family. [29]