Charleville Castle

Charleville Castle is also at the top of the list of Most Haunted Castle of Ireland right along with Leap Castle. I am hoping to work it into our list of places to see while we are in Ireland. I mean coming from a paranormal investigator stand point it would be an really great to get a chance to check it out! So let me get on to giving you some of the history of Charleville Castle as well as some of the reported paranormal activity.

History of Charleville Castle, Tullamore, Ireland

The Castle is situated in Ireland's most ancient primordial oak woodlands, once the haunting grounds of Ireland's druids thousands of years ago. The Castle grounds were once the site of an ancient burial ground inhabited by Druid Celtic priests in the 6th century.  The Oak was the Sacred tree of the Druids and in the grounds of the Castle is a Druids initiation Circle a constant reminder that this was a Sacred Ritual site. When the plague hit Ireland it was widespread during the middle ages, many of the local sick people were buried alive to prevent the sickness from spreading. Many believe that their spirits continue to haunt the Castle grounds.

 in 1577 1,700 acres of this land became a gift to the Moore family from Queen Elizabeth I. A member of the Moore family was raised to the Earldom of Charleville, but the title lapsed in 1764 due to the lack of heirs in the direct male line. The land, however was eventually inherited back by 6 month old infant Charles William Bury, born into the  Co. Limerick land-owning family, who was importantly, also a grand-nephew of the last Earl.

Charles William Bury was created Baron Tullamoore in 1797, and as a man of considerable wealth joined into building a Castle  by engaging the services of the renowned architect Francis Johnston in the planning of the Castle to be built near Tullamoore. The construction of Charleville Castle commenced in 1798 and it took the next 14 years to complete what many considered the finest Neo-Gothic Castle in all of Ireland. The wonderful craftsmanship involved being mainly due to the skill  the Irish people. Charles William Bury was raised to the restored Earldom of Charleville in 1806.

There are many rumors that Charles William Bury practiced devil worship and chose the site for the Castle because it reportedly lies on ancient electro magnetic ley lines, which would allow him to take advantage of the natural magnetic energies that are prevelant there. Two of the Earls of Charleville were Grandmasters in the Freemasons of Ireland. This is why the towers were designed with the 8 point star construction. Free masonry was a family tradition with the Burys. Could this have anything to do with the plethora of ghostly phenomenon reported at their family home? Who can say?

Ghosts of Charleville Castle

The most famous ghost of Charleville Castle is perhaps the most tragic, due to her tender age. In April of 1961, Harriet the youngest daughter of the 3rd Earl of Charleville, tragically died while playfully sliding down the banister of the grand staircase when she lost her balance and fell to her death on the cold stone floor below, She was just 8 years old. Her presence in the Castle has been reported many times by many different people. Many people have sensed movement of cold air when traversing the stairway. Others have seen a girl in a blue and white dress with golden curls and blue ribbons in her hair standing on the staircase.

There are two main areas in the Castle where the paranormal activity seems to be focused, the old dungeon and the library. The dungeon, a dark damp place, is said to be the haunting grounds of the entity of a sadist. over the centuries many prisoners are said to have died down there through torture, some of these torture devices are still present. Paranormal investigations that have taken place down there have often had to be cut short due t members having their faces scratched and in one case a cameraman was dragged halfway down a corridor.

Anyone that enters the Castle is asked by the owner not to go near the balcony that over looks the Library. As he has been told by a medium that there is an powerful "Elemental" (Elemental = is a spirit that by nature is chaotic and destructive, but is also clever and capable of reasoning. Not totally evil, but certainly not good). He advised the owner to never let anyone up there as this Element would not hesitate to do harm to someone. And that he should never to try and banish it, just to leave it be. Taking caution to heart, the owner has kept the balcony locked ever since.

Finally, the legend of Charleville Castle "King Oak". The "King Oak" is a huge ancient tree that had a special relationship to the Bury family. It was said that if one of the branches fell from the tree, a member of the family would pass away shortly. In 1963 the oak was hit by a devastating lightning strike. The tree managed to survive, but within a matter of days Colonel Charles Howard-Bury, the head of the Bury family and last of the family to own the castle, died unexpectedly.


Well there ya go my friends, that is the history of Charleville Castle. Sounds interesting doesn't it???  Again I tell ya I wish I could pack Dom, Carrie and Julie in my suitcases as I know how much they would love to go and investigate these places with me!! What fun we would have!

As of today we are down to 100 days!!!! almost double digits! So excited. Just cant get her fast enough I tell ya. Well until the next time my friends.

Blessed Be

Thetford Priory

Thetford Priory is a beautiful old ruin in Norfolk, I am not sure if it is on Dawn's list of places to see or not but I found it to be very interesting. There are so many beautiful places in Norwich I don't know how we are going to have time to see them all!!!! I am so excited about our adventures tho. But most importantly I am looking forward to seeing my soul sister and getting to spend time with her :-) I don't know how much blogging I will get done while I am with her but I will try and keep you all up on our wild and crazy adventures! Hope you enjoy reading about Thetford Priory!

Thetford is traditionally thought of as the royal residence of Boudica Queen of the Iceni. The Iceni were a Celtic tribe living in Norfolk and parts of Cambridgeshire. Archaeological evidence suggests that Thetford was an important tribal center during the late Iron Age and early Roman period. A ceremonial "grove" was uncovered there during excavation. In 1979 a hoard of Roman-British metalwork known as the "Thetford Treasure" was located just outside of Thetford. Dating from the Mid 4th century AD, this hoard is a collection of 33 inscribed spoons, 20 gold finger rings, 4 pendants, several necklaces and a 2" gold buckle depicting a dancing satyr.

The town of Thetfords importance as a religious center started when the East Anglian bishopric moved there in 1071. 22 medieval churches were located in Thetford during its heyday. It resulted in the building of 12 other religious houses. The Priory of Our Lady of Thetford was established by Roger Bigod. Roger Bigod was a friend of William the Conqueror and had accompanied him throughout the Norman invasion of 1066, but his community of Cluniac monks in a remote Norfolk village were a more peaceful affair altogether. It was Bigod, who by now was an old man who founded Thetford Priory and who laid the foundation stone of the new church in September 1107 before he died the following week.

12 Cluniac monks, who came from Lewes priory in Sussex staffed it. Originally it was located south of the River Thet and took in the church of St. Mary (once the diocese cathedral). In 1107 a site North of the river was chosen by Prior Stephen due to overcrowding. By this time 20 monks lived at the priory. In 1114 the new church was completed while construction of the other buildings and cloister continued throughout the 12 century.

A Lady Chapel was built in the early 13th century on the North side of the church. The legend surrounding the building of the chapel states that the Virgin Mary appeared to a local craftsman to say he would be cured of illness if he told the monks to build this chapel. Pilgrims wanting to be rid of their illnesses put the priory on their visitation list after the building of the chapel. The money they brought paid for a rebuilding of the priory church in the late 13th century.

The priory was dissolved in 1540 when the King Henry VIII's Commissioners took it from the prior and 16 monks. The site was robbed of much of its carved stone and flint. Today the priory site is in ruins. On the grounds can be seen the remains of the early 12th century church and its Nave, side aisles, the quire, the transepts, and the Lady Chapel. Parts of the cloister, domestic buildings, and chapter house are visible. To the Southeast are the ruins of the infirmary and two story priors lodgings. The gatehouse is Northwest on the grounds of Abbey House. It is faced with knapped flint. Also surviving as ruins is the priory of the Holy Sepulchre and the remains of a Dominican Friary on the grounds of Thetford school, and the Benedictine church of St. George's Nunnery south of Nunn's Bridges.


Well I hope you enjoyed today's history lesson. Until next time kiddies!!!

Planes, Trains, Buses, or taxi's??

Hello Friends!

Ok, so here we sit with 115 days to go and I am sure that to some of you that may sound like a long time and well yes it is relatively still a good amount of time. But for me, being the person who wants to have her travel plans run as smoothly as possible there are still alot of things that I still have yet to do. One of the things that I have been dealing with is how Dan and I are going to get from London to Norwich. You see when we booked our flight we wanted to take a flight that would be as direct a flight as possible. Alot of the flights that we looked at had long layovers and multiple stops. It would have taken us almost 2 days to reach Norwich. Sounds insane doesn't it? That is what we thought. I couldn't believe that we couldn't find a direct flight. So after searching the best we could find was a non-stop flight from Los Angeles to London. its a 9 hour flight and I am sure most of you think "oh that isn't that bad. Well lets see......first of all, I hate to fly and second I am claustrophobic. yeah so I am not exactly looking forward to spending 9 hours on a plane! However, the upside to all of this is that we leave at 6pm and don't arrive in London until 12:30 the next day (due to the time difference) so I am hoping that I can get my Doctor to give me something to make the trip bearable and maybe make me sleep. 

 Anyway, back to the story Dawn and her husband Daz live in Norwich (Duh you should have got that by now) which is about 4 hours from London. So Dan and I have been trying to figure out the fastest and cheapest way to get from London to Norwich. Holy Cow! who knew that would turn out to be such a mess. Trying to figure it out was complicated to say the least. Not only because of the currency difference but we have NO idea what train to take to get from the airport to get to Norwich  or what Bus to take. And let me tell you, its not like you can just jump on 1 train that takes you to your destination. Oh no that would be too easy!  Lets see the train,  you would have to take from the airport ( oh and that is depending on what terminal you arrive in since apparently Heathrow is a HUGE airport I am guessing it makes LAX look like some airport in some little hicktown!) then it goes into London, then you change trains once or twice, then it finally takes you to Norwich but its a 3 hour trip. Oh and by bus, well at least by bus you can catch it directly from the airport but its a 4-5 hour bus ride. And the cost...yikes yeah it was pretty steep. However, Dawn and Daz came to our rescue!!!  They will be picking us up from the airport in London and then the 4 of us will be driving back to Norwich.

This makes me so happy. As I was a bit sad at the thought of not seeing her face when we walked off the plane. Since that was one of the things that I had pictured in my mind when I had thought about my seeing her for the first time. So now I am happy at knowing that she will be there when I walk off that plane. She will be a sight for sore eyes!! I am sure there will lots of tears,laughter and hugs! And I have already told Dan that he will need to video the entire thing! And I am sure that Daz will be recording it from their end too!  I am so excited about all the things that we will be doing and seeing while we are with them, but most of all I am just excited about having the chance to sit and talk with her look in her eyes, hold her hand and just be able to talk to her face to face. She is my soul sister we have been on this earth many times before she and I, in many different places in many different bodies. But I think we have always managed to find our way back to each other one way or another. there is something that we still have yet to learn from each other and until that has been accomplished our lives on this earth will not be complete.

Ok well enough for today my friends...until the next time. Be well and Blessed Be.

Weeting Castle

Weeting Castle is in South Norfolk and it is actually not a castle but more of a Manor house. And it is one of the places that Dawn and her husband Darryl (or Daz which is his nickname) will be taking Dan and I. I am really looking forward to visiting Weeting Castle not only for the historical aspect but also for the paranormal. It is said to be quite haunted. I only wish that I could pack Carrie and Dom in my suitcase and take them along with me!! As I am sure they would love to investigate it just as much as I will. But maybe I will get lucky and get some good evidence to bring back for them!

So lets get down to some history on Weeting Castle-

In the 1130's Hugh De Plais, a tenant of William De Warenne, Earl of Surrey, started the construction of his family home. It was a good time to be building in Norfolk. Warenne's own state-of-the-art construction at Castle Acre was well underway in these years, as was the magnificent Castle Rising, built by the powerful D'Albinis on the North-West coast of the County near Lynn. Over in Suffolk Hugh Bigod was rebuilding his family's castle at Framlingham of stone. Weeting was a less grand affair, but it presents us with a rare surviving example of a 12th century Manor house. Weeting Castle is an example of how the lesser gentry lived as opposed to the great magnates of state, the tenants in chief of the King. By the mid-12th century the Norman elite who had conquered along with King William were well established in England.  They were stamping their authority and growing wealth with series of grand buildings.

Recent excavations have unearthed evidence of a Saxon settlement dating from at least the 10th century. Ditches, burnt daub, post-holes and pottery and a coin have been dated from this era. This should not come as a surprise, the area had been a hive of industry since prehistoric times, with the mysterious Grimes Graves flint mines having been worked since at least 3,000 BC. Norfolk was a well settled county before the Normans came, with Great East Anglian landowners like Archbishop of Canterbury Stigand owning many Manors. The new feudal owners often just demolished what was there already and built on top of it. Weeting is listed in the Domesday Book, spelt Wetynge meaning "wet fields".

What was the house like?  Made of mortared flint rubble with stone dressings, it was originally designed as a free-standing, two story building with a lesser hall and chamber above. Its design was copied essentially  from Warennes Castle Acre. Later in the 1100's the halls were combined to create a more impressive aisled hall open to a timbered roof.  The hall was the most important room, hosting guests and the scene for important events. Each side of the hall supported benches with a dais and tables at the far end. Next to the hall was a service area, complete with pantry and buttery. On the other side of the open courtyard a free standing kitchen was later built for preparing animal and other food items. This no doubt smelly and messy part of the house was hidden from view by a wall, so genteel visitors crossing the moat to come into the hall wouldn't have to see it.

Historians think the moat, added in the 13th century was less a defensive device than it was an ornamental status symbol. The De Plais family were living the good life in this part of Norfolk and they wanted friends and neighbors to think well of them by displaying their wealth. The moat, which survives today but is now dry, is about 6ft deep and up to 30 ft wide. The family had their own private chamber beyond the hall. Divided into three story's, with a central fireplace it had its own latrine block which was the last word in the luxury hygiene of its day, three cubicles drained into the room at ground level. They were cleaned through a small door near the moat.

During the late 14th century the house came into the possession of the Howard family. This ambitious clan eventually captured the title of Dukes of Norfolk, coming to national prominence during the rule of Henry VIII. With great many properties making up their portfolio. Weeting had low priority and was abandoned by about 1390. In time it was incorporated into the grounds of the now demolished Weeting Hall, and became an ornamental, romantic ruin for the owners to show off. A domed ice house was built during the later 18th century. These buildings were used to store ice throughout the year.

Well my friends there you have it, that is the history on Weeting Castle. I hope you enjoyed it and found it to be as interesting as I have.

Until next time......

Apes and Ashes oh my........

Well I am sure that title has you scratching your head a bit.  So let me explain.  If you have been following my blog from the beginning you know that one of the main reasons for Dan and I taking this trip is to pay tribute to my parents and to make their wish of going to Ireland come true (even if it is not in their physical body).  Originally I was just going to sneak some of their ashes in my makeup bag, but I had a friend/co-worker bring up a good point to which I hadn't really thought about. And that is what are they gonna say when they x-ray my luggage and see bits of bone? So I decided if I am gonna do this Mom and Dad would want me to do this the proper way. So I went thru the proper channels and got the paperwork needed to transport their ashes with us to Ireland.  So Mom and Dad now have all their legal documents and are ready for travel!  I know that they will be with us on our journey as we leave a little of them in each of the beautiful places we visit in their honor.  I will be sure to add pictures of each of the places as we go to share with you all.

And now to explain the Apes..........

Dawn had asked if there was anything in particular that Dan and/or I wanted to do while we are in Norwich.  For me its all about seeing the ancient ruins, haunted locations, and just the history of where they live. But Dan........yeah well leave it to my husband to have to go and find the one thing that would be the last thing I would choose to do!!!!  Now if you know me you know that I am claustrophobic and afraid of heights. So, with that said.....yep you guessed it! My adoring husband has to go and pick the one activity that involves Heights!!!!  It is a park called "Go Ape" and it is full of zip lines thru the trees, rope ladders, and swings etc.

After I went to the website and watch just the short opening video my heart was racing, my hands were shaking and I looked and him and simply said " Are you F*&king Crazy?!?!?! I am NOT doing that!!!!!! You must me out of your ever loving mind if you think your getting me to do that!!! "   But of course I love my husband and this is something he really wants to do, that and I cant resist that look that he gives me when he really wants something.  So, I am going to TRY and do this. I told him I am not making any promises I may chicken out. Dawn and her husband Daryl will be going with us but they will be going as spectator as Dawn is like me and scared of heights. So they will be on the ground taking pictures and video. So I am sure there will  be pictures and maybe video to post of me screaming! But, I have a back up plan........if I chicken out (which is very likely!) Daryl can take my place!!! LOL Since he is crazy like my husband I figure the two boys can go have some play time!  They would be like a couple of 6 year old!   But I am going to do my best to suck it up and do this because I know Dan really wants me to do it with him and he is always such a trooper doing things I want to do, So it time for me to return the favor, despite my fear.  Isn't that what love is about? Doing things you wouldn't normally do, or things that frighten you? But having faith in the person you love know they would never let anything hurt you.  I have 134 days to work up the courage!!!!   If you want to check out the Go Ape website to see what its all about go to http://www.goape.co.uk/

Well my friends until next time.....Blessed Be.

Irish Blessings and sayings

So today I thought I would go off my usual protocol of giving you information on places we will be seeing or want to see. I thought today I would just share with you some good ole fashion Irish blessings, proverbs and sayings. The Irish definitely have a way with words! I hope you enjoy these!

May the Irish hills caress you.
May her lakes and rivers bless you.
May the luck of the Irish enfold you.
May the blessings of Saint Patrick behold you

(This one has always been my favorite)

Now sweetly lies old Ireland
Emerald green beyond the foam,
Awakening sweet memories,
Calling the heart back home

May your heart be warm and happy
With the lilt of Irish laughter
Every day in every way
And forever and ever after.

Ireland is where strange tales begin
and happy endings are possible.

The Legend of Ireland's Magic Harp  In the misty hills of Ireland
A long, long time ago,
There lived a lovely Irish lass
Who loved her father so. One day he went to fetch some wood,
But he did not soon return,
And so his loving daughter's heart
Was filled with great concern. She searched for him throughout the day,
And when a fog came in
She wept, for she was fearful
They would never meet again. Then suddenly, a little band
Of leprechauns came by.
They all were very saddened.
To hear the lovely maiden cry. They asked if they might have a lock
Of her long and golden hair,
Then tied the silken strands across
A crooked limb with care. 'Twas a magic harp they'd made,
And when the maiden touched each strand,
The music led her father home
Across the misty land. And to this day the harp remains
A cherished symbol of
The blessings of the hearth and home
The Irish dearly love.

Bless you and yours
As well as the cottage you live in.
May the roof overhead be well thatched

May those who love us love us.
And those that don't love us,
May God turn their hearts.
And if He doesn't turn their hearts,
May he turn their ankles,
So we'll know them by their limping.
And those inside be well matched.

Always remember to forget
The friends that proved untrue.
But never forget to remember
Those that have stuck by you.

I hope that you have enjoyed some of these great little diddies as My father would say. Until the next time!

C'ead Mile Failte (Gaelic for "A hundred thousand welcomes")

Scattery Island

Scattery Island

Scattery Island is one of the most fascinating places in all of Ireland to visit, and relatively few tourist make it there. The tiny island is on the Shannon River and was inhabited from 534 when St. Senan established a monastery there, until the last Islander left in 1978.

Even before St. Senan arrived, Scattery was a place famed in legend. Local people believed it was home to a terrifying monster called "The Cata" a sort of evil sea serpent, which may have given the Island its unusual name. Another theory is that the names derives from the Norse word Scatty, which means treasure, and dates to the time when the Vikings raided and ransacked the Monastery there.

On his arrival St. Senen established his credentials early by banishing the serpent without delay and commencing the building of a monastery. Several of the buildings on the Island date back to St. Senan's time, including the round tower - at 120 ft one of the highest in Ireland -  but perhaps his most famous legacy is the name of the great river on which his monastery stood: The Shannon is named after him.

He died in 544 and was buried on the Island at a place now known as St. Senan's Bed. However his monastery continued to thrive for almost 3 centuries, becoming widely renowned for the austerity of the lives led by the monks there.

In 816 the Vikings raided Scattery, killing many monks and plundering the Monastery. they returned on several occasions afterwards, eventually establishing a settlement there. The location of the Island gave them easy river access to as far away as Limerick, where they held power on and off until the early 1100's, retreating to their Island when the local people periodically gained the upper hand.

By the 15th century the Normans had arrived in Ireland, and the Vikings had long departed. The O"Cahane family had taken possession of the Island and commenced work on a a small castle or tower house. Today this castle appears to be in ruins, but in fact it is an unfinished building, for reasons unknown work on it was never completed. However the O'Cahanes remained as one of the foremost families on the Island until the 20th century.

In 1588 Seven Spanish Armada ships sail into the Shannon and anchored in the harbour at Scattery. They were battered and wounded from battle and sought to repair and seek reprovisions for their vessels, but were not greeted with open arms. The island by this time housed a garrison of Queen Elizabeth's army and though the Spaniards offered locals a ships in return for help with repairs, they were refused, presumably because of fear of the potential repercussions. During their seven day stay, the Spaniard's were forced to abandon a particularly badly damaged ship, burning and then sinking it in the river.

The Shannon was always an artery of travel and with its easily navigable channel also a place where invaders could potential gain access to huge swathes of English held territory. It was this risk that led to the building of a series of coastal batteries, or defences, in the 18th century.

The remains of the battery stands still on the southern end of the Island, protected by a block house which also accommodated soldiers. The battery itself is a D shaped building surrounded by a moat and provided mounts for six large cannons pointing towards the rivers estuary. They were ready for an invasion -  but it never came.

From the 15th century until it was finally abandoned in 1978, only 9 families lived on Scattery. Their lives always centered around the river and they traditionally provided river pilots who guided ships and boats on their journeys.

The Island is almost unique in Ireland as one of the few places where the population actually increased during the years of the famine, rising to a high of 141 people by 1881. Most of them lived at an area known simply as "The Street", of which only a few ruined houses now remain.

The islanders were a close knit people and had their own unique custom and culture. Best known is their unique approach to burying their dead. Most Irish graveyards are, and have always been, very well tended by local people and visited regularly, but this was not the case on Scattery. The jumble of disorganized gravestones still visible in and around Teampeall Na Marbh (The Church of the Dead) exists because the islanders only ever entered burials areas twice for each death. The first occasion was for the burial, after which the grave digger left their shovels lying crossed on the grave. The second visit was a month later, on an occasion known as "Flagging day" when the shovels were removed and a gravestone was erected.

It was believed that in the intervening time the departing soul resided in Purgatory. After the stone was erected, a bottle was broken over the grave and holy water scattered on it releasing its occupant to heaven. The grave was then never visited again.



I think that Scattery Island will be an interesting place to visit. I am hoping that we will get a chance to visit there. Looks like it will make for a great photo opportunity!!  It seems as if the time is going so slowly. As I sit here today writting this we still have 155 days to go!!! UGH.... Seems like it will never get here. But I am sure that when it finally does it will go by quickly! lol wont that just figure! Well gonna have to start doing some research on what to write about next. If anyone has an idea or suggestion on something you would like ot hear about let me know and I would be happy to write about it! Heck, I would be happy to even add it to our list of places to see :-)

Well kiddies....until the next time!

Tomband, Norwich

I received another email from Dawn the other day and she sent me some information about the Tombland of Norwich. I am really looking forward to checking this out!


By day Norwich's Tombland district is a major draw for tourists and locals alike, housing numerous historical buildings and being flanked between the majestic Cathedral and Elm Hill. The immediate area also boasts many excellent cafes and restaurants.

Situated at one end of Tombland are the Maids Head Hotel and Samson & Hercules House. Booth have ghost stories associated with them, and when you explore their heritage a little further it is perhaps easy to understand why.

Maids Head

 

 The Maids Head dates back to the 13th Century, when it was called the  "Murtle Fish".  The name is said to have changed following a visit by Queen Elizabeth I to Norwich in 1578. Rumors that she stayed at Maids Head are contradicted by tales that it was full at the time and so she stayed elsewhere in the vicinity. Like most places visited by the Royal Party in 1578, the Black Death or Plague was destined to follow in its wake. It has been suggested that a member of the large party spread the plague as they travelled from place to place and Norwich was no exception. From August 1578 to February 1579 almost 5000 victims of the plague were recorded in the city. In total almost half the entire population of Norwich may have perished from the Plague during this time.  While rats thrived in the narrow alleyways, the grim cry of  "Bring out your dead" rang throughout the city. As the number  of bodies grew in colossal number, formal burials were abandoned in favour of mass-graves or "plague-pits". Cartloads of bodies were taken to the Cathedral Close, which became a large burial area. The graveyards behind St. George's church are so high as they were raised to accommodate the huge number of bodies.

St. George's Church

It is alleged that the church played an even more sinister role during this time, being the site where opportunistic looters of the dead and dying were taking if caught. As the story goes, after being bound at the ankles and wrists the looters were taken to the top of the church and then dropped head first onto the unforgiving ground some 80 feet below. Their bodies, whether dead or still alive, would then be tossed into the plague pits.

One of the largest plague pits in Norwich was dug beneath the site of the Samson and Hercules, which was for many years a nightclub under various names. Imagine Spending a Friday or Saturday night dancing the night away atop of 5000 plague victims! Yikes! This uniquely grim feature, along with the close proximity to the Cathedral, may be the root cause of numerous tales of hauntings and disturbances in the buildings throughout the years. these include the apparition of a "Lady in Grey". Which is thought to be the ghost of a young girl who apparently starved to death in  the Augustine Steward House after it was boarded up when it became contaminated with the plague. Which was a common practice. Whenever someone in a home came down with the plague the entire house would be boarded up with all of the occupants still inside. Once everyone was dead (usually after a month) they would then go in and remove the bodies. However it is said that this young girl was some how immune to the plague, she survived the plague only to die from starvation.

Augustine Steward House

The Maids Head has also been the location of reported sighting of an elderly lady dressed in grey. Staff and guests who have witnessed her move around the hotel, often accompanied by the scent of lavender. They speculate that she was once a chambermaid employed by the hotel. The ghost of an elderly man believed to be a former Mayor has also been spotted vigorously shaking his head in the courtyard.

Ghosts and spirits are often awaken when remodeling has been done disturbing their peaceful rest. Other ghostly goings on that have been reported in the ancient Tombland district include the ghost of a strangled girl, soldiers, rebels and the sound of the hooves of Oliver Cromwell's slaughtered cavalry and many strange shadow figures.

Three Horseshoe Pub

I recently got an email from Dawn with some information about another Pub that we might be visiting while we are there. Dawn is my go to gal for information on Haunted locations of Norwich and its surrounding areas as well as the general sites of the area. So she sends me information about sites so that I can share them with all of you. I am really looking forward to our visit there. It so beautiful and steeped in history. I know I have been writing alot about Ireland, but make no mistake about it I am equally excited about our visit to Norwich! The things that Dawn has told me have be chomping at the bit to get there and do some exploring!!  So let me get on with tell you about Three Horseshoes Pub!!


Three Horseshoes Pub

The Three Horseshoes Pub is an 18th Century thatched Inn in the Village of Scottow. It has always been known amongst the locals as a pub which strange things happens. The main "Presence" has been nicknamed "George"  over the years. Some say he was a stockman who was killed in the barn, others say he was a soldier from the Second World War. "George" is known to haunt both the main pub and the barn. He seems to lurk around one of the fireplace's in the bar. Many of the past landlords have testified to things going missing or appearing in strange places ( crates of bottles which appear in the middle of doorways, etc). The current landlords have a dog who will often walk down to the end of the room and bark at the fireplace!

In fact, both fireplaces in the main bar have something rather spooky about them. At the opposite end, the large inglenook fireplace was lined some years ago, and during the work various small shelves were found up inside the chimney on which were found several pairs of very small shoes- too small to be children's, but very detailed. No one seems to be sure why they had been placed there and they have been left in their original position.

The main door in the pub often bolts itself - despite the fact that it is both heavy and very stiff! Movement in the cellar is not uncommon either. Heavy banging is often heard between the walls coming from the empty cellar, and a bottle of cognac ejected its cork with some force not so long ago...

Many people have heard heavy, distinctive footsteps in the Barn. The steps happen most frequently in the bar area, but can also be heard at the end of the room where the raised stage is. In fact at a recent party the DJ got so frightened at one point that he had to leave the stage! He was convinced that some one was sitting in the corner watching him! One time during a band rehearsal a local bands lead singer started talking to what he thought was a band member standing behind him, he held a whole conversation then turned to ask why he wasn't getting an answer only to discover that he was alone in the room the whole time!! He also stated he was followed by footsteps the entire length of the barn, sounding as if they were just a few inches behind him and wearing very heavy boots.

A very short stroll away from the Pub is the end of the runway at  RAF (Royal Air Force) Coltishall. This has it's own ghost which is spotted very frequently by both villagers and plane spotters - he is a RAF pilot who was killed during the War and walks across the end of the runway. The main problem is he has no legs!!

Many people have mentioned "feeling" something when they walk in - sometimes a definite feeling, other times just a  "Hairs on the back of your neck" moment. Most people, however are unanimous in the feeling that the ghosts are all friends and not menacing or frightening in any way.



Sounds pretty fascinating doesn't it????? I am telling ya I cant wait to get there and explore all these places! As I have said before I am planning on taking lots of pictures and i will be taking my digital voice recorder in hopes of capturing some EVPs.  Maybe I will get lucky and have something to share with you all!

Leap Castle

This is so typical of me, I make one blog then I get all excited that I go searching for what I want to blog about next! Well that is exactly what I did. I finish writing about the caves of Ireland last night and then today I went and did some searching about the haunted castles of Ireland. And one of the one that stood out the most to me was Leap Castle. It is reportedly one of THE most haunted castles of Ireland.  If you have ever seen the show "Ghost Hunters" which is one of my favorite shows. They have actually been there and done an investigation there. So let me start tell you about Leap Castle!


Leap Castle



Leap Castle

 Leap Castle has a violent and turbulent history. It was built in the 14th or 15th century as a stronghold of the O'Carroll Family, powerful Irish Princes, Chieftains of the area.  The Gaelic name for the castle is  "Leim Ui Bhanain" which means  "The Leap of the O'Bannons".  Under the O'Carroll Chiefs, the  O'Bannon Clan were the first owners of Leap Castle. Later occupied by the O'Carrolls themselves. From here the O'Carroll's would set out for victory and defeat, and here they would bring their brides and there captives.

Leap was an impregnable fortress impervious to attack. In 1513, Leap Castle was attacked by Gerald Fitzgerald, but was  not taken. Gerald Og Fitzgerald of Kildore attacked the castle in 1516. In  1557 during an attack led by the Earl of Sussex, the O'Carroll's made a successful escape. In 1532, on the death of the  O'Carroll Chieftain a fierce rivalry for the leadership erupted within the family. The bitter fight for power turned brother against brother. One of the brothers was a priest. The O'Carroll priest was holding mass for a group of his family in what is now called the "Bloody Chapel", while chanting the holy rites, his rival brother burst into the chapel and  plunged his sword into his brother, fatally wounding him. The wounded priest fell across the altar and died in front of his family. The heinous act of brother killing brother and the blasphemy of a sacred mass cut short by murder is said to have sent an echo of misery ringing throughout the castle.

After the failure of the Revolt of the Earls in 1619 the plantation of Ely O'Carroll took place. Along with the English rulers, loyal protestant Scots and Englishmen settled into the area depriving the local Gaelic population of their land. Leap Castle then passed into the hands of the Darby family. After this many Darby's became High Sheriffs of Kings County.  The most famous Darby is Admiral Sir Henry Darby who fought at the Battle of the Nile and escorted Napoleon Bonaparte into exile after leaving France.

Another source of evil  at Leap Castle was the Oubliette (a form of a dungeon) which was found off the Bloody Chapel.  It was a small room with a drop floor. Prisoners would be pushed into the room to fall through the floor and land on spikes eight feet below. If they were not lucky enough to die quickly on the spikes, they would have died from starvation in a doorless room with a narrow window where they could see others come and go in freedom. Around 1900 workmen who were hired to clean out the Oubliette made hideous discovery, human skeletons laid piled on top of each other. It took three full carts loads to remove all the bones. Among the bones workmen found a pocket watch  made in the 1840's. It is not certain if the dungeon was still in use then.

The Oubliette

Shortly after Leap's dungeons gruesome discovery, a psychic disturbance may have caused the emergence of the Elemental Spirit. In 1659 ownership of Leap Castle passed in marriage from the O'Carroll family to an English family, the Darby's.  The Darby family turned Leap Castle into their family home, with improvements and additions and landscaped gardens. In the late 19th century descendants Jonathan and Mildred Darby were looking forward to raising their family here. The occult was the fashion of the day, and Mildred Darby did some innocent dabbling, despite the Castle's history and reputation for being haunted. Mildred's dabbling with magic awakened the elemental with ferocious velocity.

In 1909 Mildred Darby wrote an article for the Journal Occult Review, describing her terrifying ordeal. "I was standing in the Gallery looking down at the main floor, when I felt somebody put a hand on my shoulder. The thing was about the size of a sheep. Thin gaunting shadowy....its face was human, to be more accurate inhuman. Its lust in its eyes which seemed half decomposed in black cavities stared into mine. The horrible smell one hundred times intensified came up into my face, giving me a deadly nausea. It was the smell of a decomposing corpse." The Elemental is thought to be a primitive ghost that attaches itself to a particular place. It is often malevolent, terrifying and unpredictable.

After Mrs. Darby's experiments in the black arts, Leap Castle has never been the same. Hauntings plague Leap Castle leaving a sinister air throughout the Castle. The Darby's remained at Leap Castle until 1922. Being the home of an English family, it became the target of the Irish struggle for independence. Destroyed by bombs, completely looted, nothing but a burned out shell remained. The Darby's were driven out.

In the 1970's Leap Castle was purchased by an Australian who had a White Witch brought in from Mexico to exorcise the Castle. She spent many hours in the Bloody Chapel, when she emerged she explained that the spirits at Leap Castle were no longer malevolent, but that they wished to remain. In the 1990's during restoration to the Castle the Owner suffered a "freak accident"  which left him with a broken knee cap delaying restoration for for nearly a year. One year later while on a ladder working on restoring the Castle, the ladder suddenly tilted backwards away from the wall causing him to jump several stories resulting in a broken ankle. Both were strange accidents.

The owners say they would be happy to share the castle with the spirits as long as there are no more "occurrences".  In 1991, Leap Castle's Bloody Chapel held christening of the owner's baby daughter. For the first time in centuries the  "Bloody Chapel' was filled with music, dancing, laughter, and most of all love. The day had been a "happy, pleasant, wonderful day". If the troubled spirits of Leap Castle did not leave, maybe they had finally found some peace.


I am really hoping that Dan and I can get a tour of Leap Castle!  Those of you who know me pretty well know that I am really interested in the paranormal and that I belong to a paranormal research group here, so getting the chance to see and walk through one of Ireland most haunted Castle would be like winning the Stanley Cup, World Series and the Superbowl all rolled into one!!!!  I only wish that I could take my fellow investigators with me!! Oh how they would love it!!!!  I could just see Dom now he would be like a kid in a candy store! LOL  Well keep your fingers crossed that I can get a chance to get in there an see it, If not I would be happy with just seeing it from the outside and taking pictures!


Until next time!

Caves Of Ireland

Hello again friends!

So there are a couple of places that I found particularly fascinating while doing my research on places to visit. And those are the Caves of Ireland. If I were to say one was of lesser significance then the other I would have to say it would be Ailwee Caves only because it is smaller then Marble Arch Caves. So let me go ahead and tell you about Ailwee Cave first.


Ailwee Caves


Ailwee Cave

Ailwee caves are located in Ballyvaughan in the County Clare.  Ailwee is part of a cave system created by the action of melting water from a prehistoric ice age on the limestone below the Burren. The stalagmites and stalactites and columns within the cave have formed over about a million years, with an inch of change taking a century or more to occur.  They say that seeing these structures is a very humbling experience.

The most interesting feature of the cave is its many stalagmites and stalactites. These are calcite formations created by the constant slow drip of water through the limestone, each water droplet contributing a few tiny crystals of dissolved minerals to the slow growth of the formation. Some are tiny- just little straws hanging from the ceiling of the cave or small bumps on the ground, but even these have taken thousands of years to form. The large impressive ones have taken up to 350,000 years to reach their present size. The formations have been given names due to their shape, there is the  "Wasp Nest",  "Praying Hands", and the "Carrots". The caves were once used for hibernation by bears, which have been extinct in Ireland for more than 1000 years!


Marble Arch Caves

Marble Arch Cave

The caves at Marble Arch are unlike any other Irish cave by virtue of their sheer scale- an underground river, the Cladagh, runs through caverns of breathtaking splendour, as well as narrow winding passages, and past a beautiful waterfall. Its like entering a subterranean alternate world. The caves have been open to the public since 1985, but were first discovered in 1895 by a pioneering figure in the history of  cave exploration, a Frenchman named Edouard--Alfred Martel. For many decades only those skilled in caving were privy to their beauty, but now they have been carefully developed to allow ordinary mortals in , providing safe ways to getting around without compromising the delicate structure and environment inside.

The caves and their rivers are all under the Cuilcagh Mountain, a very scenic area which since 2004, along with the caves, has been a designated European geopark, in recognition of that importance of its environment and geology. The mountain has a distinctive table-top profile which is a dominant feature of the landscape in Co. Fermanagh, and indeed in bordering Co. Caven- the mountain is half in Northern Ireland and half in Ireland with the border running along its ridge.  The top of the mountain is composed of grit stone, which as you go downward changes to sandstone and shale. Underneath the caves are limestone. This unusual geology has resulted in some very dramatic scenery, with soaring cliffs and steep slopes which provides a challenge for the climbers and walkers with whom the area is very popular.

Cuilcagh Mountain

The middle slopes has one of the best areas of active blanket bog left in Europe. Blanket bog is fast disappearing worldwide, and active efforts to conserve this important heritage is ongoing. The unique habitat of the bog is home to many rate species of plants and is an important breeding site for the Golden Plover and the Peregrine Falcon.

Blanket Bog

Golden Plover

So that is some information on the Caves of Ireland. I am still up in the air on whether or not I want to see Ailwee Caves or not.  Marble Arch Caves really seems to have my interest! Its much bigger and with the underground river and all it just seems like it would be so much more interesting. Plus the Ailwee tour only last 45 minutes where the Marble Caves tour last over 75 minutes! And even though I am claustrophobic I am willing to push  myself to my limits to see this! I cant wait to get there and start sharing stories and picture with you all!!!!