Strangeness in the night
MALCOLM ROGERS considers the company of demons, hags and banshees for
the Bank Holiday.
 By
MALCOLM ROGERS
WHERE every hill has its hero, and every bog its bones,” said the
poet, and indeed sometimes it seems there’s as much history in an
acre of Irish soil than in all of ancient Greece. Here in Offaly there
are Bronze Age stone cists, passage graves, Mass stones from the penal
years, famine fields, haunted castles, ruined churches and Victorian follies
— in the village of Kinnitty a Victorian stone pyramid, quite literally
a monumental folly, sits incongruously in the local church.
Situated in the middle of the county Kinnitty Castle is smack bang on
the M1 of medieval times — The Old Munster Road, or Slí Dála.
This is Ely O’Carroll country, the land of the ancient people the
Éile, and their descendants the O’Carrolls. It covers most
of modern-day County Offaly and part of North Tipperary — and if
you’re in the market for castles or monasteries — or ghosts
— this is where to head.
Castle quest
The O’Carrolls held sway in this neck of the woods for almost 400
years, with Kinnitty Castle one of their main redoubts. A man’s
home is his castle, in a manor of speaking, goes the old pun — and
for the O’Carrolls it was true. But they made a lot of enemies too,
and of course bloodshed was never far away in those days.
It is said that the ghosts of many of these slain knights — or hard
dazed knights I suppose you could call them — still haunt the land.
And not just noblemen. Kinnitty is reputed to be regularly visited by
the spirit of an old monk. Before the O’Carrolls made the place
their stronghold, it was the early Celtic monastery of St. Finan —
as the 10th century High Cross just at the front of the castle testifies.
In the magnificent Banqueting Hall, the Phantom Monk of Kinnitty is frequently
spotted by staff and visitors alike. A haunted bedroom, the Geraldine
Room, is also prey to restless spirits from the other world, and in other
nooks and crannys of the Gothic building eerie presences are frequently
seen and sensed.
 Kinnitty Castle
is at pulse centre of the country, the so-called “Mystic Triangle”
of County Offaly and the surrounding areas. Archaeologists found evidence
of human life in this area approximately 7,000 years ago, so it is no
surprise that tales of banshees, fairy folk, spirits, leprechauns and
other mystical forces abound, part of the rich treasure of Irelands folklore.
According to spiritually-minded folk this area is a “Vortex Energy
Centre”, a portal to the next dimension.
A leap of faith
Leap Castle, just down the road from Kinnitty is famous for its many
ghosts and spirits — claiming to be the most haunted castle in Ireland.
Hard by Clareen, the castle has guarded the pass from Slieve Bloom into
Munster since the 14th century. A foreboding model of impregnability,
its nine-foot thick walls are equipped with slit-like embrasures for the
archers, and the unevenly spaced stumble-steps in the keep make the going
as difficult as possible.
Uninvited guests — of which you can be sure there were many —
were treated to boiling water, tar, arrows, rocks, and other early weapons
of mass destruction rained down on them from strategically placed murder
holes. The place makes Castle Dracula look user friendly.
However, current owner Seán Ryan says it isn’t all doom and
gloom. “Most of the spirits we see are good-natured. We’ve
had no problems — but there’s definitely a presence here.
Some visitors find a physical barrier to entering.”
Leap Castle is reputedly home to an elemental ghost — which is the
most malevolent of all spirits known to para-psychologists. It has the
body of a man and the head of a sheep, and its presence is always accompanied
by a gut-wrenching, putrid smell. Both W.B. Yeats and Oliver St. John
Gogarty testified to the presence in the castle of a particularly smelly
ghost.
Eerie moaning and weeping are regularly testified to in the vicinity
of Leap Castle, and strange lights are seen at the top of the Castle.
Day scare centre
“Fear is sharp-sighted. It sees things underground,” as Cervantes
said, and might have added, it can see in the dark as well. Charleville
Castle, just up the road in Tullamore was designed in 1798 by one of Ireland’s
leading architects of the day, Francis Johnston. Elegant and impressive
though it is, fear stalks the place round every corner. This is one very
haunted building.
This castle was built by Charles Bury the 1st Earl of Charleville who
was believed to be a devil-worshipper, and he sort of set the standard
for those who followed — by the 18th century, according to contemporaneous
annals this was ‘an dredful and teribil place both day and nighte.”
The ghost of Charles Bury still walks among the dungeons, catacombs and
tower. Orbs (spectral light balls) are frequently seen in the building
and grounds. According to the experts in this field, many different types
of supernatural presences including the spirit of a young girl who fell
to her death from the top of a staircase.
It’s rumoured that Jonathan Swift was a visitor to the area before
the castle was built. No accurate account remains as to why this should
have been a stomping ground of his — maybe he got inspiration for
Gulliver here. Especially the bit concerning the third of Gulliver’s
voyages devoted to the intellectual delusions of his time.
This is commonly omitted from children’s adaptations, featuring
as it does ghosts of famous philosophers, mad scientists and the inhabitants
of a floating island who govern all their behaviour by mathematical analogies.
Now that, squire, is downright weird.
 Spirited
weekend
I remember buying a Halloween Batman costume for a nephew. It came with
a warning which read: “This cape does not give the wearer the ability
to fly.”
You might just remember that if you decide to take part in an Offaly riotous
weekend this coming May Day Bank Holiday. The three aforementioned castles
will be included in a celebration of the ancient festival of Beltane,
or the Ancient Celtic Fire Festival. In days gone by huge celebrations
took place at this time of the year, and the organisers at Kinnitty Castle
aim to recreate a weekend of feasting, merriment, dancing, traditional
music, romance — and whatever you’re having yourself.
Tailor-made packages are available and there’s a special accommodation
rate of e60 per night per person sharing.
The weekend’s activities as involve a good deal of ghost hunting.
The timetable is:
Sunday, April 30
8pm – Traditional Feast in the Kinnitty Monks Kitchen in the Castle
Dungeons — the search for the Holy Grill! (e20 per person)
Monday, May 1
8.30pm – Bealtaine Banquet at Leap Castle. Talk by owner Sean Ryan
about Leap’s history.
Lavish five-course home cooked feast, with traditional Irish musicians
and dancers. Sean is an accomplished whistle player, and regularly gigs
with Alec Finn of De Dannan.
0.00 – The witching hour!
Visit the ‘Bloody Chapel’ with your guides Sandra Ramdhanie
and Richard Felix, the foremost paranormal experts in these islands.
Tuesday, May 2
8.30pm – Kinnitty Banquet at Kinnitty Castle (e45) in the legendary
haunted O’Carroll Banqueting Hall.
Followed ‘Most Haunted Castle’ Talk & Tour by Richard
and Sandra, including an investigation into queer goings-on at Charleville
Castle over the centuries.
The package includes full use of the Relaxation Suite in the Gate Lodge
Spa during your stay — and who knows, you might need to relax very
urgently!
Tel: 00353 86-3340809, or 00353 87-9347855.
If you want to extend your stay, I can heartily recommend Leslie Parsons’
Guided Coach Tours. Leslie is a genial Offaly man whose omni-directional
local knowledge covers every nook —- and indeed cranny — of
the area. He’ll take you to Glenafilly, or the Glen of Blood (you
don’t really want to know, believe me), or down to Monaincha Abbey,
simply one of the most mystical monastic sites in the world.
If Kinnitty Castle is full you can also rent self-catering cottages
(within view of Leap Castle) from Leslie.Tel: 00353 87 276 3565
For more information on Haunted Weekend Breaks email xandra@eircom.net
www.mosthauntedireland.com and www.sandraramdhanie.com
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