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LOS FANTASMAS DE BELFAST Y OTROS LUGARES CERCANOS

Las siguientes historias de Fantasmas que ocupan las casas, hoteles y castillos de Belfast y sus alrededores son solamente algunas de las legendarias y míticas experiencias que hacen de Irlanda del Norte un lugar único y misterioso. Esperamos que en alguna ocasión podáis visitar los lugares que describimos en esta entrada y ¡quién sabe si encontraros con algunas de las entidades que los habitan! Si tenéis la suerte de encontraros con algunos de estos “fantasmas” por favor decidles de nuestra parte que ellos y sus historias no se han quedado olvidados en el pasado polvoriento, sino que están muy vivos y sus leyendas son tratadas con mucho respeto en las páginas de nuestro blog. 

Las apariciones de John Street

John Street, demolida durante la construcción de la Royal Avenue en 1880, conectaba Donegall Street con North Street. Se decía que una de las antiguas casas de esta calle, de estilo campestre, estaba encantada por la presencia del fantasma de una anciana. Se cuenta que el fantasma solía tirar muebles y jarrones en la parte trasera de la casa. En una ocasión, sacó los muebles al patio trasero y los rompió. Nadie pudo dar nunca una explicación de por qué actuaba de esta manera este espíritu tan efusivo! Este fantasma no se conformaba con habitar su casa sino que también se colaba en casa de los vecinos. Uno de los residentes informó que había visto lo que le había parecido ser una anciana andando de un lado a otro de la habitación, hablando consigo misma. Un vecino con suerte, sin duda, pues la visita terminó con todos sus muebles intactos!

En Mayo de 1882 algunos albañiles, que estaban instalando tuberías y desagües nuevos en la casa, descubrieron los huesos de una anciana, que había permanecido enterrada bajo la casa durante varios años. Los huesos fueron sacados de allí y se trasladaron al cementerio Union, y a partir de ese momento nunca más se volvió a ver el fantasma de la anciana. 

El  Fantasma de la “Fábrica de cerillas Lucifer”

La fábrica de cerillas Lucifer (sí, habéis leído bien) en Millfield Place se convirtió en el lugar de residencia de un famoso fantasma, aunque con ese nombre no nos extraña nada este hecho. El 15 de diciembre de 1882, prendió una chispa en la madera seca e inmediatamente se formó un gran incendio. Por aquella época era algo común que los niños trabajaran en las fábricas para ayudare a sus familias en condiciones completamente pésima, como es fácil de imaginar. En esta ocasión el fuego atrapó y mató a cuatro niños, entre ellos la hija del encargado de la fábrica, que estaba empleada para meter las cerillas en cajas. A pesar de los esfuerzos que los otros trabajadores de la fábrica intentaron hacer para salvarle la vida a estas inocentes criaturas, el fuego quiso hacer honor al nombre de la fábrica y convirtió el lugar en un infierno. Las explosiones y el rugido del fuego no pudieron ahogar los gritos de los niños que quedaron atrapados en su interior y todos los trabajadores de la fábrica lloraban desolados.

Cuando la fábrica fue reconstruida y comenzaron a trabajar de nuevo en ella (habiendo ya eliminado de la fábrica el nombre de Lucifer), cierta noche los residentes cercanos fueron despertados por unos gritos escalofriantes, aparentemente provenientes de la fábrica. Muchos vecinos los describieron como “un grupo de niños gritando aterrorizados”. Los gritos fueron una constante a lo largo de los años, hasta que fue demolida a principios del siglo XX. Parece ser que cuando desapareció la fábrica, los gritos desaparecieron con ella. Muchos creen que los gritos eran un aviso para que la fábrica fuera demolida y el mismo infortunio no volviera a suceder.

El Fantasma de Sandy Row

La calle principal de Sandy Row es casi tan antigua como la misma ciudad de Belfast. En 1879 un cargador de carbón llamado James Aitchison se mudó con su familia al número 60 de Sandy Row y muy pronto empezaron a sentirse inquietos en su nuevo hogar. La hija de 8 años dormía en una habitación trasera de la planta superior y ocasionalmente se despertaba en mitad de la noche gritando. Cuando sus padres acudían para ver que ocurría, ella decía que había visto a un hombre extraño en su habitación. Los padres, en un intento de calmar a su hija permitieron que esta durmiera con ellos en la habitación, para demostrarle que simplemente había sido una pesadilla, pero cuál fue su terror cuando unas cuantas noches más tarde ambos padres se despertaron con la sensación de sentirse observados y en la oscuridad de la habitación distinguieron la figura de un hombre a los pies de la cama… No podía haber sido un sueño, pues los dos lo habían visto al mismo tiempo!

Cuando la familia Aitchinson sin pensárselo dos veces se mudó a otro lugar, la casa fue ocupada por un albañil llamado Jim Lowry. Mientras realizaba unos trabajos en el patio trasero observó, desde lo alto de una escalera de mano, la presencia de un anciano situado al pie de la misma que le miraba fijamente. Llamó al hombre y no recibió respuesta, pero cuando comenzó a descender, el anciano despareció ante los ojos de Lowry. El albañil comprobó que tanto la puerta del patio como la de la casa estaban cerradas con llave y a juzgar por la edad del hombre que había visto había que descartar la posibilidad de que hubiera saltado el muro! Incapaz de asentarse en la casa a partir de aquella experiencia que le perturbó, dejó el tejado sin arreglar y se mudó a otra casa.

El lugar quedó abandonado durante un buen número de años hasta que a principios del siglo XX, la familia Ashwood lo convirtió en una peluquería. Los albañiles que reformaron la casa dijeron que habían visto la figura de un anciano en el patio trasero en numerosas ocasiones, pero cuando salían a investigar, allí no había nadie.

La realidad es que un hombre de 77 años llamado Bobby Corbett había vivido en aquella casa durante la mayor parte del siglo XIX. Se decía que Corbett era muy querido y, a la vez, muy conocido en toda Sandy Row debido a su comportamiento excéntrico.

También era un hombre con dinero, al menos el suficiente para emplear a un ama de llaves y al hijo de esta y ambos vivían con él. El 11 de febrero de 1876, el hijo de su ama de llaves regresó del trabajo y cuando se fue a sentar a comer preguntó a su madre dónde estaba su silla. Ésta le respondió que Corbett se la había llevado al patio trasero para arreglarla y que aún debía estar allí. El hombre salió en busca de la silla y la vio recostada contra la pared del patio. Cuando se acercó a cogerla vio a Corbett ensartado en un gancho colgando del muro. El pobre hombre, en un intento de comprobar que la silla había quedado arreglada del todo, se subió de pie a ella con tan mala pata que resbaló, clavándose en el cuello un gancho que sobresalía del muro y quedando colgado allí de aquella manera tan tétrica. De modo que es muy posible que fuera el bueno de Bobby a quien todos los habitantes que fueron ocupando la casa del número 60 de esta calle veían deambulando por el patio trasero!

El fantasma de la estación de tren de Ballymacarrett

Una tarde de noviembre a comienzos del siglo XX, un trabajador del ferrocarril de nombre Samuel McCann  dedicado a consignar la llegada y salida de los trenes y que venía de trabajar en la estación de tren del condado de Down, cruzaba en medio de una densa niebla las vías situadas en las calles y entrada de Ballymacarrett, al este de Belfast. El tren de las 19:30 que se dirigía a Bangor acababa de pasar cuando oyó a alguien que se encontraba no lejos de allí. Finalmente pudo divisar la figura de una mujer joven aproximándose a través de la niebla. Samuel le preguntó a la joven hacia dónde se dirigía en mitad de la niebla y esta le contestó que acababa de salir de su trabajo y se dirigía a la estación de tren. Samuel entonces acompañó a la joven haciendo el camino de vuelta juntos hacia la estación, donde  dio las buenas noches a la mujer y fichó para salir del trabajo antes de dirigirse al bar Aero en Bridge End donde iba siempre después del trabajo para tomarse unas pintas con los amigos.

Una vez en el pub, les contó el encuentro a los otros trabajadores del tren. Uno de ellos que en ese momento se encontraba bebiendo de su Guinness atragantándose con la cerveza palideció al escucharle decir que la mujer se había presentado como Catherine Hanvey y entonces contó a sus compañeros un incidente que había tenido lugar en la zona en 1896 cuando un vecino que paseaba a su perro se había encontrado con los miembros  mutilados de una mujer esparcidos en el cruce entre los raíles del tren. El cuerpo fue más tarde identificado como Catherine Hanvey, una mujer soltera de unos 30 años que había trabajado como sirviente en una casa de Lisburn Road.

El informe del forense declaraba que “la llamada Catherine Hanvey murió el 21 de Febrero de 1896, entre las estaciones de Ballymacarret y Bangor, en frente de Central Street, Ballymacarrett, en la Ciudad de Belfast, a causa de las heridas  causadas por la máquina de un tren que la atropelló.”

El fantasma del Capitán del barco ruso.

La presente historia tuvo lugar en los muelles de Belfast y su vieja zona de Sailortown. Ocurrió a principios del siglo XX. Una noche como otra cualquiera,uno de los vigilantes nocturnos de nombre Davy Coulter recibió la visita del capitán de un barco extranjero que había atracado en los muelles; el hombre parecía estar de muy buen humor y se presentó como Alexey, capitán del barco ruso Povorino. Ambos hombres hablaron de cosas puramente mundanas durante unos minutos. La visita se repitió durante siete noches más, a diario hasta que una buena noche el capitán dejó de aparecer. A la segunda noche de ausencia, el vigilante decidió acercarse al barco a preguntar por él. La tripulación parecía bastante asombrada por su pregunta y le miraron como si no estuviera bien de la cabeza y cuando el vigilante les explicó que el capitán de su barco había bajado al muelle cada noche para hablar con él y hacía dos noches que no bajaba, la tripulación le pidió que describiera al hombre del que hablaba. Cuando el vigilante le hubo descrito los miembros de la tripulación quedaron espantados. Luego le contaron que el capitán de ese barco se había suicidado, ahorcándose durante la travesía. Habían conservado el cuerpo a bordo hasta que otro barco viniera a recogerle y le llevara a su país de origen. El cuerpo había sido recogido hacía exactamente dos días, ¡precisamente el tiempo que el capitán llevaba sin ir a visitar al vigilante!

  

“Scottie Shoe” en el hotel Grand Central

El hotel Grand Central se hallaba situado en el lugar que ahora ocupa el centro comercial Castle Court en Royal Avenue. Se decía que estaba encantado  y que allí vivía el fantasma de uno de sus empleados, apodado Scottie Shoe, que al parecer gustaba de asustar a los clientes del hotel quitándose los zapatos y caminando con sus etéreos pies por debajo del suelo, desapareciendo poco después a través de alguna pared del hotel, emitiendo una terrible risa de satisfacción por haber asustado a otro pobre diablo.  Scottie Shoe había formado parte de una plantilla de trabajadores llamados por aquel entonces “gas fitters”, porque se ocupaban de mantener las lámparas de gas del hotel encendidas en todo momento. Scottie tuvo un terrible accidente cuando encendía una de las lámparas de gas del hotel, resbalando y quedando inconsciente en el suelo mientras aspiraba sin saberlo los vapores que emanaban de la lámpara que acabó matándole. A partir de aquel momento dejó de ser un "gas fitter" para pasar a convertirse en un fantasma con un trabajo mucho más divertido, asustar a los clientes del hotel!

Durante la primera guerra mundial el hotel fue requisado por el ejército británico. Scottie Shoe, acostumbrado a que el hotel se llenara con clientes de la clase más alta, se quedó muy disgustado al ver el hotel lleno de hombres uniformados. La noche del 26 de mayo de 1914 era el turno de William Jenkins, el oficial al mando, para patrullar el edificio. Jenkins era considerado un hombre valiente y formado en el arte de la guerra, pero tenía un miedo atroz a todo lo relacionado con el mundo de los espíritus. Pasado un tiempo, sus hombres se vieron alarmados por los gritos de Jenkins en la planta superior a quien descubrieron tirado al pie de la escalera, con un ataque de nervios.

De vuelta al cuartel, Jenkins les dijo que había visto la figura de un hombre dirigiéndose hacia él; pero unos segundos más tarde se dio cuenta de que no era un hombre ya que la parte inferior de la figura parecía avanzar por debajo del suelo.

El misterioso pub Grace Neill’s, en Donaghadee, del Condado de Down

Grace Neill´s es un antiguo y misterioso pub con una barra de bar que hace que su visita realmente valga la pena aunque solo sea para contemplar las instalaciones.

Grace Neill´s clama el privilegio de ser el pub más antiguo en Irlanda. Abrió sus puertas por primera vez en 1611 y originalmente se llamaba The Kings´s Arms.

Cuando el famoso poeta romántico londinense John Keats visitó Donaghadee en el año 1818 en “un bonito día soleado” se quedó muy impresionado ante “el encanto y la limpieza” del pueblo. Los habitantes, sin embargo, le parecieron “bastos y salvajes”, especialmente los clientes habituales del pub, donde fue “ridiculizado y violentamente maltratado por los vecinos del pueblo quienes se rieron de su forma de vestir y pensaron que era algún tipo extranjero.” Lo que, teniendo en cuenta que procedía de Inglaterra, ¡probablemente era una suposición acertada! Keats había sido un gran admirador del “Infierno de Dante”, fascinado por la descripción del “paseo” de Dante por el infierno y es muy posible que en aquel momento el mismo Keats se sintiera más que nunca como el protagonista de esa historia!

Grace Neill, que vivió hasta los 98 años de edad, se hizo cargo del pub a finales del siglo XIX, como parte de la dote que le ofreció su padre el día de su boda. Era una dama muy peculiar que mantenía un establecimiento acogedor y le gustaba observar y estar al tanto de todos los movimientos que se realizaban en el local mientras fumaba en su pipa de cerámica.

¡Probablemente Keats se hubiera quedado horrorizado si hubiera sabido que Grace solía recibir a sus clientes con un gran beso en la boca a la llegada al pub!

Grace murió en el año 1916, pero su espíritu permaneció en el lugar para asegurarse de que la posada, que ahora lleva su nombre, siga operando con la misma eficiencia que todos sus clientes esperaban de ella. Varios retratos suyos observan el ambiente desde la pared y desde el oscuro y confortable bar, con su maravilloso mostrador, del que se dice fue construido con las vigas de madera de un viejo barco.

Aquí es, alejada de las nuevas instalaciones del pub, donde su fantasma sigue actuando. Los miembros que trabajan en el pub y algunos clientes (sobrios) han sido testigos atónitos de cómo vasos y libros se mueven y se cambian de sitio sin intervención de nadie. Así como las luces se encienden y se apagan solas.

También se suelen oír lentas pisadas cruzando el piso de arriba, helando la sangre del que, en ese momento, esté trabajando tras la barra del bar.

Algunos clientes han comentado que han visto a una dama vestida de forma victoriana envuelta en una nube de humo, deambulando cerca de la escalera y en los alrededores del pub. Pero los camareros no dudan en asegurar que no hay nada que temer del fantasma de Grace y la describen como alguien amable.

Por este pub han pasado personajes muy famosos y diversos como Pedro el Grande de Rusia, el compositor Franz Liszt, el antiguo rehén de Beirut Brian Keenan y la diva del pop Tina Turner.

CASTILLOS Y HOTELES CON “ENCANTO”

El fantasma de Ballygally 

Todo castillo de Irlanda del Norte que se precie ha de tener algún tipo de fantasma. El fantasma de Ballygally ha estado rondando nada menos que durante los últimos 400 años. La leyenda popular cuenta que este fantasma es el de Lady Isobella Shaw, la esposa de Lord James Shaw.

Lord Shaw se casó con Isobella con el único objetivo de tener un hijo, y cuando su esposa dio a luz, le arrebató el bebé y a ella la encerró en la habitación de una torre del castillo. Cuando intentaba escapar para reunirse con su amado hijo, lady Isobella se cayó desde la ventana de la torre encontrando la muerte. Si bien la leyenda  cuenta maliciosamente que fue el cruel Lord Shaw quien la empujó.

El fantasma de Lady Isobella tiene fama de ser un espíritu amigable que recorre los pasillos del antiguo castillo, ahora convertido en hotel, sin asustar a nadie. A lo largo  de los años muchos invitados han informado de experiencias extrañas y han sentido una presencia en las habitaciones. Hay igualmente interminables historias acerca de ruidos inexplicables por la noche, y una fantasmagórica niebla verde que flota sobre el castillo. El hotel está tan orgulloso de su residente perpetuo que incluso le ha dado su propia habitación, “la Habitación del Fantasma”, en una de las torres en la parte más antigua del castillo, donde Isobella fue hecha prisionera.

El fantasma sin cabeza del castillo de Taaffes, en Carlingford

El primer conde de Carlingford fue Theobald Taaffe, segundo de 15 hermanos. Era normal por los años 1600 que el hijo mayor heredara el título y la herencia, pero el   mayor fue muerto en las guerras  contra los turcos, y el mayorazgo recayó sobre Nicholas, su segundo hijo.

Nicholas llegó en un barco al castillo alrededor del año 1678 y fue recibido con una gran fanfarria de trompetas. Los sirvientes se alinearon, como era costumbre, para recibir a su nuevo amo, un joven muy bien parecido que causó estragos en algunas de las sirvientas mientras se inclinaban reverentemente ante él. Una en especial, Eimear, una doncella de la cocina que no había cumplido aún los 17 y era más hermosa que las demás, sintió mucha vergüenza y se puso roja cuando sus ojos se cruzaron con los del conde durante un segundo. Para Nicholas no pasó tampoco desapercibida su belleza y tomó buena cuenta de ella, aunque no  volverían a encontrarse hasta al cabo de tres semanas.

Una noche, cuando señor cenaba en la gran estancia con otros nobles y sus mujeres después de regresar de una cacería, se le ordenó a Eimear recoger la mesa.  Se dirigió primero al sitio de Nicholas, pidiendo permiso a la vez que recogía el plato. Él olió la esencia de lavanda con la que ella había lavado su pelo aquella mañana y mientras  se retiraba, los ojos de Nicholas recorrieron su figura y observó su andar cuando se alejaba lentamente hacia las estancias de los sirvientes.

Ocupado fuera en los asuntos de su estado, no volvería a verla durante bastantes  días, pero al regresar la buscó. Ella llegó desde la cocina con una copa de jerez, que él tenía por costumbre tomar cada noche antes de acostarse. Cuando ella entró en la estancia él estaba de  espaldas, mirando un fuego que ardía en la chimenea, proyectando una enorme sombra en los muros. “Aquí tiene su jerez, mi señor” dijo ella casi susurrando, mientras su corazón latía aceleradamente. Sintió una extraña mezcla de miedo, timidez y euforia. Él se volvió y se quedó allí de pie, observándola. “Su jerez, mi señor” repitió ella, de forma casi inaudible. Entonces vio como su mano se alzaba pero no para coger el jerez, sino para acariciarle la cara. Ella le miró, “su jerez, mi señor”, pero esta vez no le salió la voz, solamente movió los labios. Él cogió la bandeja de sus manos y la puso encima de la mesa. “¿Eso es todo mi señor?”, dijo ella. “Eso es  todo Eimear”, dijo él.

Aquel día la semilla del amor quedó plantada en sus corazones y, cada día que pasaba, fue creciendo con mayor fuerza entre ellos. Sus mundos eran diferentes y sus vidas estaban definidas por las convenciones de la época. Por eso su amor tendría que permanecer en secreto. Cada momento a solas, cada mirada y cada roce era celebrado como si fuera el último. Y aun así no era suficiente para satisfacer el deseo que sentían el uno por el otro. Y entonces llegó un día, en el que nada fue suficiente. Nicholas consumido de amor por ella le pidió que se casara con él. Ella no dudó: “Sí, sí mi amor” lloró. Nunca antes  dos personas se habían amado tanto como ellos compartiendo tristezas y alegrías como si fuera un solo ser. El día de la boda se propuso para el 14 de Julio de 1690.

Aquel año, el ejército protestante williamita se encontraba en Irlanda y estaba en conflicto con el rey católico James. Nicholas fue convocado a la guerra para luchar al lado de James. El día que dejó Carlingford para ir a la guerra los dos amantes se abrazaron durante mucho tiempo, con lágrimas en sus mejillas. Ella le rogaba que no fuera. Se echó al suelo y le abrazó las piernas con sus brazos suplicándole: “¡Por favor, por favor!”, le rogaba, “no quiero perderte”.

Pero el honor obligaba a Nicholas a ir a la guerra. Y se fue, montando un semental castaño, hacia Drogheda. Las palabras de Eimear: "Nunca renunciaré a tí, te esperaré por siempre", todavía resonaban en el aire cuando él ya cabalgaba al frente de su gente.

Eimear se retiró a sus aposentos y marcó cada día de su ausencia. Nadie la vio comer jamás. Algunas semanas más tarde llegó un mensajero a caballo con malas noticias; Nicholas había muerto en la Batalla de Boyne el 12 de Julio de 1690, dos días antes de la fecha señalada para su boda. El mensajero dijo que había luchado valientemente al lado del rey James pero le habían atravesado el corazón con una espada y un soldado williamita le había cortado la cabeza. Sus últimas palabras fueron  para pronunciar el nombre de su amada.

Cuando una joven sirviente fue a dar la triste noticia a Eimear se encontró con una terrible escena; la sangre manaba del corazón de Eimear y su cabeza yacía decapitada sobre la alfombra. La puerta y las ventanas estaban cerradas por dentro con llave y no pudieron encontrar ninguna espada ni a extraño alguno que hubiera entrado en el castillo, pero de algún modo había sufrido la misma muerte que había encontrado su amado en Drogheda. Todos pensaron que sus cuerpos y sus espíritus se habían unido en uno solo en la muerte, ya que no pudieron llegar a hacerlo en vida.

Nunca fue enterrada. Demasiado aterrorizados por lo ocurrido, nadie se atrevió a acercarse, cerraron la puerta de la habitación y, aquel horror, quedó encerrado  para siempre. Pero su espíritu aún vive en el castillo de Taaffes. Todavía espera la vuelta de su amado y aún se  puede ver por la noche, en diferentes partes del castillo, una figura descabezada que grita: "Nunca renunciaré a ti, te esperaré por siempre!!"

El fantasma del hotel Dobbins Inn

Alrededor del año 1200 DC se le concedió una parcela a Reginald D´Aubin a la sombra del recientemente reformado castillo de Carrickfergus. En este terreno construyó una torre, que siguieron poseyendo sus descendientes durante varios cientos de años.

En el siglo XV el nombre familiar había cambiado a Dobyn y las sucesivas generaciones se convirtieron en importantes dignatarios locales.

En el reinado de James I, durante la creación del Ulster, su casa se convirtió en un refugio para los sacerdotes católicos que querían celebrar misas secretas en los alrededores.

Fue durante este periodo cuando el Inn comenzó a tener visitas de su residente fantasma, Elisabeth, la esposa del dueño Hugh Dobbins, quien se enamoró de un guapo soldado que habitaba en el lado opuesto del castillo.

Por las noches se escapaba a través de un túnel secreto (la entrada a ese túnel aún es visible en la parte trasera de la enorme chimenea en la recepción del actual hotel) para disfrutar de románticos encuentros con su amante soldado, a quien se le conoce simplemente como “Buttoncap”.

Un mal día para ambos su marido descubrió el “affaire” y, según cuentan las crónicas de la época, “les dio muerte a los dos con su espada”.

Desde entonces, el fantasma de Elisabeth ronda por el edificio. Lo que pasó con el espíritu de Buttoncap, nadie lo sabe. Se dice que el esposo de Elisabeth les encontró abrazados y les atravesó a los dos a la vez con la espada en un solo movimiento, de modo que habiendo muerto juntos, sus espíritus se convirtieron en uno solo para vagar juntos por toda la eternidad. ¿Puede que sea un caso único en el mundo?

En 1946 la antigua propiedad se convirtió en un hotel y el espíritu de Elisabeth – o Maude, como se la conocía – permaneció en él como su más antiguo residente.

Varios huéspedes han sido despertados en mitad de la noche al sentir cómo una mano invisible les acariciaba la cara.

Otros han visto sombras de una figura furtiva que corretea cruzando la recepción y desaparece cerca de la chimenea de piedra.

El Fantasma de Springhill y la “habitación azul”

Springhill, situada cerca de Moneymore, en el Condado de Londonderry, es en todos los sentidos una casa realmente atractiva. Sus paredes blancas, sus ventanas estrechas y oscuras y el tejado gris, coronado por una chimenea de ladrillo rojo, se integra perfectamente en el paisaje que la rodea y nadie que haya entrado en esta casa puede evitar caer bajo su hechizo. Su interior es muy acogedor y se puede apreciar que ha cambiado poco en el último siglo.

De hecho, aquellos a quienes perteneció este hogar en alguna ocasión, tendrían pocos problemas para reconocerlo hoy en día, no importa en qué momento de estos 300 años de la historia de esta casa pudieran aparecer. 

Aunque la fecha exacta de su construcción es incierta, sus primeros datos se remontan al año 1680, cuando “El bueno de Will” Conyngham se casó con Ann Upton, de 16 años de edad. Su padre, deseoso de que ella y sus hermanas fueran tratadas conforme al nivel económico que él creía les correspondía, arregló un contrato matrimonial en el que requería al bueno de Will que construyera una casa de cal y piedra, con dos alturas y las necesarias estancias de servicio, jardines y huertos.

De acuerdo con el contrato, Will erigió una hermosa casa con tejado alto en la que han vivido diez generaciones posteriores, hasta que en 1957 el capitán William Lenox Conyngham se deshizo de Springhill y todo lo que en ella había donándolo al National Trust (una organización sin ánimo de lucro).

Hoy, los visitantes de la casa pueden admirar sus muebles de época y la renovada escalera de roble mientras experimentan la inquietante sensación de que desde los retratos que cuelgan de las  paredes son observados por los miembros de aquellas familias hace tiempo desaparecidas. Pero, sin duda, la estancia más fantasmal de la casa es la habitación azul. Al entrar en esta habitación la temperatura baja de manera alarmante y se mantiene fría todo el tiempo que permaneces en ella. Los guías que muestran la casa a las visitas achacan este hecho a la “presencia” de un espíritu que embruja la habitación.

En 1814 George Lenox-Conyngham, un hombre propenso a la melancolía que se encontraba realizando sus labores en el ejército, recibió la noticia de que sus hijos habían enfermado de viruela. Fuera de sí por la preocupación, abandonó su puesto esa misma noche y se dirigió a Springhill.

Por el camino se encontró con Robert Stewart, su superior, pero como eran buenos amigos y dado que George había encubierto también a Stewart en otras ocasiones, dedujo que entendería la urgencia de abandonar su puesto en semejantes circunstancias.

Stewart no dijo nada y Lenox-Conyngham llegó a Springhill donde encontró que su esposa Olivia, había atendido cuidadosamente a los niños y se habían recuperado. Su tranquilidad pronto se vio alterada. En breve recibió el aviso de que un tribunal marcial reclamaba su presencia para juzgarle por haber abandonado su puesto de trabajo. El supuesto amigo le había traicionado.

Esto, junto con la repentina muerte de una de sus hijas, le condujo a una depresión que duró dos años.

Finalmente, una noche, se dirigió al piso inferior, entró en la estancia donde guardaba las pistolas, cogió una  del armero de la pared, regresó a la habitación azul, se sentó en la cama y se disparó un tiro. Olivia, sospechando lo que iba a hacer, salió corriendo detrás de él pero sólo consiguió llegar a la habitación azul para oír el disparo.

Más tarde, Olivia escribiría en el libro de la familia que: “George Lenox-Conyngham, encontrándose en un profundo estado de melancolía durante muchos meses previos al suceso, puso fin a su existencia disparándose un tiro. Aún se mantuvo con vida desde el 20 hasta el 22 de Noviembre de 1816 y murió, mediante la gracia de Dios todopoderoso, como un verdadero cristiano".

Sin embargo, el fantasma que se ha dejado ver por Springhill es de hecho el fantasma de Olivia, que aún repite esta carrera desesperada para prevenir la muerte de su marido y ha sido vista en varias ocasiones de pie frente a la puerta de la habitación azul, con las manos alzadas en un gesto de horror.

A finales del siglo XIX fue vista por una invitada de la casa llamada Miss Wilson, quien se había quedado despierta una noche hasta tarde charlando en su habitación con la hija de la familia, Milly Conyngham.

Cuando Milly finalmente se retiró, Miss Wilson observó que se había dejado su diario. Salió de la estancia con ánimo de devolvérselo, cuando se vio sorprendida por la aparición de una mujer esbelta en lo alto de la escalera.

La figura se movió hacia la puerta de la habitación, alzó los brazos aparentemente con desesperación y luego se desvaneció lentamente.

Años más tarde otra visitante de la casa, Miss Hamilton, que ocupaba la habitación azul, una noche, cuando empezaba a quedarse dormida, la habitación pareció llenarse de sirvientes muy nerviosos que se empujaban y hablaban en voz baja. Mientras permanecía tumbada presa del terror, escuchó un chasquido en la pared detrás de su cama y dándose la vuelta, vio una puerta que se abría y una luz saliendo del interior de la habitación. Más tarde recordó cómo alguien parecía salir a través de esta luz. Luego la mujer se fue tranquilizando, terminó por dominar su miedo y se quedó dormida.

A la mañana siguiente, sorprendida, pudo comprobar que, detrás de la cama, no existía la puerta que ella había visto la noche anterior. Sin embargo, informó de su terrible experiencia a Charlotte Lenox-Conyngham, quien le dijo que, efectivamente, en el pasado había existido una puerta en la pared detrás de esa cama pero había sido tapiada hacía mucho tiempo.

Curiosamente, años más tarde se cambió el papel de la habitación azul y se descubrió una puerta secreta. Daba paso a un armario de pólvora, en cuyo suelo se encontraron un par de guantes muy viejos y una pequeña petaca que contenía balas.

En los primeros años del siglo XX, la última generación de niños Lenox-Conyngham que vivían en la casa, estaban durmiendo una noche cuando su niñera, de repente, se despertó  encontrándose con el fantasma de Olivia que, de pie, observaba a los niños intensamente, como asegurándose de que estaban bien. Al cabo de unos segundos, evidentemente satisfecha con lo que había visto, el fantasma se desvaneció.

Springhill es, sin duda, un lugar tranquilo y fascinante para visitar y si el fantasma te hace el honor de acompañarte con su presencia puedes irte satisfecho de este apacible lugar de la vieja Irlanda sabiendo que, el residente más ilustre de esta casa, te ha dado la bienvenida.

Bea H.

IN ENGLISH!!!

GHOSTS OF BELFAST

The following accounts of the Ghosts which occupy the houses, hotels and castles of Belfast and it's surrounding areas are just some of the many legendary and mythical encounters which make Northern Ireland a unique and mysterious place for people with an interest in it's spirits and ghostly residents. We hope that you can visit some of the places we have talked about and perhaps maybe even encounter one of the entities we have described. If you do please tell them that they have not been forgotten and their experiences live on with total respect in the pages of our blog!

John Street apparitions

John Street, demolished during the building of Royal Avenue in 1880 had connected Donegall Street with North Street in Belfast city centre. It was said that one of the old houses in this back street was haunted by the ghost of an old lady. It is also said that this ghost used to throw furniture around in the back yard of the house she was supposed to have once resided and died in. During one particular occasion she took all the furniture from the house into the back yard and broke them into pieces. It was an inexplicable occurrence and no one had any idea what had made someone who was supposedly a mild mannered old woman into a destructive force after her passing! The ghost didn’t even restrict herself to haunting the house in which she had previously lived as she would visit the neighbours from time to time. One of the residents said he had witnessed the old lady’s spirit walking from room to room in her house talking away to herself, and as scared as she obviously was she was exceptionally grateful to still have her furniture in one piece when the old woman eventually disappeared! 

   In May 1882 some workers who happened to be installing pipes and new drains along the ground the house had covered before it was demolished discovered the bones of what appeared to be an old lady who seemed to have been there, buried under the house, for many years. The bones were taken away and buried with a prayer in the nearby Union cemetery and from that moment on nobody ever saw the ghost of the old lady again!

The ghost of "Lucifer´s Match Factory".

The incredibly entitled ‘Lucifer´s Match Factory’ towered over Millfield Place in the 1800’s and, maybe unsurprisingly became a place of residence for several very famous Belfast ghosts. It was exceptionally tragic circumstances which led to the events from which several innocent children entered the spirit world.  It wasn’t unusual for minors to be employed in factories making all sorts of goods from linen to matches, the latter a particularly hazardous job considering the materials which were being worked with along with a less-than-modern approach to health and safety at work! The children were employed to pack the matches into the boxes, matches had previously ignited while being handled but on any occasion this had happened the ensuing flames were quickly extinguished. However on the 15th of December of 1882 matches which had rubbed together and sparked into ignition, and unlike previous times these matches fell alight unfortunately onto a pile of dry wood and immediately a massive fire began. Whatever measures had been put in place to deal with an event such as this were immediately put into action and most of the children and adult workers were able to make their way outside to safety, but four poor children who had been closest to the proximity of the initial fire found themselves helplessly trapped behind the flames which were between them and the safety of an exit and despite the adult workers best efforts all four perished as the rest of the building turned into an inferno. The force of the flames would have been bad enough but of course a fire in a match factory was impossible to extinguish considering the materials within the factory, dry wood and sulphur, the building became a version of Hell itself and the last thing the on looking crowd saw before flames engulfed the factory was its sign burning above the entrance doors, Lucifer’s Match factory did indeed seem to have been an appropriate name as it now absolutely resembled the place from which Lucifer was lord of!  Amongst the four children who died was the daughter of the factory owner.  The sound of burning wood and exploding sulphur barrels could not unfortunately drowned out the terrible screams of the four victims who had been trapped inside, there would never be any remains found.

   The original owner of the factory was never heard of again, obviously distraught at the loss of his daughter, and some years later another factory was built on the same land, once again to produce matches, it was a valuable source of employment for the local community but it was also unanimously decided that there would have to be a change of name, Lucifer’s Match Factory would now be a just a terrible memory. However the old factory was not about to be a forgotten memorial and many of the residents who lived in the area surrounding the new building would awake during the night to hear awful screams coming from what sounded to all who heard them like children in terrible distress and originating without doubt from within the new factory! Few of the residents dared approach the building by night, but some who wanted to find out if the screams were from people inside playing pranks entered the building with the new owner and searched it, but there was never anyone found inside except those brave enough to search the apparently cursed monument.  The screams though continued to be frequently heard and it was only when it was decided to demolish the second match factory at the beginning of the 20th century and to do so while at the same time having a prayer service for the four children who had died in the first one that the cries of the trapped children ceased and disappeared forever! There have been buildings erected on the original site since, but still no screams have been heard and it is assumed that the ghosts of Lucifer’s Match Factory were not able to settle while another match factory was in existence on the same grounds on which they had died and they didn’t want the same fate happening to any more children.

The ghost of Sandy Row

The main street of Sandy Row is almost as old as the city of Belfast itself. In 1879 a coal worker called James Aitchison, together with his family, moved into number 60 of Sandy Row’s heartland and very soon they started to feel very uneasy in their new home. The 8 years old daughter used to sleep in a back room on the first floor and not long after the family thought they were settled down the daughter very often began wakening up in the middle of the night and screaming in in bitter terror. When her parents ran into the bedroom she always claimed that she had seen the shape of a frightening stranger lurking around at the bottom of her bed. The Aitchinson’s tried to calm her down and in the end they moved her into their room and they began to sleep in this apparently haunted back room convinced that their daughter was simply having bad dreams. However the family’s residence in number 60 was to be short-lived when the parents awoke together and held each other in terror as they themselves saw the horrific character looming within the darkness of where they were sleeping, this couldn’t just be a nightmare as both had witnessed this at the same time! Needless to say they moved out of the house a few days later!

When the Aitchinsons had vacated the eerie property it was then occupied by a builder called Jim Lowry. While he was doing some work in the roof of the house he looked down from the top of the ladder he was using and he was amazed to see an old man there below in the back yard just appearing to be standing motionless at the bottom of the ladder. Keeping his eyes on the stranger he made his way down the ladder asking the old man if he was alright and what it was that he wanted. It was in his head that the back yard door to the alley had a padlock on it so he wondered as descended how the old stranger had got into the area. Just as he reached the bottom he turned around to ask again when the character who had been standing there simply disappeared in front of his eyes. Lowry assumed that blood had rushed to his head when he was climbing down the ladder and convinced himself that the disappearance was a figment of his imagination and the ghostly apparition was no more than an old man who had wandered in through his house from the street at the front door, but making his way there he discovered that the front door was also locked, no one could have come through the house to where he was working and no one could have used the yard door, and based on the appearance of the man he saw as being exceptionally old it was extremely unlikely that he had managed to climb the high back yard  wall, and even if he had done so, what exactly would an old man have done that for? Lowry was never to find out and his confidence in the house was shattered, he left the roof work unfinished and number 60 became vacant again shortly afterwards.

   The house remained abandoned for many years until at the beginning of the 20th century the Ashwood family turned it into a hairdresser. The house needed a lot of refurbishment to turn it into a premises fit for purpose, and the workers who were fitting the house out consistently claimed that they got very strange feelings at certain times of the day when they were toiling away and at the same time if they were working at the back of the house they said that several times they saw the image of an old man in the back yard. However every time they made their way out to try to find out who he was and how he got there, the old man maintained his incredible habit of disappearing before anyone could speak to him. 

   We now know that in reality a 77 year old man called Bobby Corbett had been living in that house during most of the 19th century. It was said Corbett was very popular amongst his neighbours, in fact popular throughout the whole of Sandy Row due to his eccentric personality. Corbett was well enough off to have a housekeeper, it was rumoured that he had been given quite a lot of money from his wealthy family who knew that his eccentricities would bring a form of unwanted attention on them and thought it better to give him a substantial income to basically keep him out of the limelight but at the same time out of harm’s way. On the 11th of February 1876 the son of Corbett´s housekeeper came home after work, both he and his mother lived in the same house as Bobby, the ubiquitous number 60. When the son went to sit down at the dinner table he couldn’t as his usual chair was missing and he asked his mother where it had gone. His mother told him that Corbett had seen that it was slightly broken and he had taken it to the backyard to fix it. As far as she knew Bobby Corbett was still fixing the chair and her son should go and see how everything was going. He proceeded to the back yard and indeed saw his chair mended but fallen over on one side against the yard wall. This was what he was maybe expecting to see! But what he wasn’t prepared for was to see above it was the suspended body of Bobby Corbett who was hanging by his neck from a sharp hook that was attached to the yard wall, a hook which had penetrated the back of Bobby’s skull while he was standing on the chair trying to determine if his efforts to mend it had made it strong enough to stand on, never mind sit on, his feet must have slipped from under him, he fell back and the hook went into his neck, and with no chair now below him to carry his weight he died almost immediately! There is speculation that Corbett may have actually committed suicide, but one thing which is confirmed by his horrific and unfortunate end is that he is the ghost which the people who tried to make number 60 their homes saw in the back yard!

The ghost of the Ballymacarret train station.

On a cold, wet and misty November evening in 1909 a young train worker, Samuel McCann, whose job it was to confirm the arrivals and departures of trains along the County Down railroad network was on his way from the Central Street station in which he worked to join his co-workers who had finished slightly earlier for a drink in the Aero Bar at Bridge End in East Belfast. At that time the railway line crossed a road in the Central Street station area and he was crossing the tracks heading towards the bar in a thick mist at the entrance of Ballymacarret. The 7.30 pm train on its way to Bangor had just passed, and after the noise of the train had dissipated and the night became a misty calm once again he heard that someone was close by to where he was walking after crossing the rail tracks. Adjusting his eyes to the darkness of the gas lit street he could see the figure of a young woman approaching him through the mist. He asked the young woman if she was alright and she said that she was fine but just needed to get to the nearest train station, and having just left his own workplace station some minutes before Samuel offered to see the girl through the mist to his station and leave her safely there to wait on her train. She accepted McCann’s offer of escort and he stated later that the girl lightly took his arm, he said he felt as if she hadn’t really taken it at all, and they walked together the short distance through the mist to the station, they never spoke except for her to let Samuel know that her name was Catherine, Catherine Hanvey and then when she said thank you and disappeared along the station platform into the mist when they reached there. Samuel then, for the second time, made his way over the train tracks towards the bar where his friends and some very welcoming pints of Guinness were waiting. Once in the Aero pub he told the other the other train workers about his mysterious encounter. One of his friends removed his pint from his lips, set it down on the bar counter and appeared to lose the entire colour from his face. His colleagues asked him if he had had too much to drink or felt ill but the friend just asked Samuel to repeat the story and to tell him the girl’s name again. Doing so he again mentioned that she was called Catherine Hanvey at which point the colleague then lost the power of his legs and required a seat, and forgot about the Guinness, he required a double whiskey! He then recalled an incident that had taken place when he worked in that exact same area in 1896. On a cold, wet and misty November evening a resident of the neighbourhood close to the train station where Samuel McCann had just come from was out walking her dog when she heard the Bangor to Belfast train approaching and as it reached close by she then heard what she thought was a scream which she made her way towards when the train had passed. The resident was horrified to then see the mist disperse to reveal, around the railway tracks, the mutilated body of a young woman with pieces of her scattered all over the place. The train driver would never have known anything about it due to the misty conditions and, thankfully, the end for the girl who felt the full impact of a hurtling steam train would have been a swift one, a quick scream her only effort as she saw the train at the last moment through the mist! Samuel McCann went as white as his co-worker when the story continued that the young woman, a single girl in her thirties who was a servant and worked on the Lisburn Road was identified at the mortuary as being Catherine Hanvey! The forensic report declared that "The named Catherine Hanvey died the 21st of February 1896, between the stations of Ballymacarret and Bangor, in front of Central Street, Ballymacarret, in the city of Belfast, due to the injuries caused by a train that ran her over". That much is absolute fact, and what also can’t be denied is that the young woman who asked Samuel McCann for assistance that night 11 years afters after the accident called herself Catherine Hanvey. What we don’t know, of course, is whether or not the girl Samuel met on 1909 was the ghost of the unfortunate accident victim cruelly run down by a train ten years before that!

The Ghost of the Russian Ship’s Captain. 

Sailortown in Belfast’s Dockland area was a thriving port area for foreign vessels and their crews and so many overseas ships and men would throng in the area that additional security was required to make sure the peace was kept at all times. In 1927 a docks security man called Davy Coulter was manning the main gate from the Sailortown area to the docklands where ships were many ships at a time from all over the world were moored. Davy was to be on night duty for seven days then off for a few days before staring day duties. At the beginning of his week of night shifts he was in his kiosk at the gate when he was visited by a man who seemed to be in good form. The man introduced himself as Alexey, and he was the captain of the Russian ship Povorino which had been moored in the harbour for some days now. Alexey seemed a little drunk but he could speak a little English and Davy enjoyed the short but quality conversation with the Captain before he disappeared into the sea mist on his way back to the Povorino. For six nights Davy enjoyed, and actually looked forward to, the appearance of the friendly Russian, his only observations of anything out of the ordinary being that Alexey always seemed to be under the influence of alcohol and for some reason never seemed to change his clothes, which he didn’t actually look on as that unusual as he himself had to wear the same uniform every night when guarding the gate. On Davy’s last night of night shift guard duty Alexey never turned up and feeling that he had gotten to know the Russian well enough to be concerned about him he made his way to where the Poverino was docked in order to find out if Alexey was feeling all right. At the bottom of a gangway which led up into an entrance to the Russian ship Davy was met by two Russian sailors connected to it. He asked if Alexey was ok and the sailors looked at him as if he wasn’t completely right in the head. ‘Alexey who’ they asked, and Davy explained that for the last 6 nights he had been visited by Alexey, the Captain of this ship, he hadn’t turned up tonight and he just wondered if he might have been ill or something, maybe because for the last six nights he had been drinking and maybe this had finally caught up with him. Upon hearing this, the sailors looked at each other and asked Davy to describe the man who had been visiting him at the security gate. Davy did so to the best of his knowledge and the two men looked at each other and colour seemed to drain from their faces. Davy Coulter had indeed described their Captain to a tee, he was called Alexey and he did indeed have a drink problem, to the extent that he had, during their journey to Belfast, drank two bottles of vodka and hanged himself in his Captain’s Quarters. He was dead when they berthed in Belfast six days ago and they had kept his body on board after a Belfast coroner had pronounced him dead so that the next ship going back to Russia could take his body home to be given a proper family burial where the captain had come from. Alexey had been placed in a Russian cargo vessel that very day, the day he stopped visiting Davy at the gatehouse! Davy was brought on board the Povorino where he recounted his story to the rest of the crew and they drank vodka in honour of their dead Captain Alexey happy in the knowledge that his time in Belfast had been spent with a good friend, even if it was as a different kind of Russian spirit! 

Scottie Shoe in the Grand Central Hotel

The Grand Central Hotel was a magnificent turn of the 20th Century building situated exactly where today we can find Castle Court shopping centre in Royal Avenue, Belfast. The hotel was said to be haunted by a particularly mischievous ghost who seemed to enjoy wandering it’s corridors and upon approaching guests he would stop in front of them, remove his shoes and then appear to be below the level of where they were walking, rushing through the by now terrified patrons and disappearing down the other end of the corridor cackling in a cheeky but horrific cackle of satisfaction that he had just scared the wits out of someone! This ghost was significantly named Scottie Shoe and he had been part of the Grand Hotel workforce who was back then known as the "gas fitters". It was the very early 20th century when Scottie worked in the hotel, there was no electricity and the only method of lighting up the rooms and corridors was by the power of gaslight, and Scottie’s duties were simply to ensure that they were always on. Unfortunately for this particularly hapless character he slipped off his steps while turning on a hotel room gas light and while unconscious he inhaled the fumes emanating from the lamp which ended up killing him, and his spirit was destined to wander the Grand Central hotel uninhibited from such mortal duties as lighting gas lamps and instead finding new job satisfaction from scaring the life out of the people who stayed at the hotel! Scottie relied on the Grand Hotel’s reputation as one of Ireland’s finest establishments to attract the best of clients. So you can imagine his disgust when the building was commandeered by the British army during the First World War and instead of high class visitors he was forced to roam the glorious rooms and corridors faced with nothing but men in uniforms! An astute spectre, Scottie Shoe used his spiritual time working out who was at the top of the army hierarchy occupying the hotel. He discovered that everything went through Mission Commander William Jenkins who, although brave in the theoretical battle fields may have had a fear of ghosts. One quiet night while Jenkins was making his way down one of the Grand Hotel’s corridors Scottie Shoe appeared in front of him, where war was concerned everything may well have gone through Commander Jenkins, but where the battle for the Grand Central was concerned it was Scottie Show who was going to go through the Commander, the ghost sank below the level of the floor and rushed at Jenkins appearing to indeed float through the army leader! This was too much for Jenkins, his fear of the spirit world had become a vivid reality, he collapsed screaming to the floor and his men rushed to him finding him inconsolable and appearing to be having a nervous breakdown! He repeated the events of what had just taken place to the men who were now comforting him; they looked at each other in disbelief and got the Commander to his feet. Several days later when he seemed to have recovered Jenkins again recounted his experience to the men above him again, saying that the only way he was going to lead his men with any form of credibility was for it to be agreed that they would find another place to stay in Belfast and for the Grand Hotel to be classed as unfit for military purposes. Jenkins was a valued leader and this incident was to be swept under the carpet in order for him to maintain the respect of the men under him, so his staff and army council were moved to a new location and the Grand Hotel was once again under the sole command of Scottie Shoe!

Grace Neill´s pub, Donaghadee, County Down

Grace Neill´s is an old and mysterious pub located just off the coast road in Donaghadee, County Down, just a short drive from Belfast. It’s beautifully unusual and unique bar counter situated in the most original front part of this incredibly atmospheric building makes it worth paying the bar a visit just to feast your eyes on this antique delight alone! Grace Neill´s claims the privilege of being one of the oldest pubs in the whole of Ireland. It opened its doors for the first time in the spring of 1611, although back then it was originally called ‘The King´s Arms’.

The famous London born romantic poet John Keats visited Donaghadee in 1818 as part of a walking tour he was doing which would include Scotland and Ireland. During his time on the County Down coast on what he described as being a "lovely and sunny day" he went on record as being very impressed by the "charm and cleanliness" of the village of Donaghadee. The inhabitants, on the other hand, seemed to him as being "tough and wild", especially the regulars who frequented Grace Neill's pub. When he entered the pub hoping for some refreshment before continuing his walk he was apparently "ridiculed and violently mistreated by the village neighbours who laughed at his flamboyant way of dressing and thought that he was some kind of foreigner". Back then of course, having in mind that he was travelling from England, this was probably, to them, an accurate supposition!" Keat's had been a great admirer of Dante's Inferno, fascinated by its descriptive tale of Dante's journey through Hell, and it's very possible that at that moment Keats really did have the feeling that he could relate to that book even more!

Grace Neill, a Donaghadee resident for all of her 98 years, became patron of the pub in the latter part of the 19th century when her father presented it to her as a wedding gift. At that stage it was still known as The King's Arms, it was only renamed Grace Neill's after her death in 1916. During her ownership of the bar she was looked on as a lovely if very peculiar lady who kept a very cosy pub and she was a woman who liked to observe and be aware of everything that happened in the place, sitting in ownership beside the fire while smoking her clay tobacco pipe. 

The poet Keats was blessed in a way to have visited the pub before Grace Neill took over as he would have been even more horrified to have experienced Grace's traditional welcome which involved giving every guest a big kiss on the mouth as soon as they entered the pub!

   Grace may have indeed died in the year 1916 but her spirit undoubtedly remained in her place to make sure that the pub that now carries her name keeps operating with the same efficiency that all of her clients normally expected from her. There are several portraits of Grace hanging from the walls and she is said to be using these paintings to watch her new clients from every wall and also from behind the wonderful bar counter which was built from the wooden beams of an old sailing ship. 

The old bar remains as intact as Grace's spirit but there has been an extensive addition added to the back of the original pub which serves as a beautiful restaurant and now employs many more bar staff. These staff members who work throughout the modern Grace Neill's have been witness to many mysterious happenings. They talk of how sometimes the drink glasses and bottles fall when no one is near them and how the books on the many shelves around the bar move, fall and change places without anyone touching them! The lights also often turn on and off by themselves. As well as this there can be footsteps heard at times crossing the upstairs floor, frightening the member of staff who is working in the bar at that time because they know for an absolute fact that the upstairs floor is empty. 

Some actual clients have reported, sober at the time is has to be stressed, as seeing a lady dressed in Victorian robes surrounded by a cloud of pipe smoke wandering around close to the stairs and within the outer surroundings of the pub. But the bar staff and waiters say that there is nothing to be afraid of because Grace´s ghost is described as being a very pleasant spirit, a very nice ghost who only ever wants to welcome her guests, although no one has yet been approached by her to receive a big ghostly kiss....yet!! 

This pub, due to both the quality of it's product along with the reputation Grace has associated with the place, has seen the faces of some very famous and diverse celebrities through the years, Keats as mentioned, but also the likes of the Russian Peter the Great, the music composer Franz Liszt, the Beirut hostage Brian Keenan and the incredible pop diva Tina Turner to name but a few, although there is no truth to the rumour that some regulars saw her in a new wig and thought Grace had come back to visit them.

HAUNTED CASTLES AND HOTELS

Ballygally´s Castle

A castle is not a castle in Ireland if it´s not inhabited by a ghost. Northern Ireland is no exception. Ballygally is a castle situated on the North Antrim coast, now converted into a hotel, and it's ghost has been around for no less than 400 years. The legends say that this is the ghost of Lady Isobella Shaw, Lord James Shaw wife. 

Lord Shaw married Isobella with his only objective and motivations being to have Isobella give him a child. There was no love in the relationship at all, and when she gave birth, Lord Shaw cruelly took the child away from her and locked her away inside in a room in a tower of the west of the castle. 

   Her days and nights were long and gave her the idea that she could escape from the tower to be with her child planning to run off to Scotland where they could live safely together, but Isobella's only access from her prison was through the small window which although unbarred was still extremely high above the ground. Her escape plans when tragically wrong as she inevitably fell from the window to her death. Another more sinister version of the legend though says that it was actually Lord Shaw himself who pushed her from the window to dispose of his problem, he, after all, was only interested in the child. Either way it was a tragic end to an innocent woman and it was always going to be the case that her spirit would return to try to tell people about the horrible things she had gone through. 

Even so, the ghost of Lady Isobella seems to be an amicable spirit that wanders the corridors of the old castle, now turned into a hotel, without the intention of frightening anyone. Through the years many guests have reported strange experiences and they have felt a presence in the rooms, but no guest has ever felt uncomfortable with the presence. There are of course innumerable stories about inexplicable noises at night and a ghostly green mist that floats above the castle in the still of the darkness.

The hotel is exceptionally proud of their perpetual resident, so much so that they have even given her own room, "The Ghost´s Room" in the towers in the oldest part of the castle within which Isobella was imprisoned.

The headless ghost of the Taaffes castle in Carlingford.

The first ruler of Carlingford was Count Theobald Taaffe, the second of 15 brothers. It was usual at this time in the early 1600s that the eldest brother inherited the title and heritage, but the in this instance the older one died during the war against the Turks and the title was then given to the second son, Nicholas.

Nicholas arrived at Carlingford castle in a boat around 1678 and he was welcomed with a massive celebration. The servants formed a line as it was custom to receive their master in this manner. Nicholas was a very handsome young man and it was reported that he made some of the young lady servants blush when he was being introduced to them. One of these servants in particular, Eimear, a beautiful kitchen maid who had not turned 17 yet felt her knees trembling when her eyes met those of her new master. She did not go unnoticed to Nicholas either, but they would not meet again after this presentation for another three weeks. 

   One night, when the master was enjoying dinner in the huge banquet room after a day of hunting with other nobles and their wives,  Eimear was was given the duty of clearing the table after each course. When she passed next to Nicholas he smelled the lavender perfume with which she had washed her hair that same morning and his eyes followed her body as she was walking back to the kitchen. Some day later, unable to get her out of his head, he asked for her. She went into the room to which she had been summoned to carrying a tray on which was a glass of sherry. Nicholas was already there with his back towards the flames in the fireplace. She said "Here is your sherry, my master", almost whispering while her heart pounded fast. His gently raised his hand, but instead of taking the glass of sherry he carefully caressed Eimear's face.

 At that very moment the seed of love was planted in both of their hearts but of course they came from opposite ends of the social universe and the conventions of the time would forbid them from being openly together, so they therefore had to keep their relationship a complete secret. But the day came in which all this was never enough, Nicholas loved Eimear so much that he ignored all their differences and asked her to marry him. She never hesitated and gasped "Yes, my love!". Never before have had two people so much love for each other. The day of the wedding then fixed for the 14th of July 1690. That year the Williamite protestant army was in Ireland in famous conflict with the catholic King James. Nicholas was called to war to fight for James. The day he had to leave she begged him not to go, "Please don't leave me, I don´t want to lose you!" she cried. But honour made it a must for Nicholas to go to war and he broken heartedly left to make his way towards Drogheda. Eimear's last words were: "I will never renounce you, I will wait for you forever" and those words were left lingering in the air. Nicholas could still hear them as he was galloping from the castle.

Without Nicholas Eimear became ill and could hardly eat or sleep for weeks while the love of her life was absent from her. One fateful day a messenger came with terrible news; Nicholas had died during the Boyne Battle on the 12th of July 1690, just two days before the date of their wedding. The messenger told the castle staff that Nicholas had fought bravely but a Williamite soldier had crossed his heart with a sword and had then severed her lovers head from his torso. His last words were to pronounce Eimear´s name.

Eimer had not yet heard this and a servant was given the dreadful task of delivering the awful news to her! He went to her room to do this and he found that her door was already opened. When the servant looked inside he was filled with horror at what he had discovered. There lying on the floor was Eimear with blood pouring from a wound in her pierced heart and her head separated from her body was lying on the rug beside her with her eyes wide open. The window was closed and no one had passed the servant while he was on his way to her room so Eimear's death became a complete shock and mystery. She could not possibly have inflicted the wounds on herself, and anyway there was never a sword found in the room next to her or anywhere else, and it was impossible that a stranger could have penetrated the castle walls and security to have killed her, and even if this had been the case why would anyone have beheaded her after fatally wounding her through the heart? In a strange and tragic way Eimear had mysteriously suffered the same fate and method of dying as that of her beloved Nicholas. It became popular rumour amongst the people living in the area that their bodies and their spirits had become united as one in death as they were never destined to be together in life. 

Eimear's body wasn't taken from the room for many years. Too frightened because of what had happened no one dared to go inside that place where an inexplicable horror had just taken place, and it was decided to simply close the door behind them in an attempt to lock in the evil within the walls of Eimear's terror forever. But her spirit still lives in Taaffes castle, still apparently awaiting the return of Nicholas, her love, and her ghost can still be seen at night in different areas of the castle, an eerie beheaded shape carrying the head which screams: "I will never renounce you, I will wait for you forever!".

The ghost of the Dobbins Inn hotel

During the 13th century the wealthy Reginald D´Aubin bought a plot within the reach of the recently refurbished Carrickfergus castle. On this land he built a tower which remained in the D´Aubin family for many generations.

In the 15th century the family name had changed to Dobyn and the next generations of Dobyn's became very important local Carrickfergus dignitaries. The name would later evolve into the more familiar one we know today, Dobbins. 

In the kingdom of James I, during the creation of Ulster, their house became a refuge for catholic priests who wanted to celebrate secret masses in the area. It was during this period that the tower began to receive visits from its present ghostly resident, Elisabeth Dobbins, the wife of the then owner Hugh Dobbins. After her marriage to Hugh, Elisabeth fell in love with a handsome soldier who inhabited quarters at opposite end of the castle. At night she would escape from her husband's side through a secret passageway (the entrance to this tunnel is still visible in the back part of the huge fireplace in the current reception area of the tower, now a hotel) to enjoy romantic encounters with her lover. This soldier is known by his nickname of "Buttoncap".

   On a very unfortunate day for the lovers they were both discovered in each other's embrace by Elisabeth´s husband and upon finding out about the affair the story says that "he killed them both with his sword". Since then, Elisabeth´s ghost wanders around the Dobbins hotel building. What happened to Buttoncap's spirit remains unknown although it is speculated that as the lovers were actually physically together when Hugh discovered them they were slain with one drive of his sword through them both at the same time and it is possible that dying together at that very same moment with their bodies as one then their spirits combined to become one ghost, perhaps the only unique case of this in the world?

In was actually 1946 the old tower became a hotel and the spirit of Elisabeth - or Maude, as she was better known - remained in it as its oldest resident. Several guests have been awakened in the middle of the night sensing that an invisible hand was caressing their face. Others have seen a furtive shape that runs crossing the reception area and disappears close to the stone fireplace where Elisabeth originally made her way to meet Buttoncap. 

  

Springhill´s ghost and the "blue room".

Springhill, situated near Moneymore in County Londonderry is in every sense a very attractive house. Its white walls, its narrow and dark windows and the grey roof, crowned by a red brick fireplace is perfectly integrated within the surrounding landscapes and no one that has been inside this house has ever been able to avoid falling under its spell. Its interiors have changed very little over the last centuries since it was built.

The exact date of its construction is unknown but the first written details of its existence go back to at least 1680, when the 'Good' Will Conyngham married 16 year old Ann Upton. Her father, demanding that his daughter be treated according the social level he thought corresponded to them, arranged a marriage contract which required that Will was to build a wedding structure from stone and lime with two floors and the necessary rooms for the marriage service with gardens and plots. With all this in mind Will then built a beautiful house in which ten generations of Conynghams lived in until 1957 when Captain William Lenox Conyngham gave Springhill away with everything inside it to the Northern Ireland National Trust.

Today the visitors are welcome, but although most are attracted by the overall beauty and architecture of Springhill, they are also exceptionally intrigued and drawn to what is classed as the most ghostly room in the house, the 'blue room'. When you go in this room the temperature unaccountably decreases drastically and it stays cold for the entire the time that the person remains in the room. The guides that show the house to the visitors blame this phenomenon on the presence of a spirit which they claim haunts the room.

In 1814 George Lenox-Conyngham, a man with a tendency to feel permanently melancolic and who was working in another part of Ireland for the army received the news that one of his sons had been stricken with smallpox. Crazy with worry he returned to Springhill that very same night. Before that, on his way from the post were the army had stationed him he encountered his superior, Robert Stewart, he explained what had happened to his son and being the good friends that Robert and George were he thought that this superior in particular would understand the circumstances that had led him to abandon his place of work all of a sudden. When he arrived home he discovered that his wife had taken very good care of their son child and that he was thankfully well was on the mend, but this calm, relief and happiness would soon be altered. Shortly afterwards he received a notification from the army demanding that he appear in front of a jury due to having abandoned his job post. His "friend" Robert Stewart had betrayed him! This, together with the sudden death of one of his daughters drove him into a deep depression that lasted two years.

Finally one night while he and his wife Olivia were in bed, he left her sleeping, walked towards the downstairs floor and into the room where he kept his weapons, took a pistol, went into the blue room, sat on the bed and shot himself in the head. Olivia had awoke just before this and had a terrible feeling about why her husband had left her side, she raced out of bed and towards the blue room where she knew George would be but she only reached the door in time to hear the fatal shot.

Later Olivia would write in the family book: "George Lenox-Conyngham, finding himself in a deep state of melancholy for many months prior to a terrible event, put an end to his life by shooting himself. He was still alive from the 20th to the 22nd of November 1816 but then died, through God´s grace, like a true Christian".

Many would then assume that it would then be the ghost of George Lenox-Conyngham which haunts Springhill and that it's his lingering spirit which turns the air in the Blue Room cold. But in actual fact the ghost who has been encountered on many occasions since George took his own life is that of his grieving wife Olivia. The sad and lonely widow ghost still repeats her desperate  and hopeless run towards the blue room in the vain attempt to stop her husband´s death and she has been seen on several occasions standing in front of the blue room´s door screaming in horror and anguish at her failure to reach George on time! 

At the end of the 19th century she was seen by a guest called Emily Wilson, who had been kept awake one night until quite late talking in her room with the daughter of the family who now lived in Springhill, Milly Conyngham who couldn't sleep herself and had went to Emily's room for company. When Milly returned to her own room Emily Wilson realised that the daughter had forgotten her diary book; she left the room with the intention of giving it back to Milly when she was surprised by the appearance of a tall woman on top of the stairs. The woman moved towards the blue room´s door, raised her arms in a motion of obvious despair and then she began to slowly fade away. 

   Years later another house guest, Sarah Hamilton would actually occupy the blue room itself! One night when she had begun to fall asleep the room seemed to become filled with very eerie sound, a murmuring which reminded Sarah strangely of the sound servants would nervously make in a low collective voice. When she was lying in a state of disbelief she heard a click which came from the wall behind her bed and she saw a door opening and a light coming from inside the room beyond the open door. Later she recalled seeing the shape of someone who seemed to be coming from out of the glare of that light. She shook herself imagining that she was in some sort of a dream and when she got her wits together everything seemed to have returned to a normal state of calm and she managed to dissipate her fear and shortly afterwards fell asleep. The next morning she was able check and confirm that there was no door or opening on the wall behind her bed. However she told her experience to Charlotte Lenox-Conyngham, who told her that indeed in the past a door had existed on that wall but it had been covered over a long time ago. It was no surprise then that Sarah Hamilton requested a change of room where she could sleep in peace without the prospect of encountering Olivia!

As if to confirm the mystery of the hidden door, some years later the owners decided to change the wallpaper in the blue room and they discovered upon removing the old wallpaper that there behind where the bed was situated was uncovered the mysterious entrance. It led to a powder room which contained a cabinet and on the floor they found two old leather gloves and a small pouch containing some bullets. The contents were left exactly where they lay, the door was closed and the new wallpaper put on to cover this secret passageway!

   

 Bea H.