- [Announcer] This channel is part of the HistoryHit network. (inspirational music) (rain falls) (thunder booms) (spooky music) (spooky music continues) - [Narrator] Immersed in
Ireland's timeless beauty is a dark history of magic,
ritual, and primeval worship. Elemental forces from this
ancient past come back as apparitions to wander
amongst the living, and many of these
restless souls are trapped in Ireland's castles. The spirits reach out from the beyond, lost phantoms that have become
the castle ghosts of Ireland. (soft music) Ireland is a land so rich
in history and mythology. It is difficult to know where
one begins and the other ends. (soothing music) Among the sacred spots, burial mounds, and bewitched trees of
Ireland, the spirit other world of the dead is as real
as that of the living. (soothing music) Ireland is crowded with
supernatural inhabitants, creatures like fairies, but here fairies are not cartoon
like creatures with wings and magic wands. According to folklore, they can assume human
characteristics and live side by side with mortals. If disturbed, fairies can
be sinister and dangerous, exacting vicious revenge on humans. It is very bad luck to
build on ground belonging to the fairies. Across Ireland, places known as fairy forts are left
untouched by humans. These fairy dwellings often
take the form of a ring of trees or a circle of stones. To build upon the forbidden
sites would anger the fairies and result in misfortune and even death. Myth has it that angered
fairies shoot poisoned darts at cattle and horses. They can transport men and
women away from their loved ones into a dark fairy land, and most disturbing of all,
they carry off human children, substituting changelings in their place. In Ireland, spirits and ghosts slip in and out of the living
world, some to do good, others to do harm, and it is
in Ireland's haunted castles that many of these
ancient souls still dwell. In County Carlow, on Ireland's East Coast, in the village of Clonegal
stands Huntington Castle. This historic castle is the home of disturbing apparitions
from another world in another time. (spooky music) The castle was originally
built in the 14th century as the stronghold of the
Caviness, an old Irish clan. Since that time, there have been many changes of ownership, and the castle has been
rebuilt and added to by each successive owner. At one time, an abbey stood here. Religion has always had a
special place at Huntington, but something even older
dwells at Huntington, a primeval, psychic force from
Ireland's deepest history, so powerful, it radiates
beyond the castle walls. (foreboding music) - In this field, a man who
knows Huntington well has been a witness to unusual sightings. He says that he's repeatedly
seen a group of men and women in the field in long clothes,
that they've been moving away across the field, and that
they've suddenly vanished, and here in an area of
wilderness called the U walk, many people have seen
unexplained figures moving among the trees. Huntington Castle has been owned by the Durdin-Robertson
family since the 18th century. The current owner is
David Durdin-Robertson. - [David] Most odd experience
I had was when I was about 17. I'd gone to sleep on the
couch in the library. (soft music) When I woke up, the room was quite bright and the whole couch was almost
sort of spinning around. I became aware, at that stage, that there were two
faces staring down at me. - [Narrator] His body was lifted up until he was actually
floating above the coach. - [David] Well, it was the
most extraordinary experience. They hadn't touched me, but they just looked down at
me as if I was in their power. - [Narrator] The native inhabitants of Ireland were the Celts,
and 1,500 years ago, a special priestly class of
learned men lived among them. These people professed
to have magic powers and the secret knowledge of the world. They were the Druids. As the keepers of religion, Druid leaders often rivaled Celtic kings
and chiefs in prestige, even in power. The Druids have a special
place in Irish mythology, so apart from their great learning, their extraordinary power
has enabled them to act as intermediaries
between gods and mortals. They were believed to be able at a stroke to create a mist, start fires at will, or bring down showers of blood. The Druids were held in
awe for their wisdom, but they were also feared. Animals were regularly used in sacrifices, but to commune with the gods, Druids needed the most valuable and potent blood offering
of all, human sacrifice. (intense music) The Druids picked fine young men and women who were ritually sacrificed
as mates for the gods. (intense music) There were many methods of sacrifice. The chosen victims were burned
in huge wicker structures, impaled on stakes,
drowned, or buried alive. Because of their reverence
for the natural world, a favorite form of sacrifice was to slit the victim's throats
and let their blood flow into the earth. Is it possible the figures
David saw looming over him were the ghosts of ancient Druids? Had they returned in search of a victim? Huntington Castle is in some way connected with these spirits of
an earlier, darker time. Indeed, this mysterious sacred well in the core of the castle
is called the Druid well. It remains the castle's spiritual center, and may be the source of Druid
visits into our modern world. The bloody events of over 1,500 years ago
are still imprinted here, centers of energy held in the atmosphere of Huntington's ancient walls, and perhaps the Druids
will return here again from the beyond, hunting for victims to
sacrifice to their pagan gods. (foreboding music) Some ghosts are a mystery
that can never be solved. Why do they appear in certain
places and at certain times, but other ghosts have a special attachment to a particular place and
return to it again and again. This is the case at our next castle, where the ghost came back
from the world of the dead to help its living descendants. The ghost appeared quite
recently at Castle Leslie, which lies in county
Monaghan near the border between Southern and Northern Ireland. (regal music) The castle has been the
home of the Leslie family for over 300 years. (owl hoots) In January, 1996, Castle
Leslie was invaded by paranormal activity, and a
series of identical sightings of an unexpected guest. - [Samantha] On a number of occasions, the bells in the servant's
hall would start ringing, and I knew there was
nobody else in the house. (bells ring) Another time I was in the
hall behind the kitchen, and I was looking for
something in the deep freeze, and I saw a gray figure
walk past behind me. Alton. Alton. - [Narrator] Sammy assumed
it was Alton, her partner, and called out to him. He didn't answer. - [Samantha] Alton. - [Narrator] She then realized that it couldn't have been Alton. He was out of the castle at the time, and then over the next few months, supernatural activity
fairly erupted at Leslie Sammy was alone cooking
in the castle kitchen, when from behind her, she
heard a strange noise, a shower out of orange pits
hit the wall beside her, and there was no one else in the room. That was frightening enough, but then another thing happened. Again, Sammy was working
in the kitchen when, quite suddenly, the electric
food mixer burst into life, (blend runs) and it wasn't even plugged in. (eerie music) Three separate sets of guests at the castle described a ghostly ordeal in the bedroom known as the red room. None of the guests had
stayed at Leslie before and had no knowledge of
the castle's history, but they all recounted
almost identical experiences. The first guest couple reported
being woken in the middle of the night by a light in the room they described as soft daylight. Then, through the light, they saw a man standing
over the chest of drawers. It appeared he was looking for something. Then the image and the light faded away. A few weeks later, another
couple stayed at the castle. They described exactly the same thing as the previous couple, but this time the guests
experienced something more frightening. The figure moved over
to the end of their bed, facing the couple. He put his finger to his
lips and softly whispered, then disappeared. Just a few weeks after
the second sighting, a man in the pale light
returned to Castle Leslie for a third time. Once again, two guests staying
in the red bedroom were woken by the strange light. Terrified, they saw the figure
in the corner of the room by the chest, but this time the man walked to the bed, held up a scroll of papers and smiled. Transfixed by the apparition, the couple saw that across his
forehead was a bloody wound. Who was this ghost, and why did he keep
appearing at the castle? A reason may be found in
Ireland's recent history. At the outbreak of World War I in 1914, Ireland soldiers and reservists
were immediately mobilized. By the end of the war, more than 200,000 Irishmen
had served not only Ireland, but Great Britain, and
many had given their lives. (military music) In 1914, Sammy's great
uncle, Norman Leslie, was in his mid-twenties. Like so many men at the time, he volunteered to fight in the great war. Norman was the son of Lady Leonie Leslie. Leonie and Norman were
devoted to each other, so it was with great reluctance, but a sense of duty that she
saw her son leave the castle to fight with the Rifle Brigade in France. Weeks passed. The exact whereabouts of
his regiment were secret, but Leonie wrote her son many letters, sending him news of
home and looking forward to his safe return. Then on the morning of
October, the 18th, 1914, word came up to the castle. Young Master Norman had been seen standing on the far side of the lake. The gamekeeper who saw
him ran to the castle to bring Lady Leonie the good news. Another estate worker sent word that he too had spotted
Norman in the grounds. Overjoyed, Leonie flew into action. Norman's room was hurriedly prepared, and the servants made the castle ready to welcome the soldier home, but an hour passed and then another, and still Norman did not come. He never came. (hand knocks on door) (footsteps) A week later, a telegram arrived. - [Norman] Charge! (gun shot) (paper crinkles) Norman had been killed in
action at Armentieres, France. The date of his death was
the 18th of October, 1914, the very day he'd been seen
standing by the castle lake. The exact whereabouts of
Norman's body was unknown, but his family was determined to find it and give him a proper burial. Two months later, Norman's
brother, Shane, traveled to the French battlefield
where Norman had been killed. Shane was guided to the spot
near a railway embankment where a fellow soldier had written that Norman's body had been left, buried in a shallow
grave, wrapped in sacking. Shane looked down on the body of what he thought was his brother. To make sure that it was Norman, he put his hand inside
the gaping jaw and felt for the broken tooth that would
identify the young soldier. The remains were indeed Norman's. The painful task was completed
when Norman's body was buried at a church nearby. The appearance of Norman
by the lake is a form of apparition seen at times
of crisis, such as war, when thousands can die in a single day. It is one of the most widely
reported types of ghost. It is as if at the very
moment of crisis or death, while the spirit is not yet
released from earthly bonds, a telepathic connection
creates a spontaneous image of the individual. This ghostly image can
appear before a loved one or in a place to which in life they were especially attached. - [Samantha] I think Norman's spirit feels a very strong bond with his home and a very
deep love for his family, and I think it was very
important when he died, that he came back to say his goodbyes. - [Narrator] But that isn't quite the end of the story, is it? Norman's been back again, hasn't he? - [Samantha] He has. (bells ringing) - [Narrator] Sammy believes it was Norman in the servant's hall, trying to attract her
attention with the bells and in the kitchen, throwing the orange pits
and starting the appliance. (eerie music) Of course, the red room
was Norman's bedroom. Who else could the ghost have been? And the papers Norman's ghost held up? Sammy felt that the apparitions and poltergeist occurrences
were Norman's way of trying to get a message to her. For many years, the Leslie
family had been in conflict over the inheritance of the estate. Sammy had searched for
an important document, which she hoped would
solve their problems. After Norman's ghost was
sighted holding the scroll of papers, Sammy was prompted to search for the documents
again in the castle vaults. When she touched a certain file, a shudder went up her spine. It contained the very
papers the family needed. If Norman's ghost had not appeared, the file would've remained undiscovered, and Sammy's claim to
Castle Leslie would've been in jeopardy. The future of the castle is now secure because of Norman's appearance. Ghosts manifest themselves
in many different ways. Some are figures as
solid as a living person, others bear little resemblance
to the human (indistinct). Poltergeist hauntings, such as those at Castle Leslie, can be the most disturbing
ghost experience. Inanimate objects suddenly
erupt in violent motion to disrupt the peaceful
routine of the living. (foreboding music) Just such a terrifying
poltergeist appeared in county Limerick on Ireland's West Coast and took hold of Glin Castle. (intense music) Situated on the banks
of the River Shannon, Glin Castle dates from the 14th century and is home to the Knight of Glin. The present castle is a
Georgian Gothic fantasy built by the 24th Knight in 1789. Today the castle remains
in the Fitzgerald family and is a delightful home. (Irish music) But it was here on a night in 1991 that two of the castle's
loyal workers were subjected to a traumatic ordeal. Things started off normally. The knight had had a guest for dinner and May and Nancy cleared away as usual. It was close to midnight by
the time they went up to bed. May went straight to sleep
and Nancy read for a while before turning off the light. - [Nancy] I was only just
sitting down about 12 o'clock when I heard this noise on the stairs as if somebody was coming up laboring and in terrible trouble
as if they were trying to do the stairs and not able. - [Narrator] Nancy called
out to another employee of the castle, Una, who
slept in the next bedroom. - [Nancy] Una, Una. - [Narrator] Una called
back that she was in bed and had also heard the banging. (frantic music) Nancy finally crossed
the landing in the dark and put her hand to the light switch. As soon as she pressed
it, everything went quiet. - [Nancy] I would never
again, my whole life want to same experience. It was terrible. It was desperate. - [Narrator] May and Nancy
had spent their working lives in the castle, but they had no idea who or
what the poltergeist was. Perhaps another haunting at the castle holds the explanation. (tour guide talking) - Sometime later the Knight of Glin himself discovered a clue. He learned that earlier on the day that the poltergeist struck, a group of visitors had
been touring the castle. Amongst the visitors had
been a psychic medium. Although the medium entered
the castle purely as a visitor, could her presence have
unwittingly unlocked the violent energy of
this most unhappy ghost? (foreboding music) - She lay down on the bed. - [Narrator] The answer to Glin Castle's
poltergeist activity may lie in a ghostly experience the
knight had had as a child. (frightening music) A frayed rope hung in midair. The eerie sight filled
the young boy with dread, but when he returned to the
hall to show the mysterious rope to his mother, it had disappeared. Perhaps the events of nearly
a hundred years before had some bearing on the
strange rope apparition the young knight beheld. In 1867, the castle was
undergoing decoration. A Dublin firm was employed
to carry out the work, which included painting the ceiling under the hall staircase. The builders used planks
of wood and heavy rope to form a scaffold, but tragedy struck. Without warning, one of the
ropes supporting the planks of wood gave way. The builder painting
the ceiling was unable to save himself. He died. Was the rope that the young knight saw all those years later
the one that had broken and caused the accident? Perhaps the trauma of that
long ago event was still locked into the Castle's atmosphere, and it took the sensitivity
of a young boy momentarily to connect with the anguish
of the long forgotten tragedy. - [Knight] It was a long time ago, but I can picture that rope hanging there, really as if it was yesterday. - [Narrator] Could the haunting that May and Nancy experience so
recently also be connected with that tragic event? Ghosts of inanimate objects
like Glin's rope are not unique. The strength and intensity of
the image may in part be due to the degree of psychic receptiveness of the person present, who seems momentarily to
release the ghostly energy. (howling) For many Irish families, the approach of death is
thought to be foretold by the cry of an other
world woman, the banshee. The banshee's wailing has the
tone of a real woman's voice and her cry is heard
near the home of those about to die. If this cry is heard
three nights in a row, that person will certainly die. The banshee is more often heard than seen, although some people
claim to have glimpsed, an old woman who combs her long white hair as she laments. In whatever form ghosts
manifest themselves, none is more terrifying than
what is called the elemental. (foreboding music) This type of spirit is
said to exist near Birr in County Offaly where
it inhabits Leap Castle. (spooky music) The elemental is a frightening
fantasm from the beyond that envelopes those who experience it in its malignant force. The ghost is so horrifying, its hauntings bring an
overwhelming sense of evil and deep-rooted fear. (woman screams) And in one remarkable recorded instance, a witness had an intimate experience with this horrifying apparition. She felt the touch of the appalling thing, known at Leap as it. - Built in the 14th century, Leap is said to be the most
haunted castle in Ireland. As if the very stones were
rejecting human habitation, the castle lay in ruins for years. Tall and lonely, the fortress had a ghostly
reputation so strong that local people avoided it at night. Completely gutted by
fire, Leap was boarded up, its gates padlocked for over 70 years, but from across the fields late at night, locals would describe seeing
the windows at the top of the castle light up for a few seconds as if many candles had
been brought into the room. When the elemental haunts the castle, the temperature suddenly falls. There is a suffocating,
sickly, sweet odor, and an overwhelming sense of dread. The vile elemental, it,
seems to have been born out of the long and turbulent history of Leap, and this room has been a
witness to its ruthless past. It is known as the bloody chapel, after a shocking murder that
was done on this very spot over 400 years ago. On the death of the Chieftain
Mulrooney O'Carroll in 1532, a fierce rivalry for
the leadership erupted among the family. Brother opposed brother in
a bitter contest for power. One brother was a priest, his opponent, another brother named Teige. One night in the castle chapel, the O'Carroll priest was saying mass for a group of his family. As he was chanting the holy rites, the door of the chapel
opened and his rival brother, Teige, burst in. Teige lunged forward with his sword, fatally wounding his brother. The butchered priest fell
across the altar and died. The heinous act of brother killing brother and the blasphemy of a
sacred mass cut short by evil sent an echo of misery
ringing round the walls of Leap Castle. But another source of evil
was found here at Leap. It is called an oubliette, a name used to describe a hidden dungeon. It means a little place of forgetting, and those who were forgotten within these walls suffered
unimaginable misery and pain until death. (evil music) Leap's oubliette is a little room with a drop floor off the bloody chapel. Prisoners from clan wars or
family enemies would be pushed into the room to fall through the floor and land on a spike eight feet below. (screams) Prisoners not lucky enough to die quickly on the spike faced gradual
starvation in a doorless room while the sound of merriment and the aroma of food drifted
up from the rooms below. (laughing) A narrow window let the
prisoners watch those who came and went in
freedom at the castle. At the turn of the last century, workers were given the task
of clearing the oubliette. They made a hideous discovery. (bones clicking) Human skeletons lay piled
on top of each other. Three cartloads of bones were removed. It was shortly after
the gruesome discovery within Leaps oubliette that a psychic disturbance
caused the elemental it to emerge. In 1659, the ownership
of Leap Castle passed in marriage from the O'Carroll
family to an English family, The Darbys. In the possession of the Darbys, Leap became a family home. It was improved and extended, the gardens, landscape,
and a full staff employed to maintain it. By the late 19th century descendants, Jonathon and Mildred Darby looked forward to bringing their family up
at Leap as was the fashion of the day. Mildred Darby was
interested in the occult. Little did she know that her
innocent dabbling would bring her face to face with it. Because of its bloody associations, Leap always had a reputation
for being haunted. - Shall we begin? - [Narrator] Nevertheless,
Mildred naively toyed with magic. As if sensing a call
from the daylight world, the dormant elemental
awakened with ferocity. (spooky music) (glass tapping) (glass shatters) In 1908, Mildred wrote an
article for the journal, "The Occult Review" describing her ordeal at the hands of the
terrifying manifestation that infested Leap. (suspenseful music) - [Mildred] I was standing
in the gallery looking down to the main hall when I felt somebody put
a hand on my shoulder. The thing was about the size of a sheep, thin, gaunt, and chattering parts. Its face was human, or to
be more accurate inhuman in its violence. It's lust in his eyes, which seemed half decomposed
in black cavities, stared into mine. The horrible smell, which had before offended my
nostrils only a hundred times more intensified came up into my face, filling
me with a deadly nausea. It was the smell of a decomposing corpse. - [Narrator] Why did this
elemental inhabit Leap? Could it have been the combined horrors of the bloody O'Carroll murder and all those lost dead souls walled up in the oubliette drifting
in despair to death? Whatever it may have been, after Mrs. Darby's experiments
with the black arts, the castle was never the same again. Hauntings plagued Leap, leaving a sinister air
throughout the castle. The Darbys stubbornly remained at Leap, but in 1922, the castle suffered another misfortune, when as the home of an English family, it became the target of the
Irish struggle for independence. The castle was destroyed by
bombs and completely looted. Nothing but had burned out shell remained. The Darbys were driven out. Eventually in the 1970s, Leap
was brought by an Australian who had links with the area. At this time, a mystic, a white witch from Mexico was brought in to exorcise the castle. After spending many hours
in the bloody chapel, the mystic explained that
the spirits at Leap were no longer malevolent, but
they wished to remain there. Six years ago, Sean Ryan and his wife
Anne bought the castle. A complete ruin when they arrived, the family is making it habitable again. In the meantime, they live in the castle gatehouse
with their young daughter. - [Anne] Well, shortly
after we arrived here, Sean began working on the building. (suspenseful music) He had an unfortunate accident
and he broke his kneecap, which actually had to be removed, and it set us back about
a year with the work. When the kneecap repaired,
he started to work again. He had another accident
and broke his ankle, and we began to think that we
weren't really wanted here. There was something going on,
but we've overcome that now, and we're back restoring
the building again, so we're happy to share the place with whatever spirits are here. - [Narrator] In 1991, Leap's walls echoed to an unfamiliar sound, laughter. Friends and family gathered in the chapel to witness the christening of Sean and Anne's young daughter, Kia. Strewn with flowers and lift by candles, the chapel was filled with smiling faces. (people talking) (upbeat music) - [Group] Cheers. - [Anne] We had a marvelous day with our friends, great atmospheres, so we think we've laid to rest anything that we might have happened previously. (upbeat music) - [Narrator] After the
ceremony, every guest noted how, even though there was a
strong wind blowing in from the fields through the open windows, the candles barely flicked
and not one blew out. If Leap's troubled spirits
are unwilling to leave, let us hope that at least
they have found peace. (peaceful music) In this land where so much is
attributed to myth and legend, the castle ghosts we have
encountered remind us that not all mysterious
events belong in storybooks. (foreboding music) For the people who come
face to face with ghosts, the images are a real and
often shocking reminder of a world beyond our own. In Ireland's castles, it is as if spirits from
thousands of years ago reach out to touch us. The sorcery of an ancient
people cast a spell over the living. Spontaneous manifestations
assault the senses with their intensity. The anguish of violent death
leaves a grim influence. Can the tormented spirits of
the past ever be laid to rest? (soft music) (foreboding music)
