Over twenty years ago, Marshal Alan Brooke’s descendants invited me to their castle in Northern Ireland. Theirs was a courageous and enterprising household; they had decided to restore the family domain and open it to the public. They were endearing, welcoming, intelligent and warm. The surprising thing is that I cannot remember the name…
At the end of the 18th century, the daughter of Lord Doneraile was only an adolescent, but she was intelligent, independent, cultivated and full of character. She loved nothing more than passing the time in the library, huddled beside a window with the curtains closed, lost in a good book, usually History, sometimes poetry. It…
I met Mademoiselle Saint Léger during one of my visits to the ravishing and charming Doneraile Court in Ireland. She was a descendant of the former owners and belonged to one of the oldest Norman families who had come to England with William the Conqueror. One of her most famous ancestors, an extremely handsome man, was a close…
Lady Huntington was becoming annoyed. It was the 19th century, and this commanding woman owned one of the most famous homes in Ireland. As was the custom of the time, she received the local parish priest for lunch each and every Sunday. Now, on each occasion, the priest insisted upon talking about the ghost who…
I once visited the Fiereford’s château in Ireland. It is a baroque masterpiece, surrounded by sumptuous gardens. Still, there is something sinister lingering about the grounds, negative waves and energy. Lord Fiereford himself was rather burly, and, to be frank, neither welcoming nor pleasant. Generations earlier, during the 18th century, his ancestor had come face…
My friend John Nicholas, one of the leading ghost experts in Ireland, told me the following story. One day, in the 1930’s, a family was walking through the grounds around their chateau, one of the most beautiful in Ireland. A great lawn stretched out in front of the home, in the middle of which was a…
Doneraile Court is a beautiful Irish chateau, her enormous rooms overflow with sunlight and the tall bay windows look out over romantic parks. This most attractive and charming home is also full of ghosts. There is the black chariot pulled by six black horses and driven by the headless coachman who announces the death of…
Leap Castle is a fitting name for the most haunted place in Ireland. Throughout its history, it has seen fratricidal warring, murders, massacres, and disappearances. It is overrun with a variety of phantoms. In the early 20th century a dungeon was discovered filled with hundreds of skeletons. A bit later three standing skeletons were found…