Wicklow Goal

The jail in Wicklow, Ireland was built at the beginning of 1702 conditions for prisoners were harsh, appalling and compared to modern facilities would likely frighten even the most hardened of men. The original gates to the prison are still in the building, known as the Gates to Hell,
In the 1840’s to 50’s the Irish Potato Famine struck, the number of inmates swelled to around 780, prisoners were crushed into cells with 17 people saying to be said sharing. Those starving on the outside would commit petty crimes to get put in there just to get food, with supposed accounts that there were rotting corpses in the road and cannibalism being a thing just for people to try to survive. Over the centuries the dark history includes starvation, disease, and mistreatment.
One story of the jail is about and old and sick man put into solitary confinement, the cell meant no food, or even straw and he was found dead because the staff had forgotten about him. In the main cell blocks visitors and workers have witnessed seeing blood on the floor, a remnant from the early days of the prison when torture was implemented.
An addition to the prison finished in 1843. In the 1900’s the prison closed, it re-opened again in 1918 during the Irish War for Independence. In 1924 it once more closed and was partially demolished in 1954.
A woman saw a picture of Mary Morris, a matron at the jail. The woman said she had seen her, in the 19th century dress and was younger. So had she actually seen her? Another ghost is that of a little girl, she haunts the schoolroom and pokes the visitors or pulls their clothing. The young child is said to be dressed in rags and visitors from young to old, across the history of the tours being given have reported her sporadically.
There are reports of people being touched by unseen hands, of hair being pulled, at some point a staff member was shoved out of the gates. Quite a few times a mist has been seen on the walkway to the second-floor cells.

Paranormal investigators have been in and out of the place and alongside general public reports they also have their own to add. Season Two, Episode 1 of Ghost Hunters International filmed there.
If you should like to visit the jail it is open for tours.

Wicklow Jail Website

Melahide Castle

One of the oldest castles in Ireland, Malahide Castle, is located in Dublin County. In 1185 Kind Henry II had the castle built for his friend Richard Talbot, the castle remained in the hands of the Talbot family until 1979, when they sold it to the council to pay for inheritance tax.

Mile Corbet is said to haunt the castle, he was an English politician who wanted King Charles dead and supported Oliver Cromwell. He was anti-Catholic and despite fleeing to the Netherlands he was caught and brought back to Malahide. For his part in it all he was hanged, drawn and quartered. It is said he appears on the anniversary of his death but on other reports outside of this he may appear in a full suit of armour.

Another one that caught my attention was the Chief Justice who was a landowner and the third (also last) husband of Maud Plunkett. His ghost is connected to Maud Plunkett and is seen throughout the castle being chased by his wife. His obsession was for exercise and aside from the interaction with his wife has been reportedly seen jogging or lifting weights. Plunkett herself is reported to have been very possessive and may even have beaten him to death.

By William Murphy from Dublin, Ireland – Malahide – Dublin, CC BY-SA 2.0, Link

Irelands Disappearing Island

The island is known for the most part as Hy-Brasil and was first put on a map in 1325; it was made by the Genoese cartographer Angellino de Dalorto. He placed it to the southwest of Ireland and was described as almost perfectly round with a river down the centre. It has been noted locally before that but this is it’s first documented appearance.

The Celtic people put this to be an island of eternal plenty and happiness, it was populated by an advanced civilization and they possessed the best technology and wealth. The island had towers and streets of gold, and it was shrouded in fog, it was only witnessed by the general population once every seven years and if you tried to approach the island you would never be able to fully reach it. Of course there are supposed to be the rare people that did and they came back richer than their wildest dreams. The race seemed to be on to get to Hy-Brasil and claim it to make themselves richer than anyone else!

1480 saw explorer John Jay Jr depart from Bristol, England to try and find it but came back empty handed. 1481 two shops from Bristol called Trinity and George went out and again seemed unable to find it. Several other attempts were made, it remains speculation about their success as there was nothing further noted.

1480-1497 the Italian explorer, John Cabot, made an excursion to find North America but had an ulterior motive to try and locate Hy-Brasil, he was convinced it was out there and it’s not certain if he found it or not. After the 1497 voyage a letter from the Spanish diplomat, Pedro de Ayala, claimed that Cabot had found land that has been discovered by Bristol men in the past, or at the very least he had seen it. The speculation on that one could anything at all from he found it, to he decided to bunk off using it as a reason.

In 1674 Captain John Nesbitt made the biggest claim, saying he had set foot on the island and explored it. He said they had been sailing when a dense fog enveloped the ship and when they landed they were at an unfamiliar shore. They found that it was inhabited by large black rabbits, and there was a wizard there in a stone castle. They returned loaded with gold and silver given to them by the islanders and then Alexendar Johnson followed up his claims saying that Nesbitt was correct with his information.

It seems that despite the hardships of confirming the islands existence it remained on the maps anyways, but the position of it appears to shift and two maps in 1595 show it lying west of Ireland. In all of the maps it was still round with a central river, and then it helps popping up until 1870 when the British Admiralty removed it. This didn’t stop stories about encounters though and in 1878 the people of Ballycotton in County Cork were amazed to see an island appear where it hadn’t been before.

18^th February 2012, pilot Niger Gosseur reported a mysterious bank of god along the ocean on the west coast of Ireland, in otherwise clear conditions. He reported that his compass went haywire and that he saw landmasses where he was sure there was none before. Baffled he continued to fly over to Ireland.

One of the ideas put forward is that the island may well have existed at some point and has been buried under the waves. The evidence for this might be the west coast of Ireland has a place known as Porcupine Bank,a raised seabed found in 1862, this for some suggests it is perhaps evidence that an island once existed there. Another theory is that many have mistaken the nearby Baffin Island as the island of Hy-Brasil, this is off the northern coast of Canada. The location of the island has slowly crawled around and changed so it’s possible that it was misidentified and has slowly been corrected over time.

Another explanation is that the island has never existed; it could be an optical illusion. One type of mirage that can account for this is the Fata Morgana, a layer of warm air which sits on a layer of cold, it then acts like a refracting disc and can created inverted images from distant areas and coastlines. Perhaps they are seeing this? Whatever the history/story it’s brilliant idea for a story… and the imagination of many has been captured about the idea of the disappearing island that comes up to grant you lots of cash!

By derivative work: AFBorchert (talk)
1572_Europa_Ortelius.jpg: Ortelius – 1572_Europa_Ortelius.jpg, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4785261

Irelands Vanishing Triangle

The area in Ireland has been identified due to missing people that are between their late teens and forties, all women and all have disappeared without any explanation or evidence. They appear around the eastern part around the borders of Leinster. The unofficial list gives 6 to 8 people that went missing and the popular hypothesis is that it may have been a serial killer (or killers) that operated in the area during this period. The women have been in the media periodically and Irish Police have an operation to try and resolve it but sadly nothing has come up as of yet.

Annie McCarrick went missing in 1993, she was 26 years old, an American student who was last seen outside Johnny Fox’s pub in Glencullen, County Dublin: After that in the same year is Eva Brennan, aged 40 who left her parents house to go back to her apartment and was never seen again. A year later, Imelda Keenan who was 22 years old went missing from Mountmellick, County, she went missing 3^rd January 1994 and the last sighting of her was in Waterford.

Josephine Dollard, aged 21 went missing in 1995 and was in the Moone area, she was hitchhiking back from Dublin to Kilkenny and a witness saw her using a payphone but that’s the last sighting. Then in 1996 Ciara Breen, aged 18, went missing from Dundalk and in the same year Deidre Jacob went missing without a trace. She was a few yards from her parents and her case is puzzling because she was also near passing motorists who witnessed her approaching her parents drive-way, however she never made it. In 1996 Fiona Pender was 7 months pregnant at 25 years old. She stepped out of her flat one evening and was never seen again. Then in 1998 came the disappearance of 19 year old Fiona Sinnott, who was last seen leaving a pub in Broadway, County Wexford.

In 2012 there was a renewed interest because news broke about a 30 year old pregnant woman named Aoife Phelan who disappeared as she walked home from her friends. Her remains were later found, sadly, and a 24 year old man was charged with her murder, he was not linked to the other missing women.

For many it seems that they fear it is the work of a serial killer, either alone or with an accomplice, police have looked at Larry Murphy for this and was convicted of murder in 2001 for indecent acts and trying to strangle a Carlow business woman. He was surprised by two hunters as he tried to do so and ultimately they saved the poor woman. He strongly maintains that he is NOT connected to the murders and a woman said she knew it was not Larry Murphy, others also say however that since his imprisonment the vanishing stopped, but this is conjectural and does not really answer anything about where the poor women are.

Old BBC Article on the matter

Mysterious Universe Article

Image: https://www.jfp.ie/

Dullahan

The Gan Cean; a headless rider on a black horse who is said to hold his head under his arm. This is an Irish mythological creature that sounds gruesome and is a death omen. The legend of Sleepy Hollow and other headless horseman legend it portrays can be seen as a link to Dullahan.

The horse and headless rider cannot be stopped on their route, locks and gates will become unlocked and open upon their approach. Those who witness it might well find a basin of blood thrown upon them, or he might blind them with his whip and this marks them as a next potential victim. Yet, potentially the Dullahan can be put off for a time, or driven away for the moment, as they dislike gold and it might even be that they are afraid of them.

And how else can he be recognised? Well the head has eyes that constantly dart around, the smile seems to touch both sides of the spooks head. The skin of the detached head looks like the colour and consistency of mouldy cheese, sounds delish! the whip is made of a human spine and the carriage has candles held in place with skulls and the spokes are made thanks to femur’s, then there’s the cover… made from human flesh. Sounds like someone would pay a pretty penny for it on Ebay though! And if he does stop riding, the spot at which he stops is where you will die.

Still need a bit of encouragement to be interested? Gamers may also recognise references for this in Castlevania: Cruse of Darkness where there is a character of that name. Final Fantasy players no doubt came across the enemy and for retro gamers remember Shining Force? (I loved that game) Well you might recall the name Durahan which is a large face but that face is merely a decoration on the armour, taking a closer look you can see that there is no physical head in place.

If you like Monster Girl they did a character there too – Link

 

And given the recent E3 love for Final Fantasy I picked a little vid from there too.