Ballinacarriga Castle 17th June 2023

 

Ballinacarriga background

Ballinacarriga Castle has always been a special place for me. I remember visiting here many years ago with my family and of course, it was where Echo Ghosthunters brought me for my first ghost hunt in 2012. 

It's a place that never disappoints me. It is high on a hill and quite breathtaking as you approach it, as it towers over the landscape.

It is a Hurley Castle having been built by Randall Og Hurley in the late 1500s. There is some doubt about the actual date as some history books mention the 1590s but a carved date on a window ledge states 1585. I believe the Castle was built from the mid 1500s onwards as it must surely have taken a fair few years to build.

Along with the date carving there are several other carvings or perhaps based reliefs of note around the building.

On the ground floor again on a window surround, there are five roses and an angel. These are believed to have been ordered to be placed there by Randall Og and are said to represent his wife Catherine and five of their children. 

I think they had eight children but only five survived and perhaps this is why only five roses were added.

On the window surround on the top floor, the old Chapel, there is a scene of the crucifixion. It has been said that one of the three faces depicted here is Catherine's face.

There are numerous other decorative carvings or bas reliefs around the windows and must have been a beautiful sight many years ago.

There is also a Sile na gig high up on the right side of the building above the main door. These fertility symbols often appear on castles of this period.

The investigation

We had invited a paranormal group from the US to accompany us on our investigation. We have worked with this group before so it was nice to meet some old friends.

As it was still light when we arrived, we spent an hour or so talking and checking out the castle and surrounds.

There are the ruins of an old watchtower just beside the castle and there used to be a mill close by as well.

We began our investigation on the top floor. 

It started to rain a little while we were up there and as this part is open to the elements we had to make sure our equipment was protected.

We did some calling out and some live evps to see if we could communicate with any spirits. 

I stood with my back to the doorway and at times I could hear and sense movement behind me and in the little chamber just outside the main room.

I also noticed some orange sprinkles of light near one of the ladies a few times.

We did not catch anything of note so decided to move downstairs.

As there were eight of us in total we decided to do one more group investigation in the large room on the ground floor before splitting into two groups to investigate the smaller rooms.

We began a calling out session and did a few live evps but again, we did not catch anything. This is the room where an amazing evp wad caught by the team a few years back. 

In that evp a woman seems to be asking where her child is. She sounds distraught and it is quite upsetting to hear.

We set up a laser array before calling out but the many bats in the building caused some minor distortions so we can discount any movements noticed at the time.

We then did a spirit box session but although we did have some responses, they were too vague to be noteworthy.

We split up. I took our visitors to investigate the rooms upstairs while the rest of the team went out to check out the ruins of the watchtower. 

One of my group wanted to do a lone vigil in the garderobe. We left him in there with another lad just outside the room on the stairs.

The remaining two of us went back to the old Chapel at the top of the building.

We both had felt the presence of some energy while we were up there earlier and we wanted to check it out.

We did some calling out but nothing was happening. 

The lad who had been on the stairs came up to join us. He told us that he had been having some strange religious thoughts since he had been up here at the beginning. 

I asked him to explain and he said he felt like he was having some kind of struggle over his religious beliefs. He explained that he himself was not particularly religious but these thought were randomly filling his mind.

As he spoke one of the K11s nearest to him started to spike.

We began to ask religious questions. Are you a priest and are you struggling with your faith etc. The K11 continued to spike seemingly in response to our questions.

Eventually, the activity stopped and the atmosphere seemed considerably clearer or lighter - it's hard to explain, it just felt different

The group member who had being doing the lone vigil had joined us during the activity.

As we were all discussing this, I and the guy who had joined us, clearly heard someone coming up the stairs beside us. 

I said that it was the other group but no one entered the room.The guy beside me went to the top of the stairs and called down to the others but got no response.

We could hear them the mumble of talking somewhere at a distance but on repeatedly asking if they were on the stairs near us, we got no reply. When we went down the stairs we found some of them in the garderobe - two flights below - but they insisted that none of them had come near the last staircase. 

One of their team had made a joke about the puka in the garderobe - known locally as the puka's hole - and had immediately felt he was going to vomit so had left the building to get some air.

This had happened to me several times previously in this area so I was delighted (?!) that someone else has experienced this.

I stayed in the garderobe for a few minutes with the other team but as I have been suffering a strong reaction to some medication lately, I did not relish the idea of risking feeling nauseous or being sick, so I left them there and went back to join my group.

For the last session, we decided to move to the room below the top floor.

I had experienced a lot of energy in there at different times.

Before I followed the others, I decided to brave the garderobe on my own. I switched off my torch and stood in total darkness. My heart was thumping really loud and I was struggling to breathe. I only lasted about five minutes before deciding to join the others.

When I joined them  I found some of the other group in there too, doing a ovulus session, (where words supposedly from spirit are typed on the screen and also spoken by the software).

One of the responses was 'you are so annoying which made us all laugh.

I asked if Randall Og was with us earlier and the response was 'always' and then, not long after, 'come here'.

I asked where but got no response.

I felt the lad standing behind me, tap me on my back to get my attention but when I turned around he was not close enough to touch me.

I asked if he had tapped my back thinking I might not have heard him step back afterwards but he said he had not touched me and his uncle who had been standing beside him the whole time said he definitely did not move.

He reached out towards me and showed me that he could not have touched me from where he was standing.

I had thought he was standing much closer to me the whole time I was in there. In fact, I thought he was standing less than a foot away from me.

Apart from some personal experiences, we did not get anything of note.

We will have to wait for the equipment review to be sure, but to all appearances, we had a fairly quiet but fun evening together. 

Private House Investigation 2022

We were invited to investigate a private house to debunk the haunted reputation of the house.

The building, though abandoned for many years, was in fairly good condition. Vandals haven't yet destroyed it as they have so many fine old buildings.

The house is a large two storey house set back a little from the road with a large garden.

The front door opens into a good sized hallway with a staircase to the left and two reception rooms opening off either side of the hall.

One of the reception rooms leads into a twisting corridor and then into the kitchen area - which can be reached through a separate door further along the hallway.

Upstairs the stairs branch into three areas. The first area was probably the bathroom but is in a poor state of repair. The second branch leads into a small, separate bedroom while the third leads to the bedrooms at the front of the house.

We decided to start our investigation downstairs in one of the reception rooms.

We set up our equipment and immediately my motion sensor light, which I had placed in the doorway of the other room facing away from us, kept switching on.

I asked our team leader to put one of his there instead as I believed mine must have developed a fault.

This motion sensor also kept switching on. 

We tried jumping up and down and walking around our room to see if we were somehow triggering it but we were unable to set it off ourselves. 

Another team member had received some new toys for Christmas. Among these was a K11 meter - used to detect changes in emf. 

He had tried out his new equipment before the investigation and it all seemed to be working perfectly. 

As we were trying to figure our why the motion sensor was going off, this team member suddenly mentioned that his new K11 meter had just registered a reading.

We put this down to one of the team not having switched her phone off as she was trying to set up a separate motion detector over the fireplace. 

She was having trouble with this sensor as it kept going off. We were laughing at her and telling her she was doing it wrong although she has often set this up without any problem on previous investigations. 

We also set up 'cat balls' around the room and on the stairs. These are simply cat toys that flash in different colours when they are touched or rolled. 

We began our investigation, as we always do, by introducing ourselves and explaining the equipment. We always say that the equipment is only there to help any spirit to contact us and will not cause them any harm.

We also say that we are not there to harm or remove any spirit and that we are simply there to make contact. 

All during our calling out the cat ball on the window ledge kept lighting up and the newest K11 - being held - kept showing small but sudden bursts of energy. None of the other K11s in the room went off during this session.

The motion sensor in the other room continued to light up randomly and the cat ball on the stairs also went off.

We switched the cat ball on the window ledge to another ball as it was going off almost continuously and we thought it might be faulty.

The new cat ball immediately started to flash and the original one - now on the fireplace - did not go off again.

I began to feel very sick and at first thought it was due to medication that I'm on. However, this medication usually causes nausea that comes and goes in waves and if I try to speak I normally start retching. This sick feeling usually only lasts a few minutes and passes off quite quickly. 

The sick feeling I had now was very different. I was able to speak to the team without retching but the sick feeling wasn't going away. 

The team asked me if I wanted to go outside for some fresh air but I refused as I didn't feel faint and I didn't feel I needed to vomit.

After half an hour or so, we decided to move to the other reception room. 

While in this room I continued to feel sick and once again, one of the cat balls kept going off. The motion sensor, now facing the room we had vacated, continued to light up randomly and some equipment left in that room also flashed up from time to time.

The K11, still being held by the same team member, kept flashing up consistently. 

Two of us heard a clear sound that we thought may have been a cat or bird. I personally thought it sounded like a child playing. 

We continued to call out here for some time and eventually moved to the kitchen area. 

I began to feel a lot better in this area but put this down to the back door being open with plenty of fresh air here.

We didn't do a lot of calling out in this area. We spent most of the time telling jokes and having a good laugh. We did get quite a few K11 hits while we were laughing and, as we have often noted in previous investigations,  nothing when we stopped to pay attention and start calling out again.

We agreed to move upstairs. As we went up the stairs a different K11 meter - this one with sound - began to go off in a team member's hand. 

We went into the small bedroom at the back of the house first.

In here, as downstairs, one of the cat balls kept going off and the first K11 meter kept giving small but definite readings. We all laughed as we realised that the K11 only seemed to go off as the guy holding it looked away from it. 

He saw the flash each time in his peripheral vision but never saw it directly.

I saw a light anomaly low down near the floor shoot from where our guy was holding the K11 out of the door beside me. It sort of looked like a fast moving smoke ball and I have seen something like this before on an investigation many years ago.

I was standing nearest to the door and began to feel like we were being watched. I also heard what sounded like movement on the landing. 

One of the other investigators mentioned that she kept seeing flashes of blue light in the room. She said she wasn't sure if this was just her eyes reacting to the sensors going off but felt it was worth a mention.

We finally moved to the bedrooms in the front of the house.

Three of us stayed in one room while our team leader went into another room with a spirit box and headphones.

We have been trying an experiment lately where the person with the headphones cannot hear what we are calling out or what questions we are asking. He listens to the spirit box and calls back anything that comes through and we can check if it is relevant to anything we have said.

We have had some possibly interesting results previously but tonight we did not get a thing.

However, we got something we didn't expect.

As we were calling out we heard a few loud bangs. I thought it was the guy in the other room and dismissed it without really thinking about it. 

I suddenly thought I heard voices downstairs and some movement. The guy with us told us to keep quiet. We could just about hear faint sound from the spirit box in the other room. Suddenly, the three of us heard whistling coming from downstairs. 

We kept very still and quiet and clearly heard someone whistling a tune. It seemed to go on for ages but was probably just the verse of a song.

One of the team had been asking if any spirit present would like to hear a song. She said she would play it for them if they could let her know what they wanted to hear.

At the time, we didn't pay much attention to this as we thought people had entered the house without us knowing and we were thinking of our own safety. 

We managed to attract our team leader's attention and gesture for him to come to us. He asked what was wrong and we told him there was someone downstairs.

He thought he saw a light shoot up through a hole in the floorboards and after listening for a few more minutes, the two lads said they would go downstairs and check it out.

They came back up to us after having a good look around and said they didn't find anything to suggest someone had been there.

We decided to wrap up for the night as it was late and we were worried that if someone had been there they were clearly not worried about seeing our gear and also not afraid to advertise their presence with the whistling. 

We didn't want anyone spreading the word that we were investigating and risking them coming back with more people. 

On the way home we discussed the night. We couldn't really believe that someone would enter a house not knowing how many people were there and walk around whistling in the middle of the night. 

On the other hand, the whistling was so clear and went on so long it couldn't possibly be a spirit. Could it?

We were dying to get home and start reviewing the cameras and audio.

Our team leader had not heard the whistling and kept asking us if it could have been the wind or creaking floorboards. We assured him that it was someone whistling. 

We also asked him about the bangs we heard and he said he had heard them and felt the vibrations along the floorboards but assumed we were trying out something in the nearby room.

By 7.30am I got the first message from our team leader. He had spent the rest of the night going through most of the footage.

He had hoped to have captured the whistling on some of the audio recorders throughout the house. 

One of the audio recorders had a corrupted file so none of the recording had been captured. This same recorder was now working perfectly again and all older files were complete and not damaged in any way.

Another of the audio recorders was in the same room as the whistling but this recorder simply hadn't recorded anything.

We have never had problems with either of these devices before this and both were working perfectly again by morning.

The whistling was picked up faintly by the camera but there was a bit of sound pollution as the team leader had this camera with him at the time and had no idea what we were hearing so wasn't keeping particularly silent as he was listening to the spirit box through the headphones.

Our other investigator, the one who seemed to attract all the K11 hits is currently reviewing his equipment.  

He says he caught the whistling and also a possible evp (electronic voice phenomenon).

We are eagerly waiting to see what else he has captured.

The other thing of note is that the motion detector camera downstairs did not pick up anyone entering the house nor were the motion sensors triggered during the time we heard the whistling coming from the same room. 

On reviewing the initial footage, we are not sure if the whistling is a ringtone rather than actual whistling.

We will have to experiment with similar conditions before we can decide if we could have heard a ringtone coming from the road.

Personally, I am positive I heard someone whistling but as I know from long experience, nothing is proven in this field and I will keep an open mind.

We have picked up some evps and also caught a light anomaly on camera in the same room that I saw one.

Reviewing is ongoing and I will update this post with any other findings.

An Unusual Location

A few months ago the team (Cork Supernatural Society) and I booked into an unusual BnB. This beautifully restored castle seemed like the perfect location for us to do a little ghost hunting mixed in with some fun and relaxation.

The location didn’t disappoint.

We arrived in the early evening and as we pulled up in front of the castle our excitement began to rise.

Inside we found that the whole place had been restored to a very high standard while keeping to the style (and hardships) of the times.

The castle had three floors as well as a seating area on the roof. The ground floor consisted of one room with a table and chairs. The small but beautifully decorated main door dominated the little room and we decided to make our way up the stairs to check out the other floors.

Jackie and I decided we would sleep in the main bedroom. This was on the middle floor and we even had an en-suite in a little room off the bedroom and a bath in our room. The bed was a four-poster double bed and looked comfortable – this did turn out to be the case and Jackie and I managed to get some sleep here in the early hours.

The top floor held the kitchen, a seating area, another toilet and a staircase to the roof. Barrie and Matt decided to spend the night up here – they stayed up all night talking with a warm stove to keep out the night-time chill.

We began the task of getting our gear up the stairs – no easy task! We had to pull ourselves up part of the way with the help of a strong rope as the steps were too tiny to gain a good foothold. It was a bit of a struggle, but we finally got everything upstairs.

After coffee and some food, we began our investigation. Jackie and I started on the ground floor, just inside the main door. The steep staircase was partially concealed by a wall so I placed a sensor light a few steps up where we could see it if it came on.

We began calling out and after a few minutes I felt there was some movement on the stairs. The sensor light came on and stayed on for longer than it normally would, so I assumed that one of the lads had come down the stairs. I called out to them asking if they wanted me to move it. Their muffled answers came from the rooms above us and then we heard Matt coming to the top of the stairs and asking if we wanted something. They hadn’t been near the staircase.

We kept calling out but there was nothing else of note during the session, so we moved up to the top floor to join the lads.

We sat around the table and drank coffee while the wood-burning stove heated the room. We decided to try a séance. We never do things like this as a team, but we all shrugged and said, ‘why not?’

We closed our eyes and held hands. Jackie began to call out to any spirits who may have been present. She invited them to come towards the light – meaning the candlelight – but this was too much for us and we all burst out laughing.

We spent the next hour or so relaxing, laughing and chatting and just enjoying being together as a team. We did do a calling out session as the night drew on but nothing of note happened. Jackie and I decided to try to get some sleep, so we struggled our way back down the steep staircase to our welcoming bed.

We were awakened in the morning by a loud bang outside our bedroom door. We assumed it was the lads – we had heard them talking, laughing and doing more investigations during the night and we thought they were coming back upstairs and had dropped something outside our door. Jackie stuck her head out of the door, and we could hear the lads talking from upstairs. We asked them about the noise, and they said they thought it was us.

When we listened back on the audio, the sound came through loud and clear, but we were unable to find any cause for it.

On the review, Matt picked up an amazing Class A EVP from the upstairs room when we were all sitting around laughing. Have a listen and see if you can make out what it says. The recording has been slowed down from normal speed to make it a little clearer – please post suggestions in the comments as I would love to know what you hear.

I'm wondering if it's worth going downstairs again!

Our trusty rope!

The easy bit

Checking out locations

Three of the team decided to take a tour of the West Cork area looking for possible locations for future investigation. We did a few mini sessions in  some of the places but mostly, we were interested in just having a look around.

Coppinger's Court

We began our tour at this beautiful, abandoned manor house. The weather was perfect and we were able to walk around and explore the whole place.

The owner called down to check on his cattle and shared some of the purported history of the place.

Walter Coppinger, the man who commissioned the house to be built for him and his family, was said to have a wicked temper. One of the stories about him tells of how he had to go to court to fight to keep the house. On leaving the house in the morning, he told his wife that if he wasn't home by a certain time, she was to set fire to the house as it would mean that he had lost possession of the place and he didn't want his enemies to get hold of it.

Legend has it that he won the case but decided to celebrate on his way home. Losing track of time, he continued drinking far past the allotted time. On approaching the nearby village he saw a bright light in the sky and when he finally arrived home, he found that his wife had kept her promise and had set fire to the house.

Another legend along the same lines is that a maid servant's brother was due to be hanged in the hanging room in the building the very next day but she set fire to the house while Walter was away so that her brother could not be hanged. Walter Coppinger never returned to the house so her brother's life was spared.

A full history of the life of Walter Coppinger - with some of these legends included at the end - is being written by a friend of mine and fellow Pararnormal Investigator, Barrie Jordan. This book will be released later this year and is much anticipated by both locals and strangers alike.

Follow Barrie's blog on Facebook here for loads of paranormal news and views.

During our brief time here, I felt pressure on the top of my head and a sharp pain in my right eye and ear. I also felt light-headed and dizzy. This only happened in one small area of the building and when I moved away from this area the pain and pressure disappeared. I also noticed that I felt that I should not speak when I was in this area. It was almost as if I had been told to be quiet. The other team members mentioned that they too, had briefly felt a pressure in their head in this area. We will review our audio and if there is anything of note found, I will update accordingly.

Drombeg Stone Circle and Abandoned Church at Glandore

We moved on to Glandore and found a couple of gems. Drombeg is well worth a visit and the history is fascinating. To this day, druids use the circle to celebrate the changing seasons.

Castledonovan Castle

We moved on to Castledonovan castle. This imposing castle has recently been renovated but unfortunately, as we arrived so late, it had been locked up for the night. We were able to see one of the lower rooms through the gate but were unable to enter this time.

This is another place I would recommend for a visit during the day. The views from the upper levels must be spectacular as the castle stands on a high promontory and overlooks the surrounding countryside.

Kilcoe Abandoned Church

Tucked away in a beautiful setting close to the sea, this mostly abandoned graveyard and church is another hidden gem.

The church has recently been cleared out and this was my first time being able to admire this beautiful medieval building properly. A large altar table rests under the large window at the top of the church and on the low widow sills, cup-shaped hollows remain - perhaps they once held holy water.

The gentle sounds of the sea in the distance add to the allure of this pretty place and although I have always felt uneasy here in the past, this time I felt nothing but peace.

On listening to the audio taken in the church I heard what sounds like a chuckle and a growl as I say we are leaving to go and look around the graveyard. This may have simply been an animal, unnoticed by us at the time but to me, it sounds too deep.

The rest of the team will review the audio and if this is something of significance, I will update as necessary.

Some Recent Investigations

The long bright evenings can make paranormal investigations difficult. Too many tourists, teenagers or hikers out and about. Too much noise - traffic, music, talking - makes it hard to sift the everyday from the paranormal.

Despite this I have been lucky enough to have taken part in a lot of investigations in very different locations.

Blackwater Castle

This beautiful castle has seen many famous and not so famous faces pass through its doors. At the side of the main building, an abandoned tower stands, quiet, lonely and holding its own secrets.

It is said that the mistress of the house in bygone times - Lady Roach - spent years locked up in this tower. People claim to have seen a woman's ghost on the upper floor of the main castle and in the adjoining room in the tower.

Even though I carried out a solo investigation of the 'spiral room' (named for stones on the floor set in a spiral pattern) I did not see or hear anything unusual.

The only events worth mentioning over the course of the night happened on the ground floor of the main castle.

I and two other members of the team were seated in the living room when we all heard noises on the floor above us. I thought the rest of the team were up there walking along the corridor but the guys with me assured me that the rest of the team were in the tower not in the main building.

A quick check via walkie talkie conformed that we were alone in the building at the time of the noises. I assumed that the noise must be caused by plumbing  - perhaps caused by air in the pipes along the first floor corridor. However, when I checked this out later on, I found that the upstairs heating was electric and there was no plumbing along the corridor.

The only other thing that captured my interest was when we were leaving the sitting room. I came out by a different door to the rest of the team. The two lads were chatting and laughing together and as I came into the corridor, I heard a child join in with them.

Unfortunately, this was not captured on any of our recorders even though I had mine running in my hand at the time. Therefore, I have to dismiss this as I have no evidence of the event.

The rest of the night passed all too quickly and although we did not capture anything of note, we were all sad to leave this beautiful place.

The Spiral Room - Pic by Matthew Clarke, CSS

A Hill Fort

This investigation was carried out by a large group of investigators but as it was such a massive place, this did not cause any problems.

Several evps were captured during the long night at this magnificent place, the best one being as follows:

We were in a part of the fort that had been used to store gunpowder many years before. One of the team lit a cigarette. On listening back to the audio a voice is heard saying 'they're smoking'.

Another moment of interest happened when we were in a room which had been used by officers. I was seated with my back to the door. Suddenly, I felt something rush in behind me and bite the top of my thigh. I jumped and nearly fell off the chair but there was nothing there. Later, I did find a red mark on my leg but no broken skin nor bruising.

We did get a lot of K2 hits around one indoor area but can not rule out phone signals as the group had all joined up at that point and someone may have inadvertently left their phone on.

The Black Gates

We joined up with some investigators from another group up the country. Unfortunately, there was loud music playing nearby and this made the audio recorders almost redundant.

The gates themselves lead into a ruined church and graveyard. Inside the church it felt very peaceful. It was a beautiful summer's night and, apart from the music in the background, it was idyllic.

One of our guests had a pair of divining rods with her. I got to try these out. My overall impression of these is that they are rather like Ouija boards, table tipping and so on. Fun to try but no real evidence to back up anything that 'comes through'.

The only thing of note that evening was when we gathered down at the gates themselves. One of our guests began to feel very sick and I soon noticed that I felt nauseous too. I started to feel quite dizzy and faint and was glad when my team leader suggested that the guest and I should return to the church where we had felt perfectly well.

As soon as I left the gates, I began to feel better and by the time I was back in the church - less than one minute - the nausea had passed and I felt fine again.

Later, as we were leaving, I had a brief feeling of nausea as I passed the gates once more.

Some of the graves - Pic by Matthew Clarke CSS

The Hottest Cold spots

People often ask me what personal experiences I have had on my paranormal journey. I usually start with one or two anecdotes and if the person is especially unlucky I will still be talking an hour later!

Personal experiences are just that; things that I alone have heard, felt, seen, smelt or touched. These experiences are, more often than not, unconfirmed by anyone else and not captured on any recording devices.

This does not mean that they are not valid, it simply means that they happened to me and me alone.

Touches

Feelings of being touched can happen at any time. The first time I felt this was as I tripped on an old staircase. A hand reached out - unseen by me - and gently took hold of my elbow, steadying me and stopping me from falling.

Another time, I felt a gentle touch on the back of my head as if someone was stroking my hair.

In an abandoned women's home, in the maternity section, I felt hands moving over my belly as if someone was examining me.

Lying in bed and having my quilt pulled off me.

Sounds

Quite often when we are investigating we do not hear anything at the time but when we play back the audio we find we have caught moans, cries, voices and other strange phenomena that went unheard by us at the time.

Sometimes, however, I am lucky enough to hear something strange at the time it happens;

A muttering of many voices from the end of a corridor in an abandoned castle.

A knocking on a wall - on request - when there was clearly no one within touching distance.

Footsteps walking around our group despite us having our torches switched on and all of us accounted for.

Sights

It can be difficult to make things out in the half-light during investigations but I have come across quite a few oddities. Here are some of them;

A fleeting glimpse of a hooded figure standing beside me in full daylight.

Shadows moving around a doorway moments before footsteps were heard running up the stairs in an old mill.

A big black ball of energy appearing in a doorway seconds before all the EMF meters went off.

A white light flying above our heads in an erratic fashion in an abandoned asylum.

Smells

Sometimes, on investigations, we mention to each other that we can smell flowers or smoke or some other scent. It is difficult to classify these as paranormal as there are so many possible explanations

• Aftershave, perfume, deodorant, toothpaste or other personal hygiene products worn by the investigators.
• Wood often holds aromas such as cigarette, cigar or pipe smoke which can be released by heat from the sun or artificial heating.
• The smell of spilt alcohol can often linger for quite some time so if the location has recently hosted a party this can contaminate the scene.

I have sometimes smelled flowers during an investigation but have always ruled it out as a possible perfume contaminant.

I would love to hear of any possible paranormal personal experiences that you may have had. Feel free to add yours in the comments section!

The Emotional Paranormal Investigator

I was asked recently if I had ever been affected by a location and this got me thinking. Can the paranormal affect our emotions? Or are we simply projecting our thoughts and affecting ourselves?

Paranormal Emotional Transference

This is the transferring of energy from a paranormal source onto a living entity. If you love reading about the paranormal you will, no doubt, have come across lots of stories about transference.

• Dogs barking at nothing.
• Horses getting spooked for no reason.
• People being overcome by feelings of grief or unease.

These are only some of the many examples that have been documented and discussed over the years.

But, is there any truth to these stories?

Taking the above examples and looking at them objectively, we can come up with some logical explanations that may have been overlooked or simply ignored.

• Dogs' hearing, especially at very high frequencies, enables them to hear things that most humans simply cannot.
• Horses are notorious for getting spooked over seemingly trivial things - a bird fluttering in a bush, a sudden gust of wind, a piece of discarded rubbish - things that we may not notice ourselves are they are so commonplace.
• Some people have little control over their emotions and may feel uneasy or sad without realising it. Even seasoned ghost hunters may suffer from tiredness, stress or illness and tis may lead to them appearing to take on some form of paranormal emotion.

Before we assume that paranormal emotional transference is the cause of these emotional outbursts, all other avenues should be investigated.

Rule out the obvious, the probable and the possible.

Only after doing this, can we say that paranormal emotional transference may have taken place.

Conclusion?

It is far more likely that the seemingly paranormal experience can be explained logically on examination of all that facts.

But ...

Did I fall victim to Paranormal Emotional Transference?

I remember entering the kitchen area of a large abandoned building where woman - both young and old - had been treated brutally. I was chatting to one of the team and suddenly I felt tears well up. I tried to blink them away but the sadness I suddenly felt was overwhelming and I couldn't stop the tears from falling.

As I fought to hide my distress from the other people present, I heard one of the team remark that this area was called the crying room as people often became upset when they entered the area.

When I visited an old empty house that my parents were hoping to buy, I walked around on my own and as I reached the back of the house I suddenly felt sad. I sat on a ledge at the back corner of the house nearest the road. My Dad came around the corner and asked me why I was crying. I shrugged through my tears. I had no idea what had come over me.

Years later, we found out that a woman spent a lot of her life locked in an upstairs room at the back of the house on the side nearest the road. She was often seen by passers-by and they said she stood at the window weeping.

There are possibly logical explanations for what I felt but I believe that something outside myself affected me for those few moments.

Demonic Possessions

So, if energy can affect us, can energy manipulate us? Is this where the idea of demonic possession come from? Or poltergeists?

Once again, there are many theories but my own personal beliefs are that, as in everyday life, if we choose to give away our power then yes, energy can manipulate us, but we have a choice. We can choose how we react to energy around us - either by allowing it to affect us or by refusing to let it in.

• If we walk into a room where there has been an argument, we can often feel the air thick with negativity. We then have a choice; either let the energy affect us and make us angry, sad or afraid or, we can choose to ignore the energy and carry on as if nothing had happened.
• If a friend comes to us with their problems we can feel empathy for them and allow their anger, sadness or fear to become ours or, we can choose to listen, offer advice but refuse to allow their negative energy to affect us.

Future Investigations

I will continue to keep aware of my emotions during paranormal investigations and will report any new experiences or findings.

Perhaps we will never know if paranormal emotional transference really occurs.

But, I'll have fun trying to find out!

Further Reading

Ghost Emotions

Supernatural Magazine

Empathy

EMF? What has this got to do with Ghosts?

What is EMF?

EMF is the abbreviation for electromagnetic fields. According to the WHO, these fields are around us all the time but are invisible to the human eye. (WHO web link)

Sources

Natural sources include thunderstorms and the earth's magnetic field.

Man-made sources include x-rays, electricity and mobile phones.

Possible ill effects of high EMF

• fatigue, stress and sleep disturbances
• skin rashes
• depression
• sore throats
• digestive disorders
• infertility
• cancer clusters

Research is ongoing and although these effects are often reported, no conclusive link has been found between them and high EMF levels.

So what has this to do with Ghost Hunting?

Most paranormal investigators carry at least one EMF meter with them. The meters' flashing lights are well-known to most paranormal fans.

But why do they flash? What does it all mean?

For years, paranormal researchers have believed that bursts of EMF signal the possible manifestation of a spirit.

There is no proof to state that this is the case but conversely, there is no proof that this is NOT the case!

Confusing? Yes.

These days, most paranormal investigators use these meters as, simply, another tool to point them in the right direction. Unexplained readings (flashing lights) guide us to spend a little more time in the area, perhaps taking more photographs or calling out.

Sometimes the pulsing of the lights seems to be intelligent. They seem to flash on demand or in response to questions. While this can be interesting, it does not prove the existence of spirits.

Things that can affect EMF

Sometimes, on a ghost hunt, the EMF meters flash throughout the investigation. We have to rule out natural or normal causes such as;

• mobile phones not switched off
• passing taxis or police cars (the radios send out waves that can affect our meters)
• other items of gear too close to the meters - my audio recorder sets mine off if I hold them too close together
• electricity meters

These are the most obvious things we have to look out for but there may well be other things that we do not notice at the time (thunder, overhead power lines).

If we have a lot of activity with the EMF meters but no other items of interest during the investigation, we make a point of returning at a later date to see if we get the same response.

If, on the other hand, we pick up EVPs (electronic voice phenomena), unexplained mists or shadows on photographs or film and have some personal experiences around the time of the high EMF readings, we are inclined to say that they may be of a paranormal nature.

In conclusion

High EMF readings are always of interest. Shorts bursts may simply mean that we have inadvertently contaminated our investigation or that a spirt is trying to manifest or that a taxi has just driven past close by.

Longer, more sustained, high readings suggest that there may be a source of electricity, WIFI, cordless or mobile phone or other radio wave producing element in our vicinity. In this case (especially in a private house investigation), we will try to locate the source so that we can advise the homeowners that this may be a potential health issue.

EMF readings are interesting but not conclusive. No self-respecting paranormal investigator would rely solely on these little flashing lights - but, they are still fun!

Return to Ballinacarriga

This castle has always had a special place in my heart - it was the first place I went as a paranormal investigator. That night was full of excitement and for me, this beautiful castle has never lost its appeal.

A locked-off room where I thought I heard footsteps

I was the last to arrive and the team were already in place and about to begin. The rain was pouring down but it was a mild night and we decided to start the investigation at the top or chapel area.

In the past I have always picked up on a male figure on this floor but on this occasion I was disappointed. We did get some K11 hits but, unlike other times, only one K11 was affected.

I thought I heard shuffling footsteps behind me at one point but as nothing else happened to confirm this, I can not be sure that I actually heard them and so must put these down to a simple 'personal experience'.

We moved down to a lower floor and entered a room where I have sometimes felt a presence. I called out to Randal Og and sent him a personal message. One of the K11s immediately lit up. Again, only one K11 in the room was affected.

The top floor - in the rain

Barrie and I decided to stay in this room for a little while, leaving the other investigators to move down to the next floor. We didn't notice anything definite here but I was intrigued by a shadow by the door that appeared to move at times, getting a little bigger then shrinking back again. I wasn't able to document this or catch it on film so once again, I must put it down to a 'personal experience'.

We did get a full K11 hit here as we called out to Randal Og once more.

Barrie and I then moved to a narrow corridor. Barrie complained of pressure in his head and said that the place felt really heavy. I was talking away (as I usually do!) calling out and chatting with any spirits when I suddenly felt the need to be quiet. I felt that something wanted me to shut up! I also got a bad pain in my back but thought maybe this was because I had been standing for a while (it hasn't happened before though).

The ground floor

Barrie then discovered the 'pooka hole' at the end of the corridor. (The pooka is a celtic mythological creature that can change shape and can bring either good or evil, as it sees fit.) I knew that Barrie was feeling a bit  uncomfortable as his head was 'ready to burst' so I offered to change places with him and went to stand close to the pooka hole.

The Pooka Hole (Pic courtesy of Cork Supernatural Society)

Suddenly I found myself swaying and even as I was calling out, something seemed to want me to be quiet. I began to feel very sick. My head was aching, I got bad stomach cramps, I felt nauseated and the pain in my back was quickly becoming unbearable.

We moved to the corridor entrance, leaving the pooka hole behind, and I immediately began to feel better. We stayed at the entrance for a few more minutes and then decided to move to the ground floor for the last part of our investigation.

By the time we got down the stairs, I was feeling completely well although I did feel very tired and couldn't stop yawning even though it was only 10pm!

We didn't find anything else of note but the rest of the team were getting some good K11 hits and they seemed to get some intelligent responses.

On arrival home, I decided to listen to the audio. I was disappointed to find that I was missing at least twenty minutes from the middle of the night. Although my recorder clearly showed that it was recording all the time - I check it carefully as I set it down and again when I pick it up - for some unknown reason, it skipped the part where I called out to Randall Og and got the K11 hit.

Barrie reviewed his audio and found he has captured a woman's laughter while we were in the corridor near the pooka hole. Unfortunately, my audio was too near the entrance and picked up a lot of noise from the rest of the team, making it difficult to hear anything. I will, however, go over it carefully again to see if I have also captured the laughter.

All in all, it was a good night and I am sure that we will be returning here in the future.

Want to read more like this? Check out and follow these pages!

Stuff of Nightmares

Shadowhunters

Cork Supernatural Society

Diary of a West Cork Ghost Hunter

Forgotten Ireland

Don't forget I detail some of my most interesting investigations in my Irish Paranormal Haunts book series.