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Carrignaphooka Castle

Sometimes it's not just about the ghost hunting. Sometimes it's great to explore places just for the fun of it.

I recently paid a visit to this beautiful castle with three other paranormal enthusiasts. We hoped to pick up the odd EVP or two or at least get some K11 hits. However, all was quiet although a sensor light did come on for no apparent reason and I did feel a burst of energy hit me in the chest just before this happened.

It may have been a simple coincidence but who knows?

It was a beautiful evening and although the 'farmers' among us (myself included!) brought wellingtons to cross the field to the castle, to our relief the ground was dry and the weather held fair for us.

The castle makes an impressive sight as it comes into view. Set on a rocky promontory in the middle of a field, the castle looms over the landscape and it is easy to imagine the apprehension beating in the enemies' breasts as they approach it.

We climbed the steep steps up to the entrance gate and stood for a moment enjoying the view of the surrounding area. Although the bulk of the castle was still overhead, the view from this relatively low level was already impressive.

We entered the castle and began to set up our gear.

It was very quiet in the castle with the only noise coming from the cattle in the nearby field. We did a calling out session on the top floor but not even the cows answered us.

We decided to move down to a lower level and try our luck there.

This is the area where the sensor light turned on by itself. It was tucked away in a window slit on the stairway and we were all around above it - well out of the way of its sensor. We had our backs to it and were facing this direction (see pic above) when I realised that the light had come on. We did not hear any birds or bats moving in the stairwell but there is still the possibility that they somehow triggered the light unnoticed by us.

We returned to the ground floor but once again we were greeted by silence despite our best efforts.

Although it was a disappointing night from a paranormal point of view, the castle itself has a sense of peace that deserves a visit despite its long and often bloody history.

If you are travelling in the Macroom area of County Cork make sure you take the time to check out this hidden gem. It's worth a visit just for its beauty and feeling of timelessness.

Muckross Abbey

Elizabeth Fort

Timoleague Abbey

Interview for KICH Grip Alot Radio

I was recently interviewed by Tessa Mauro for KICH Grip Alot Radio.

Tessa and I had great fun talking about the paranormal and I have included most of the interview below.
Please join the Paranormal Prowlers Facebook group to keep up to date with the fantastic DJ and her great interviews as she has some amazing guests on her show.

Talk to us about Cork Supernatural Society.  

I’ve been with CSS for nearly three years now off and on. I had my own team for a while but due to work pressures and family we had to call it a day and so I joined CSS properly.

CSS have been going for about 5 years and as well as investigating together we all get on well.

We have various members but currently there are five of us who go out the most regularly.

Some of the places we go to are quite remote so we never investigate alone.

We travel around Ireland and have ben to most of the well-known places – Leap Castle, The Hell-Fire Club and Duckett’s Grove to name a few.

Do you investigate homes as well as haunted locations?

We are happy to help anyone out if they are in trouble. We recently investigated a house where the occupiers were complaining of presences lurking in doorways, feelings of being watched and an uneasy atmosphere. Their cat was acting strangely too. We discovered that the emf (electromagnetic frequency) was off the charts in the house. We traced it back to incorrectly earthed light switches and advised them to get an electrician to sort it out. They contacted us afterwards saying that since the electrician had rewired the house, they no longer had any problems.

It just shows that sometimes the seemingly paranormal can be explained quite easily. We always try to debunk and when or if that fails, then and only then we call it paranormal.

What made you a believer of the paranormal?

I suppose I grew up listening to my Dad and his family telling stories around the fireplace.

My Dad came from a small farm in Kenmare, Co Kerry and when I was young I would volunteer to go with my Dad to visit his family as we lived across the mountains in West Cork.

I loved hearing the strange tales and rather than being scared by them, I was fascinated.  In my book ‘True Stories from the Dark Side’, I share some of these tales as well as talking about things that happened to me personally before I became an investigator.

How old were you?

I was eighteen when I had my first paranormal experience. I was in an upstairs room at my parent’s house when I became aware of a lady standing beside me staring out of the window. She was wearing a dark blue cloak with the hood pulled up over her head. She was crying. I turned to look at her properly and she disappeared. The house had been built in the 1850s and she seemed to be from that time.

Years later we found out, from visiting descendants of the man who built the house, that his wife suffered from some affliction, probably depression, and used to stand crying at that window

To date what is your most memorable investigation and why?

A private gate lodge. The whole place was rotting from the inside out. Faulty wiring, plumbing accidents, equipment malfunctioning, even cars outside breaking down for no apparent reason. We investigated and when I went over the data the next day, I could hear children’s voices asking for help. We went back and attended a clearing ceremony. I had never been to one of these before and I was a bit skeptical. I was amazed at the things that happened that night. We could track a movement of cold air moving through the room and through the lady doing the clearing’s back. We all heard loud movements from the next room as the energies were called to come towards the light. At a critical point the lady that lived in the house began to cry and as we took pictures of her we were unable to see her clearly in the pictures. I felt that an energy was shielding her, perhaps worried that she was upset and I asked her to tell the energy that it was released and could move on. As soon as she did this, we were able to take clear photos of her again.

Do you have a fav place that you find yourself going back to investigate?

Ballinacarriga castle. It was the first place I went on an investigation and I immediately felt an affinity for the place. I always hear footsteps on the upper floor as someone unseen approaches and can warn investigators to watch the equipment as things are about to happen. There is a different energy on a lower floor and I find the energy there very strong and uplifting. I think this energy belongs to Randall Og who built the castle in the 1600s as it always responds when I speak directly to it.

Are there any local haunts where you live?

We have an old mill nearby that has been converted into a Hostel. It’s a great location and there is a definite presence there. Ghostly children have been seen playing in one of the rooms, doors have unbolted and opened themselves overnight, I myself heard loud footsteps on the stairs although no one was there and the sound of water rushing through the mill has been captured although the river was diverted many years ago.

While investigating, what is your favorite tool?

My favorite tool is the audio recorder. I love listening back afterwards, reliving the investigation and sometimes getting the bonus of a good evp.

What is the most active location you've investigated?

Duckett’s Grove in Co Carlow. I have heard footsteps, carriages crunching over non-existent gravel, unseen gardeners digging in the walled garden. I have felt hands touching my hair, found it difficult to stand still in one of the little rooms as the ground seemed to be almost moving – eight other people mentioned the same thing that night. A table tipped equipment onto me while I was filming and the chair one of the team was sitting on was suddenly pulled backwards.

Most memorable evps?

At Elizabeth fort in Cork city, we caught a class A evp saying ‘yes, walk away’ and a few seconds later ‘they’re not gone’.

Another night in the same location I was sitting on my own while the rest of the team were exploring the attic and I switched on the audio and began to talk. I was asking the usual, is there anyone there? Do you want to come and talk to me? Do you like me talking to you? And so on. When I played it back, a man’s voice answers ‘yes’ or mutters something to almost all of my questions.

The evps from the gate lodge were the most haunting things I have ever heard. They are not very clear but sound like children asking for help and talking among themselves.

Have you ever had a spiritual attachment? If so did you know who it was and how did you get rid of it?

Coming back from Ballinacarriga castle one night, I felt extremely ill. By the time I was home, I felt alright again but two nights later I was driving home in the dark when I became aware of someone in the car behind me. I knew it wasn’t a flesh and blood person so I thanked him – I felt it was a man from the castle – for coming to visit me but told him firmly that he needed to go back to the castle as there was nothing for him in the back seat of my car. I immediately felt him leave and have not had any repeat performances.

Share some of your paranormal experiences (investigations, etc)

I have written books on my investigations and experiences – Irish Paranormal Haunts Vol 1 and Irish Paranormal Haunts Vol 2 and True Stories from the Darkside  - They detail my personal experiences as well as any credible evidence we have been fortunate enough to capture.

Some of the items include:

Ballinacarriga castle

·        I was climbing a staircase and I tripped. I felt a hand on my arm steadying me but there was no one close to me at the time.

·        I was standing in a corridor on my own with the team leader and a cameraman filming me from the entrance. I heard the team leader say, ‘where has she gone’ and afterwards he explained that he had taken two pictures a few seconds apart and I am not in the first one even though I didn’t move.

·        On the top floor of the castle I always feel a male presence who always announces his arrival by shuffling his feet on the rough floor and then lighting up all the K11s. The name Stephen pops into my mind so I have come to call him that although I cannot find any reference to him anywhere.

The Magdalen Laundries  

·        I had the feeling of girls running down the stairs behind me – pushing and shoving, although nothing actually touched me –   and our K11s all lit up.  

·        In the kitchen area I felt an overwhelming sadness and later found out that it is called ‘the crying room’.

·        Upstairs I heard a sound like a nun’s habit swishing as she moved quickly down the stairs.

·        I felt unseen hands on my stomach in the dormitory, as if someone was examining a pregnant belly (I wasn’t pregnant!).

·        I also felt someone put their arm around me but when I swung my torch to see who it was, there was no one close to me.

·        Another time, I entered a room and moved aside to let a team member in behind me. I heard them enter the room and felt their presence but when I turned to ask them something, there was no one there.

Duckett’s Grove

·        As we walked down the driveway, I was chatting to one of the team. The others were all ahead of us but suddenly both of us heard footsteps behind us and we turned around to welcome the latecomer. There was no one there and we both burst out laughing.

·        In the garden, I was standing by myself in the dark and I clearly heard an unseen gardener digging beside me.

·        In the kitchen area we could hear movement in the corridor outside the kitchen and after a lot of persuasion, we convinced an unseen presence to enter the room with us and walk among us. We could clearly hear boots stomping around us but we had our torches on and there was no one visible.

·        During a Frank’s box (spirit or ghost box) session, I joined the investigation late. A question was put to the spirits ‘who has just joined us?’ my name ‘Kim’ came clearly through the static as did the answer to the question ‘where is she from?’ ‘West Cork.’

·        In the little room over the carriage house, we all sat around a table and at one point a rush of energy was felt entering the room and the table was lifted. I felt that someone wanted to take us up on our offer and join us at the table but as there was no room, he got a bit frustrated.

·        Soon after this, one of the team had her chair pulled backwards as she sat on it, again, as if someone wanted to sit at the table.

·        The night ended with one of the team chasing a figure down the driveway. We all assumed that someone had broken in to the grounds. The team member was chasing the figure with only a thermal imager (she didn’t have a torch with her). She took a picture of the figure but we were unable to find any unauthorised person on the grounds and when we looked at the heat signature, it was completely wrong – this picture can be seen at the end of this video 

Elizabeth fort

·        We found an old Irish Pound note in this building -  it had been used as a Garda (Police) station at one time. We jokingly said we would steal the pound and the K11s went crazy. We got a lot of intelligent responses to our questions after this.

·        We played host to a team from Northern Ireland and one of their experiments produced a Class A EVP. The team leader says that he will put the recorder down and walk away and if anyone wants to communicate this is their chance. When the recording was played back, a voice clearly says ‘yes, walk away.’

·        Later, in the old air raid shelter we got a lot of intelligent responses (K11 hits) as we offered to sing marching songs. Every time we stopped and asked if we should continue we got K11 hits indicating that we should keep singing.

I am looking forward to paying a return visit to the Paranormal Prowler show in the very near future!

Ballincarriga Castle

Magdalene Laundry Final Visit

Duckett's Grove

A visit to the Asylum

This abandoned asylum has a long and terrifying history. I recently visited the oldest part of this massive complex, built in the early 1800s. The building is in very bad condition and slowly falling into decay, rotting from the inside out.

There is little left to attest to its horrible history but tales abound and the eeriness of the place adds to the awful atmosphere.

The whole complex is connected by tunnels and it is considered to be the longest building in Ireland.

Some of the procedures carried out here included lobotomies and a circulating chair - designed to rotate up to sixty times a minute to ensure the docility of the patient.

It was said that screams could be heard from the asylum at all hours of the day and night.

The Investigation

We made our way to the top floor and set up the equipment. We decided to split up so myself and another investigator made our way to the floor below.

We both felt the presence of energy here. There were shadows moving just outside in the corridor but despite our best efforts, we were unable to document any evidence.

We were in a small room and I noted that the atmosphere was quite heavy. I noticed that the shadows by the door were growing lighter and darker. The other investigator mentioned the same thing to me.

During our calling-out session, the shadows moved closer to the door but seemed to be hovering just outside.

We attempted a live evp (electronic voice phenomenon) session to see if we could make contact with anyone but this did not produce any results.

We agreed that the energy felt low to the ground and was possibly that of a female child. I also felt that there was an older man with her.

At one point I asked the little girl to go and scare the other investigators on the upper floor.

When we all met to change floors, the other investigators said that they had picked up a child's voice, possibly a girl, through their spirit box.

We also noted a strange light anomaly above our heads. A light seemed to move in a strange sweeping movement and we were unable to account for it. The light zig-zagged back and forth and then disappeared.

When I went to the top floor the atmosphere changed again and I felt absolutely nothing here.

We saved the ground floor for last. As we stood around, setting up gear and getting ready, I felt very uneasy. I took a few pictures and caught a few orbs but assume that they were insects or dust stirred up by ourselves as we moved around the building.

I moved closer to the other team members and fought a feeling of panic. I have no idea why I was so spooked but I really did not feel comfortable there.

On listening back to the audio recordings from this floor, I found that I picked up a couple of voices but I will double check with the rest of the team to rule them out. From listening to the recording, I am almost certain that we are all accounted for but ...

Unexplained symptoms

Earlier that evening, while I was on the top floor I also felt a sudden intense pain in the right side of my head and thought I was going to faint. It passed quickly and I thought nothing of it at the time. Later that night, in bed, I suddenly got an attack of possibly, tinnitus pulsatile. I had a loud drumming in my right ear like an extremely fast heartbeat - I checked my pulse to make sure I wasn't having a heart attack. The sound was unbearable and in desperation I googled it. The advice was to cup the offending ear to help reduce the airflow and stop the eardrum vibrating (or something). I did this and it worked but I had to fall asleep holding my ear.

For the next few days, my ear was fine. Putting it down to some unidentified stress or illness, I forgot about it.

Until I began listening to the audio from the Asylum.

My earphones are broken and only the left one was working so I listened with only one ear bud in (the left one). I was almost finished the review when my right ear began to drum really fast again. The noise was unbearable and made me feel sick. The only way I could stop it was to hold my hand over my ear for about twenty minutes.

My rational brain is telling me that it is just a coincidence but it will be a while before I try to listen to the end of the recording!

Have you downloaded Irish Paranormal Haunts Vol 2 yet?

Muckross Abbey Investigation, Killarney

I was very excited when I got the call to go and investigate this beautiful abbey. Now in ruins, the abbey is still well worth a visit - it's free and if you love buildings with a lot of history, then this is the place for you.

Muckross Abbey

Before we entered the abbey, we paid a visit to a little known graveyard on a hill overlooking the abbey and its grounds. The ruined Killegy chapel is a mortuary chapel and stands in the midst of crumbling crypts and modern graves. Even though it was daylight, the eeriness of this pretty site soon became apparent.

Herbert Memorial Cross

The graveyard is dominated by the Herbert Memorial Cross dedicated to a former owner of Muckross House. The last private owner of Muckross House, Arthur Rose Vincent, gave the property to the state to become Ireland's first National Park. He was buried here and various tales are whispered about his burial. Some say he was buried sitting upright on a chair waiting for judgement day. Other stories suggest that he was buried standing up so that he could look out over his former house and grounds, but my favourite story is the one I heard from some fellow paranormal investigators. It is said that he was buried upside down!

Rabbits have been hard at work burrowing all over the graveyard and some of the crypts have broken open revealing their long-dead occupants.

       Mortuary Chapel

Muckross Abbey

At last it was time to enter the abbey. We walked eagerly down the long driveway carrying our gear. The abbey came into view and we knew that we had a big investigation on our hands. The building is impressive both in its size and architecture - but that was not what we had come for!

                                                                                                                                                                                        

We walked all over the building deciding where we would focus our efforts. As darkness fell, we split into two groups. The three of us in my group started our investigation in the area pictured to the left.

We did not observe anything of note in this area. As with all investigations, we recorded a lot of data and that will have to be reviewed before we can sum up the whole night.

We moved into the courtyard area and chose the first of the two dark rooms accessible from here. Although the roof in this area was intact, the upper floors have long since disappeared. We were on the ground floor of what had apparently been the sleeping area.

During the investigation in this area I felt a presence in the room. Something hit my leg but as there were bats flying around, we assumed that this was all it was. The sensor light near the doorway came on a couple of times but as we had not asked for it to happen we could not rule out that it was simply a bat that had triggered it.

While I was out in the courtyard area (pictured above), I got some unexplained K11 hits. I continued to get them in the same area for a few minutes with the K11 going all the way up to red (maximum).

We moved into the dining area but apart from the sensor light coming on again, we didn't have anything of particular note here.

We went back to the sleeping area and tried the spirit box. We got a clear 'Hello' and some other possible mutterings but we could not decipher these and felt we could probably rule them out.

While we were on the ground floor, the other group had been investigating the upper floors. When we radioed them, they said they had just started to get some K11 hits so we made our way up to join them. Unfortunately, the K11 hits seemed to be random so we were not able to document anything of an intelligent nature.


As it was getting late, we decided to call it a night - most of us didn't get home until 4 a.m. - so reluctantly, we packed up our gear.




Despite the relative quietness of the night, I would welcome the chance to carry out another investigation of this beautiful site as I feel that there is a lot more going on there than we have as yet discovered.

If, after going through all the recordings from the night, anything of interest is captured, I will update you with the latest news.

Halloween Investigation

On Friday night we will be returning to one of my favourite locations. I have investigated there twice already and each time the amount of activity was amazing.

We will be posting updates after the investigation so make sure to check out the Cork Supernatural Society Facebook Page

This investigation is for members of the public who have expressed an interest in seeing what we do. The places are booked out but if this goes well, who knows, we may just do it all again in the future.

Other Exciting News

• On Monday night four members of the Cork Supernatural Society team took part in a photo shoot for The Daily Star Newspaper. More details to follow.
• On Thursday morning two members of the team will be taking part in a filmed interview for a national television station's daytime broadcast. Once again, more details to follow.

We Need Your Help

We are always seeking new locations to investigate. We have helped a number of property owners to debunk their "paranormal activity".

If you have a problem in your own home or know of somewhere you think might be interesting for us to investigate, you can contact us through the Cork Supernatural Society Facebook Page.

Please Note:

All contact is kept confidential and identities are protected.

Cork Supernatural Society is a non-profit organisation.

What's been happening?

Over the last months, the team and I have scouted various locations and carried out mini investigations. We are looking forward to carrying out an investigation in Cork for Halloween. Hopefully we should have an active night as in the past, we have had some good nights at this location.

Some of the sites we have scouted seem very promising and we hope to be able to return for full investigations soon.

A few of the things we have experienced during the mini investigations are:

• A team member's name being clearly spoken in an EVP
• Intelligent responses to questions
• Unexplained noises in an otherwise empty building

Some of the responses we have received lately (in EVPs) are clearly of a religious nature - part of the "Hail Mary" and references to "the naked cross".

We have noticed that we often hear things that suggest intelligent chatter about us. "Come away, they can 't see us" and "they can't see the naked cross."

As we are unable to state emphatically that these EVPs are really messages from the other side - no one knows, though everyone has their own opinion - our only option is to continue to investigate and publish any findings or so called, evidence, so that we can all make up our own minds about it.

I am looking forward to continuing my quest to answer my probably unanswerable questions.