Ireland Trip #49: A Weird Psychiatric Hospital and Personal Ghost Story

St. Finan's abandoned:

In our 49th blog entry (about  our 9 day trip to Ireland) we're going to tell you about an abandoned Psychiatric Hospital and personal ghost story we were told from someone we met.

ST. FINAN'S ABANDONED PSYCHIATRIC HOSPITAL MYSTERIES - Near our hotel in Killarney was an abandoned psychiatric hospital. According to the Irish Examiner newspaper, St. Finan’s had been in operation since 1852, when the first patients were admitted to the then Killarney District Lunatic Asylum.

POOR CONDITIONS - The Mental Health Commission  inspected the hospital in 2012 and said it was “beyond belief” service users were treated in such conditions with some detained against their will, according to the Irish Examiner.  The article said:
“Paint was peeling, plaster had fallen off the walls, there was mold in some areas, and the smell of urine in St Peter’s ward was strong.  It was closed down on September 25, 2012.

Another part of St. Finan's

HOSPITAL HISTORY - For the full story and history about St. Finan's, read the article from the Irish Examiner: www.irishexaminer.com/StFiniansCloses

SOME WEIRD THINGS WE LEARNED - The narrow windows in this institution were the "lock up" wards. There were a number of deaths within the hospital that were never investigated. People that died in the hospital were just buried on site (somewhere) and nothing was ever investigated.  We were also told that there was just one psychiatrist for every 1,000 patients -so care was obviously poor
    With the mysterious deaths and burials that occurred in the hospital, there are bound to be ghosts walking around in there. Just looking at the building from the outside was creepy enough!

The side view of St. Finan's

A PERSONAL GHOST STORY -  The following story was told to us from a gentleman we met- and was really moving, so we thought we would share it. The man, whom we will call "James" told us that after his father passed away, he visited his mother at her home and went to mow her yard. He said the lawnmower belt broke and he felt that he was pushed to look in a certain place in his dad's shed. It was there he found a replacement! He felt that his dad influenced him and said that it's quite unusual for a lawnmower belt to be replaced. However, he dad bought one, and directed him to it!

NEXT: KILLARNEY'S STAR WARS CONNECTION!