Ireland Trip Blog #71: Dublin's Haunted "Mansion House"

In Blog #71 of our Ireland trip, we take you to one more location in Dublin before heading home. We ventured over to  Dublin's Haunted "Mansion House."

Mansion House

WHAT IS MANSION HOUSE? - The Mansion House was built in 1710 by the merchant and property developer Joshua Dawson, after whom Dawson Street is named. Dublin Corporation purchased the house in 1715 for assignment as the official residence of the Lord Mayor. Since 1715, this building used to be the residence of Dublin's "Lord Mayors." It is now a conference center and the home to the "Fire" Restaurant. It's located at Dawson St, Dublin 2, Ireland. The Mansion House's most famous features include the "Round Room", where the First Dáil assembled on 21 January 1919 to proclaim the Irish Declaration of Independence.

GETTING A GHOST - As we approached the front left room of the mansion I developed a headache in the back left side of my head, where I usually get one when I'm in the presence of an earth-bound ghost or spirit that crossed over. I knew there was a ghost in the building, though and the headache increased as I walked toward the back of building.

SO, WHO HAUNTS THE MANSION HOUSE? - Well, again, since we couldn't get inside, it was hard to get a bead on who was walking around in there, but I later found some stories about encounters. In 2013, Naoise O Muiri, the Lord Mayor of Dublin at the time told the Irish Sun newspaper about a haunting. He said that in December, his two young daughters  Ailbhe and Briona ran into his bedroom at night. They claimed they saw a young girl with black curly hair sitting in front of the television at 3 a.m.

Ghost girl watching TV

ANOTHER DOGGONE ENCOUNTER - IN 2009, Eibhlin Byrne, a previous Lord Mayor reported that his dog behaved "unusually" in one part of the building and would not walk past a door in the upstairs hallway (That's because dogs can see and hear ghosts).

WHO IS THE GHOST GIRL? -  There are stories about "someone" dying in an upstairs room, but there is no other information. Perhaps it was the daughter of another Lord Mayor. Or it may have been the wife of a previous Lord Mayor who appears as a girl (because ghosts appear to others as when they were most comfortable with their appearance in life). Since we couldn't go inside, we'll just have to keep guessing.

NEXT: THE FINAL IRELAND BLOG: PantiBar, Stinky Air, and a Superhero Pilot