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

Ireland Trip Part 17: Trinity College and a Ghostly Legend

Don't Walk Under the Trinity Bell Tower when Bell Tolls!

This is Part 16 of our Ireland Trip blog, and our walking history tour with Garvan. We call this blog: Trinity College and a  Ghostly Legend. Garvan was our "Dublin Tour Guide" and you can find him at www.dublintourguide.ie/.

TRINITY COLLEGE- One of the stops during the tour of important places in Dublin was Trinity College. Trinity College, known in full as the College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth. It's a research university and the sole constituent college of the University of Dublin in Ireland. It was founded in 1592!

BELL-TOLLING SUPERSTITION - Garvan told us that students are told not to walk under the bell tower in the Front Square. Because if the bell tolls while someone is under it, they will fail your exams. 

copy of Book of Kells

 
WHY WAS TRINITY COLLEGE ESTABLISHED? It was set up in part to consolidate the rule of the Tudor monarchy in Ireland, and it was seen as the university of the Protestant Ascendancy for much of its history. It is  is located on College Green, opposite the former Irish Houses of Parliament.

WHAT IS THE BOOK OF KELLS AT THE COLLEGE? - The Book of Kells  is an ornate/artistic manuscript Gospel book in Latin, containing the four Gospels of the New Testament together with various prefatory texts and tables. It was created in a Columban monastery in either Britain or Ireland or may have had contributions from various Columban institutions from both Britain and Ireland. It is believed to have been created around 800 AD. It's kept in the university under glass.
     It's a big attraction there.  The day we were there, there was a long line of people waiting to see it. We skipped it and caught a copy of it in another building that Garvan took us into (off-campus). 

 

Standing in one of Trinity College's squares

THE GHOSTLY DARK FIGURE -Trinity college is known for a dark shadow figure that walks around outside in the college "squares."
  According to the book "Haunted Ireland" published by Picture Press, the ghost is that of Dr. Samuel Clossey.
  Clossey was the head of the College's practice of medicine from 1786 to 1803. He is Reputed to have dug up corpses from graves to conduct medical experiments on them. In addition, there's a story that two of his medical students went missing and were suspected of being killed by the doctor. 
  The ghostly figure is reputed to be carrying a case containing medical instruments in one hand, and a sack full of body parts in another hand. 

UPKEEP OF THE BUILDINGS - While we were walking through the college "squares" we saw construction workers installing new cobblestones. It was pretty impressive how they had to take measurements over and over again and carefully place the cobblestones one at a time. It seems like a process that takes a long time! 

Builders were actually laying new cobblestones on campus

NEXT:  LEINSTER HOUSE, PARLIMENT AND TEA TIME

Ireland Trip Part 16: Wolfe Tone, his "Shiny Sack," St. Stephen's Green

St. Stephen's Green

This is Part 16 of our Ireland Trip blog, and our walking history tour with Garvan. We call this blog: Wolfe Tone and his "Shiny Sack." It's about another historic figure in Ireland, but with a fun twist on a statue erected in his honor.  

    Garvan is the "Dublin Tour Guide" and you can find him at www.dublintourguide.ie/.

ST. STEPHEN'S GREEN PARK - This large park of grass, trees and flowers sits in downtown Dublin, and reminded us of the "Boston Common" in Boston, Massachusetts, or Central Park in New York City (although not that large). The current landscape of the park was designed by William Sheppard, and it opened to the public on July 27, 1880. The park is rectangular in size and is bordered by 4 main streets. It's 22 acres (89,000 m²) and it is the largest of the parks in Dublin's main Georgian garden squares.

Although open to the public today, St. Stephen's Green was once a private gated garden owned by the wealthy upper class that built their grand Georgian style townhouses around the outer perimeter of the park; only these homeowners had keys to the gates of the park. This "arrangement" is very common in the U.K. and still exists today throughout the wealthier neighborhoods of London.

Wolfe Tone, Credit:Wikimedia Commons

Wolfe Tone, Credit:Wikimedia Commons

WHO WAS WOLFE TONE? - Theobald Wolfe Tone, known as Wolfe Tone after his death was a leading Irish revolutionary figure. He was a founding member of the United Irishmen and is regarded as the father of Irish republicanism. He was involved in several uprisings against the British that all ended badly. The 1798 Uprising was a military catastrophe. 

   He was also involved in a French raid at Donegal, Ireland in 1798 but was captured and court-marshalled.  Before he was to be executed, it is believed that Wolfe Tone attempted suicide. He subsequently died from mortal wounds eight days afterwards, thus avoiding being hanged as a convicted traitor to the British Crown for his involvement in the 1798 Irish Rebellion.   Garvan told us that he is looked upon as a hero to the people of Ireland

Wolfe Tone statue

WOLFE TONE'S STATUE AND "SHINY SACK" - At one end of St. Stephen's Green stands a statue of Wolfe Tone in the middle of a cobblestone courtyard. We were told that behind the statue stones are stacked to resemble a "Stonehenge." 

   LOCAL FUN - Here's where the "Shiny sack" part comes in. We were also told that locals like to give people and statues a "pat" for luck. Garvan asked us to look closely at Wolfe Tone's dull metallic statue and notice where the most "shiny" part of it was located. He said that's where people walk by and give it a "pat." 

  The shiniest place? Wolfe Tone's groin! 

  Of course there were pats all around. :) 

NEXT: TRINITY COLLEGE AND A GHOSTLY LEGEND