Haunted Dublin

Not gonna lie - I believe in the paranormal. I could've sworn I've experienced ghosts on more than one occasion, and while I used to be a skeptic about these things, right now I've just had enough experiences with them for my mind to be turned.

My friend Lester, who I was staying with in Dublin, and I took a guided walking tour with Hidden Dublin walking tours. It was roughly 1.5 hours for €13 on the Haunted Dublin tour, which I thought was a pretty decent price to see a side of Dublin which you wouldn't often encounter, and have a nice time listening to ghost stories.

On the evening that we went, our tour guide was Anna. She's born and bred Irish, and she was fabulous and an amazing storyteller.

The tour started on a square near Dublin Castle, and immediately Anna launched into stories of history and people who murdered people or people who simply disappeared. The story of the Walking Gallows, for instance, was interesting because we were standing right in the centre of the square where Lt Edward Heppenstall, the Walking Gallows himself, was said to have murdered dozens of people by hanging or strangling with a scarf, a makeshift gallows.

We were also told stories about a row of steps which used to be lined with prostitutes waiting for business, and how this very same row of steps was the place where several prostitutes were last seen, having disappeared.

We also made a quick stop near where the Hellfire Club first met, not far from Christchurch Cathedral. But that was only the first half of the walking tour - the bit which I found really interesting was the second half, when we went into St Audoen's Cathedral.

"St Audoen's arch and the old medieval walls"

It is old, the walls date back to the medieval ages, and even by day the building is imposing. But by night, it is creepy as hell. It's dark, there's no light, and only the moon provides any sort of illumination. And I promise you, it is haunted. (Anna, our tour guide, told us that it is said to be the most haunted building in Dublin. I do not question that one bit.)

The moment I walked in I knew that something had happened there regarding children. And I later found this curious, because Anna told us stories about a lady who stood watch by the gate, and it wasn't until later that she even mentioned that children were in any way involved. By the time she told us the story, I already knew that there were children involved.

What's more, a child had been tugging on my sleeve the whole time I was inside that small section of the building, standing by the gates and old Medieval walls, and listening to Anna talk.

It's a curious sensation, when you know that there's a spirit around, and he or she is interacting with you - if it's a nice spirit, you just let it be, and you're pretty calm for the most part. If it's a nasty spirit, everything in you is telling you that you shouldn't be there. (I'll get to that later.) And if someone else sees something you can't see, or feels something you can't feel, you freak out more than the person who's seeing it all.

Anyway, after Anna had told us about how illegitimate children would be abandoned at the gates of the church and was telling us about ghosts that she had herself experienced in the church, I was minding my own business just listening to her talk when I swear to you I saw a ghost. A blonde boy-child, sitting in a corner, the same boy-child who'd been tugging on my sleeve the entire night. Apparently, the same boy-child that several other people have seen before me.

I was a little surprised, but now that I think back on it I wonder if I had been too calm in just saying to the tour group that there was a child sitting there. The people who had been standing in the direction where I was looking panicked a little bit and moved behind me. But really, they didn't need to, because the child was harmless, very sweet and nice if a little bored. I promise you I am not lying.

Later, we went upstairs, to an old church garden, and this is where I got pretty freaked out for the first time really the entire night. I felt a heavy unfriendly presence, and it was like someone was pinching the back of my neck trying to hold me back a little, and also my legs started to go funny like they were heavy, and they had that pins and needles feeling though I was standing up properly.

We were told the story of the Green Lady who had been waiting for her lover, but the presence that I felt was an unfriendly male one, supposedly a new spirit to the area who had just moved into the space, so to speak. Just thinking about it isn't the most pleasant thing, so I'm not going to.

It's a tour definitely worth the €13, but not a tour for the faint of heart either. If you're in Dublin, I'd say it's one of the activities you shouldn't miss out on. 

The Hidden Dublin walking tours operate on Thursdays and Saturdays at 8PM starting near Dublin Castle. Tickets may be purchased directly from the guide or pre-ordered online here. This post was not sponsored in any way; all thoughts and opinions are my own.