Subject: MIBs And Other Things.  Part 4.                            Mar. 
23, 2011.

  This talks about haunted castles.

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Mary then stood up and said “please, follow me.” We walked down the
hallway into a study and library. “This is where my father resides.”
Mary stated. “I hear his footsteps and moans every night.” I was
speechless. I asked her if she would mind if I tried to communicate with
her father. She said “No, that’s not necessary. He wouldn’t
understand…besides, he talks to me every evening.”

I did purchase the items and the steamer trunk. The signed photograph of
King George V of Great Britain remains in my collection and continues to
remind me of the sad Irish immigrant who simply wanted to see home one
more time.

*NOTE: this incident actually took place as described. Mary's recall of
history may not have been totally correct but I felt that the encounter
should be written as stated in her words. I continued to purchase pieces
from Mary for several years after our original meeting. Sadly, Mary
passed away in 2002 while on holiday...in Ireland. I fondly remember a
phrase she would repeat each time we would depart company.../"may the
rocks in your field turn to gold."/ I was told her father's ashes were
sent to Ireland to be mixed with Mary's ashes and scattered at an
undisclosed location...Lon*

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*Ireland's Haunted Castles...Proceed With Caution!*

*Clonony Castle
Shannon Harbour, County Offaly*

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_iq2vQY1Jeaw/SU_xWGKdFoI/AAAAAAAAKPs/IDZMP-TYhgI/s1600-h/castle-cloney.jpg
Built in the 16th century, the great ruins of this tower are the home of a
mysterious ghost that no-one has been able to identify. A man,
surrounded by a hazy, eerie light, stands at the top of the tower
wearing old-fashioned clothes. This tall, gaunt figure is regularly seen
by people driving by the castle and the description of the man has
always been the same. Irish castles are usually not visited by such
mysterious apparitions from the Beyond.

*Charleville Forest Castle
Tullamore, County Offaly*

With luminous balls of ghostly light appearing throughout the castle,
and the ghost of Charles Bury, First Earl of Charleville haunting a
tower, the Charleville Forest Castle is an eerie place of strange
sights, include an Initiation Circle left over from the Druids. Thanks
to the fact that this haunted castle of Ireland provides accommodations
for the night, ghost hunters can bed down here to search for the s-crets
of its uncanny events.

*Kilkea Castle
Castledermot, County Kildare*

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_iq2vQY1Jeaw/SU_xeB_y3TI/AAAAAAAAKP0/UP9gEZuN-gk/s1600-h/castle-kilkea.jpg
High on a wall in the rear of this castle, an erotic carving of bizarre
half-human, half-animal figures indicates to all who approach that
Kilkea Castle is not for the faint of heart. This carving, known as the
E-il Eye Stone, is not the only unusual feature of this haunted castle
of Ireland. It is said that every seven years, the ghost of Earl Gerald
rises from the grave to rid Ireland of its enemies. Time your visit to
this haunted Irish castle right, and you may catch a glimpse of the Earl
as he sets out on his spectral mission.

*Killua Castle
Clonmellon, County Westmeath*

Famed as the family seat of the great T.E. Lawrence (Lawrence of
Arabia), Killua Castle was abandoned long ago. Nevertheless, its former
visitors often heard strange sounds in the middle of the night.

The walls of Killua Castle are said to be guarded by a white specter at
night, and a vile-looking figure was often seen inside the ruins. This
hideous apparition is believed to be Jacky Dalton, a land steward from
the 18th century who swindled his master out of great sums of money.

He was said to be a small but wily man who drank all his ill-gotten
gains and committed s-icide by throwing himself into the lake. If you
are possessed of steely nerves and you wish to glean the knowledge of
Ireland haunted castles, Killua can give you a glimpse into the eerie
and uncanny.

*Leap Castle
County Offaly*

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_iq2vQY1Jeaw/SU_xjBre15I/AAAAAAAAKP8/tSETizypFj4/s1600-h/castle-leap.jpg
Visit Leap Castle only if you are willing to dare a glimpse of the life and
unlife. Standing out among Ireland haunted castles, Leap is said to be
one of the most haunted castles of Ireland.

Even the locals who are supposed to "know better" avoid it after the sun
goes down. Some have described seeing the windows at the top of the
castle lighting up brilliantly for no reason whatsoever. Another
presence is said to give off a ghastly odor.

The ghosts in Leap Castle are angry specters...and with good reason.

Within its walls lie se-rets of a dark and d-adly past. Over 400 years
ago, during High Mass, a priest was m-rdered by his own brother in what
is now called the "b-oody chapel".

The dungeon was also a source of excruciating pain and unendurable
misery for tortured prisoners as they waited for the sweet release of
de-th. With such notorious implements as thumbscrews, the rack, and the
iron maiden, there was no end to the pain this den of misery subjected
its denizens to.

Around the year 1900, workmen hired to clean out Leap Castle pulled up
the drop floor of the dungeon and discovered human skeletons piled on
top of each other as though they were tossed in like cordwood. Dea-h was
everywhere in Leap Castle. And now, it lingers in the very living stone.

If the bizarre, the frightful, and the inexplicable do not dissuade you,
Leap Castle is the destination where you can test your mettle against
all things that go bump in the night.

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*Sightings of 'White Lady' Prompt Investigations in County Tyrone*

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_iq2vQY1Jeaw/SrEj7eQJjKI/AAAAAAAAPc0/W_Xc-k0T8p4/s1600-h/gallery-tyrone-ghost-stor-006.jpg
NOTE: these sightings near Coalisland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland
have been reported since December 2008 and sporadically long before that
time. I have posted below previous media reports since the activity
started to increase 10 months ago...Lon

dailymail.co.uk
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1109642/Ghost-hunters-flock-tiny-village-dozens-locals-spooked-mysterious-white-lady.html
- The numerous ghoulish encounters with a mysterious 'white lady' has
prompted many to believe they had met a supernatural being.

Over the past six weeks there have been dozens of sightings of the
apparition near the ruins of a remote farmhouse in near Coalisland in Co
Tyrone.

Convinced that the sightings are true - rather than the result of one
too many pints of Guinness - convoys of ghost hunters have flocked to
the dip in the road where she was seen.

Up to 60 cars have been spotted parked on the side of the road at
midnight, causing traffic jams in the usually desolate area.

Villagers who have spotted the ghost say it looks like an old woman with
a sad expression.

However, none have so far been able to describe the features of her face
in any detail.

The spot where the ghost was spotted could perhaps best be described as
a 'ghost's paradise'.

The damp crumbling walls on the ruined house where the ghost was spotted
still bear the scorch marks from a fire.

Broken doors now creak in the wind and tree branches scratch against the
collapsed roof. The birds in the trees are strangely silent.

Ryan Bell, the son of the local landlord Raymond, claims he has seen the
ghost more than 20 times.

'I was freaked out the first time I saw her, but now I'm getting used to
it,' he said. 'It looks like an old small woman with a shining white cape.

'When you drive by the run-down house, the figure emerges from the trees
and crosses the road in front of you before coming to a halt in the same
place each time.

'It's definitely a creepy experience. You can only see the profile of
her face but she appears sad.'

P-ranormal experts are now heading to the area with thermal imaging
cameras and high frequency voice recorders in the hope of verifying the
sightings.

Warren Coates, of the Northern Ireland Pa-anormal Research Association,
said he was aware of previous paranormal activity in the area.

'It related to a phantom female hitchhiker, who caused a stir five years
ago,' he said. 'Drivers would see her on the side of the road with her
thumb out. When they pulled up to offer her a lift, she would vanish.

'Sometimes she would walk across the road in front of cars. But when
drivers swerved to avoid her, she disappeared. These sightings were
about a mile away from the latest sightings.'

Mr Coates, who set up his par-normal organization in 1991, believes the
ghost might be a woman who has died in a car crash in the area.

Others, however, are more sceptical and believe the apparition is a hoax.

Desmond Donnelly, a Sinn Féin councillor, said: 'At one point, there was
a line of up to 60 cars on the road with people trying to spot it.

'It wasn't just one night, it was going on for a week or so over the
holidays. I'm not sure how it all started - I wouldn't be one for
ghosts, but you know how this type of thing spreads.

'If you ask me, it's more likely to be a reflection of the moon on the
river that flows through the area. Although the talk is that what was
seen was in the shape of a person.'

Part 4.

John Winston.  johnfw@mlode.com