Haunted Irish Castles
by Four of the most famous haunted castles in Irish history. Each one steeped in as much horrific history as the next.
Another ghost is that of Peter Carey who was the constable of the castle before the job was returned to Sorely Boy by Sir John Perrot. To celebrate his return Sorely Boy hung the misfortunate Carey from the South East Tower. Peter Carey’s ghost is still seen in the tower in a flowing purple cloak and long dark ponytail.
Carrickfergus Castle
Carrickfergus Castle was founded in 1185 by Norman adventurers exploring Ireland. One of these adventurers was John de Courcy who had heard a prophecy the Ulster would be conquered by a white knight, riding a white horse and with two golden birds of prey upon his shield. De Courcy was convinced that the prophecy was speaking of him he banded together an army and led a bloody campaign to capture Ulster. Eventually the castle was taken over by King John who made it an English government building for several centuries.
The story of the unlucky ghost of Carrickfergus Castle is unusual. Robert Rainy was a soldier that was stationed at the castle in the 1700’s. he was a man with a wild and bad reputation until he fell in love with a woman called Betsy Baird. He vowed to her that he would give up in restless wild ways if she married him and she accepted his proposal. What Rainy did not know was that Betsy was involved with the brother of his commanding officer. When Rainy discovered that Betsy was unfaithful he flew into an uncontrollable rage and when he ran into his fiancées lover he ran him through with his sword. After the murder Rainy simply re-sheathed his weapon before returning to his quarters and washing the blood from his sword. Stationed at the same castle was a soldier called Timothy Lavery who looked almost identical to Robert Rainey. Before the soldier that Rainy murdered died he was able to tell his brother what happened but he insisted that Lavery, not Rainy was his attacker. Unlucky for Lavery he was tried and sentenced to death for the murder of the commander, despite his pleas of innocence. It is rumoured that as the noose was put around Lavery’s neck that he vowed to haunt the castle forever. Rainey confessed to the truth many years later but still Timothy Lavery’s ghost continues to hover around the old well inside the castle grounds.
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