13 Haunting Places in Ireland to Visit in This Lifetime

If you celebrate St. Patrick's Day in America, it's obligatory to familiarize yourself with its country of origin beyond all of the fun and games. In the celebratory spirits of the year's greenest day, Camille DeAngelis is sharing her top picks of the scariest and the most fascinating places in Ireland.

Given its tragic history and vibrant folklore, Ireland seems to have more than its share of creepy places. In the course of my research for Moon Ireland (as well as my latest novel, Immaculate Heart) I've gone for a late-night wander through the monastic ruins at Glendalough as a thick swell of fog rolled in over the headstones; I've wedged myself inside a passage tomb older than the Pyramids, using my iPhone flashlight to see the spiral carvings on the walls; I've been the only living soul in a 16th-century castle B&B, waking at five in the morning to the sound of two sharp knocks on my door. (I could go on!)

It would be impossible to choose a favorite haunted (or at least haunting) spot, but in honor of St. Patrick's Day, here are a few Irish places I've found particularly memorable.

01
Downhill Estate, County Derry

Downhill Estate, County Derry

The 18th-century Downhill Castle, home of Bishop Frederick Augustus Hervey, is one of the most haunting ruins on the island. Looking at the sky through every window frame, it takes a bit of effort to imagine the naughty bishop sprinkling talcum powder down the bedroom corridor to see which of his guests were hooking up in the middle of the night. Perched on a nearby cliff, Mussenden Temple was designed to be a library hideaway for the bishop's cousin (and rumored lover), Frideswide Mussenden, but she died young — worn out with scandal, so they say — and the Roman-style folly was finished as her memorial.

02
Dark Hedges, County Antrim

Dark Hedges, County Antrim

Better known as the Kingsroad on Game of Thrones, this tunnel formed of gnarled old beech trees is shiveringly picturesque. The owner of nearby Gracehill House planted more than 150 of them in the late 18th century to create a pretty avenue, though only ninety or so beeches remain. The Dark Hedges have their own ghost, an unidentified "gray lady" who vanishes as she passes the last tree on the avenue.

03
Grace Neill's Pub, County Down

Grace Neill's Pub, County Down

Vying for the title of the island's oldest pub, the delightfully atmospheric King's Arms in Donaghdee was later renamed Grace Neill's after its much-beloved elderly bartender, who died in 1916. Locals insist Grace was so at home here that she never really left — that they occasionally spot her out of the corner of their eye, polishing glasses or sweeping the floor!

04
The Janus Stone, County Fermanagh

The Janus Stone, County Fermanagh

The Janus figure on Boa Island on Lower Lough Erne is a striking Celtic idol, roughly 2,000 years old. The effigies on either side of the stone have pear-shaped heads and crossed arms; one is bearded and the other is said to be female, though it's rather hard to tell! The hollow at the top of the stone may have been used to hold sacrificial blood, but these days fortunately all you'll find are a few coins in the rainwater.

05
Sligo Abbey
Flickr user Sligo Abbey

Sligo Abbey

Sligo Abbey has several intriguing effigies and burial markers, and it also served as inspiration for Bram Stoker's Dracula. Stoker's mother Charlotte Thornley lived in Sligo Town during the 1832 cholera epidemic, and years later she would captivate her son with firsthand stories of still-living victims struggling to pull themselves out of mass graves, bodies piled on the altar in the abbey's church, and heavy rainfall dislodging the shallow burials in the churchyard. Thornley's diary is on display at the abbey's visitor center.

06
Harry Clarke's Last Judgment, County Mayo

Harry Clarke's Last Judgment, County Mayo

You can see the brilliant work of stained-glass artist Harry Clarke all over Ireland, but the Last Judgment altar window at St. Patrick's Church in Newport is arguably his most memorable. Clarke's depiction of hell features a grotesque tableau of damned souls and other monsters — and, taking after Michelangelo, the artist snuck his own self portrait in among them.

07
Loughcrew Cairns, County Meath

Loughcrew Cairns, County Meath

Everyone knows about the megalithic burial complex at Newgrange, but the hilltop passage tombs at nearby Loughcrew are just as awe inspiring and more beautifully situated. The Irish name is Sliabh na Caillighe, "hill of the witch," and if you climb up here on a gloomy day you can almost believe the legend that these peaks were formed by a giant beldam dropping stones from her pocket as she leapt across County Meath.

08
St. Michan's Church, Dublin
Flickr user Jennifer Boyer

St. Michan's Church, Dublin

North of the Liffey, St. Michan's Church offers some of the most macabre sightseeing in Europe. The crypt's limestone walls draw the moisture out of the air, leaving the bodies interred there relatively well preserved; and because coffins in the tiny family crypts are customarily stacked three or more high, over time the boxes collapse and the mummies are exposed. Talk about a gruesome way to contemplate your own mortality!

09
Malahide Castle, County Dublin

Malahide Castle, County Dublin

Fourteen men of the Talbot family took their breakfast in the banquet hall at Malahide Castle before riding out to fight in the Battle of the Boyne in 1690, but only one of them came home again. The other 13 are still around, though, in a manner of speaking. Another Malahide ghost is Puck, the sentry-jester who hanged himself from the musicians' gallery in the dining room and has frequently reappeared to spook the staff, though he hasn't been spotted in a few decades now.

10
Leap Castle, County Offaly
Flickr user Michnessiest

Leap Castle, County Offaly

The spirits at Leap Castle are even more colorful: the man who murdered his brother, a priest, in what's known as the "bloody chapel" on the top floor of the tower in 1532; a bizarre entity with a human body and the head of a sheep who emanates a foul odor; and two little girls who fell from the ramparts at different times in the 19th century, among others. Over the past 25 years, though, musician Sean Ryan has done a beautiful job building a home out of the ruins, so that if you do notice a see-through elderly gentleman in the rocking chair by the open fire, you might feel oddly comforted instead of frightened!

11
The Aran Islands, County Galway
Flickr user Eric Mill

The Aran Islands, County Galway

John Millington Synge, the Anglo-Irish playwright and folklorist, spent a great deal of time on the Aran Islands circa 1900 soaking up the traditional culture. He was struck by how calmly the islanders lived with the likely prospect of an early death, as fishermen were frequently drowned during storms. In his travelogue The Aran Islands, Synge wrote of a funeral for a young man whose body washed ashore three weeks after he was swept overboard. An older coffin in the family plot had to be broken up in order to make space for the new burial, allowing the mother of the drowned man to reach into the grave to pull out the skull of her own mother.

12
Rag Trees

Rag Trees

"Rag trees" are devotional in nature, usually appearing near holy wells. Catholics will tie scraps of clothing to the branches or leave other belongings of loved ones in need of prayers. The resulting scene is often quite poignant, even eerie: you might find baby shoes, pacifiers, stuffed animals, jewelry, teacups, and more.

13
Kyteler's Pub, Kilkenny
Flickr user Stephen Hanafin

Kyteler's Pub, Kilkenny

Kilkenny's most infamous resident was Dame Alice Kyteler, tried for witchcraft in 1324 after four husbands died in suspiciously quick succession. Dame Alice managed to escape, but her loyal maid was burned at the stake. You can go for a pint or dinner in her old sitting room on St. Kieran's Street.