Ballygally Castle

Ballygally Castle is in the village of Ballygally, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, located approximately 3 miles (5 kilometres) north of Larne. The castle overlooks the sea at the head of Ballygally Bay. Now run as a hotel, it is the only 17th century building still used as a residence in Northern Ireland, and is reputed to be one of the most haunted places in all of Ulster.[1]

Ballygally Castle
General information
TypeCastle
LocationBallygally, County Antrim, Northern Ireland
Coordinates54°53′56″N 5°51′40″W
Completed1625
Design and construction
ArchitectJames Shaw

Features

The castle is described as "a living postcard—a charming, almost teal-colored Scottish baronial castle overlooking the sea in Northern Ireland."[2][3][4]

History

The castle was built in 1625 by James Shaw, of Scotland, who had come to the area and rented the land from the Earl of Antrim for £24 a year.[5] Over the main entrance door to the castle, leading to the tower, is the Middle Scots inscription "Godis Providens is my Inheritans".[4] The bawn and walled garden are registered as Scheduled Historic Monuments at grid ref: D3725 0781.[6]

Reputed hauntings

The castle is reputed to host a number of ghosts. The small room in the corner turret of the castle is known as "The Ghost Room" and is not used as a room in the hotel.[2]

In 2003, manager Olga Henry had said after spending some time in the hotel, "I'm sort of very skeptical about the whole supernatural thing and ghosts. But the more I stay here and work here, the more I think there's definitely something in this hotel."[2] According to Henry, one guest was staying in one of the rooms in the tower beneath the "Ghost Room" and in the middle of the night he awoke and thought he was at home and one of his children had laid a hand on his back. He woke up and said that he could a hear a child running about the room and laughing but nothing could be seen so he ran into the lobby in his boxers shorts in fright.[2] In December 2003, Henry had set up the "Dungeon Room" in the tower as they were expecting guests and ordered the table neatly in preparation for meal. She locked the room and later checked up on it and the table was now a mess with unfolded napkins and glasses with an unusual scum around them were now arranged in a circle on the table.[2] Mediums spending the night at the castle have often reported that they've detected more ghosts than there were guests actually staying at the hotel. [2]

  • Turret Room
  • Staircase
  • Ghost Room
  • Plaque

See also

References
  1. "Haunted Ulster". BBC. Retrieved 28 May 2011.
  2. Belanger, Jeff (January 2009). World's Most Haunted Places. The Rosen Publishing Group. p. 16. ISBN 978-1-4358-5178-8.
  3. O'Neill, B (ed). (2002). Irish Castles and Historic Houses. London: Caxton Editions. p. 18.
  4. "Ballgally Castle". Celtic castles. Archived from the original on 23 July 2011. Retrieved 28 May 2011.
  5. Huston, Cleburne (1968). Bold legacy; the story of the Houston-Huston ancestors: 1150 to 1800. Printed by Texian Press. p. 87.
  6. "Ballygalley" (PDF). Scheduled Historic Monuments (2015). Northern Ireland Environment Agency. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 April 2015. Retrieved 21 April 2015.
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