New here, just saying hello :)

Spirals

Hi all,

Just found this site and thought I'd sign up! There aren't nearly enough irish paranormal sites out there so I'm delighted to have found this one.

I've been interested in the paranormal all my life. I've had a lot of experiences, as has my Mum, so maybe it's been passed down to me. Despite my interest and my experiences, I would still call myself a sceptic. Not necessarily meaning that I doubt what I've seen/heard/felt, just that I don't know what it is and that I try to be as rational and logical as possible.

The first experience I remember having goes back to when I was about 3 or 4 years old. It happened in Donadea forest park, just outside Celbridge in Kildare. I was there with my Dad and my brother (who is a year older than me) We were going for a walk through the forest when my brother noticed an old tractor just off the track and being a huge fan of anything mechanical, wanted to go play on it. At this point I noticed a little boy playing on the tractor and said something along the lines of 'You have to wait til the little boy is finished' to my brother. The tractor would only have been about 15 - 20 feet away from us, but my Dad, standing there rubbing his eyes, saw absolutely nothing. My brother seemed to see the boy at this point and the two of us stood there, watching him and waiting til he was finished playing. My Dad was fairly unnerved by this. He even started walking over towards the tractor to see what we were staring at! At this point I said 'Oh he's running away now' and my brother headed off and climbed up on the tractor. There was nothing strange about this at all to us, it was exactly like waiting our turn to play on something in a playground. My Dad saw and heard nothing and he told me years later that he couldn't wait to get us all out of there! He also told me that I mentioned as we were leaving 'the boy in the yellow tshirt' but I honestly don't remember anything at all about how the boy looked. It was a long time ago!
Interestingly enough, I have always found Donadea to be a really creepy place. There's a definite feeling of being watched as you walk through the forest and I don't like the atmosphere there at all after it starts to get dark. I also have a lot of photos of 'orbs' from here (although I really don't know what 'orbs' are, if anything!) I'd love to know if other people have had experiences here but I have no idea of how to go about finding out!

I have had so many experiences over the years and not enough time to type them all out now but I'll certainly share them if anyone is interested.

Thanks for reading

Laura

6th

Hi Spirals,

6th here (the guy who pointed you in this direction ) - great to have a new poster sharing their experiences. Have a look at this thread http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2054896242 and put your experiences in there if you like - seems to be the best place for them.

Again welcome and stick around.

6th

Spirals

Thanks again 6th, I'll post in the other thread later today

Laura

Saruman

In relation to orbs... mostly they are dust or insects. When you take a pic and the flash goes off the light bounces off them and they show up as strange orb like lights etc.. some even appear to have faces if you are looking for this kind of thing!
You can test this yourself.. take 2 pictures of the same area in a place you are sure is pretty dust free. Take one normal pic then another after shaking a rug or duster etc around... Little or no orbs in the first one.. loads in the second.
However as far as i know there are supposed to be real Orbs which you can capture WITHOUT a flash and are a manifastation of energy or ghosts or whatever you want to call it.

Welcome

6th

I think when people give locations now we should try to find out a little about the places.

History: Donadea originally belonged to the Bermingham family and it passed into the hands of the Aylmers in the first half of the 16th century. The ruin is an accumulation of rebuilding over the centuries and is a fascinating succession from a Norman keep, which can be readily distinguished, to a 1624 house, a 1775 reconstruction and a further reconstruction when the wings were enclosed in the 1830s. The last of the line of Donadea Aylmers died in 1935.

6th

Looks like a very nice area. Am going to dig into it a bit and maybe contact the history society (yes they have one) for Donadea. The forest and grounds seem to be looked after by Coilte who also manage the grounds for Masseys Estate and the Hellfire Club.

Spirals

Yes, there is a small church and graveyard behind the house which is absolutely full of Aylmers and is well worth a look, from a historical perspective. I remember once looking through the graves for children and obviously found some there but had no idea how I could take it any further. The castle is very impressive (thanks for the pic 6th!) and while it can be a little creepy after dark (especially considering it's full of bats!) I always found the forest surrounding the castle far scarier. You really feel like someone's watching you in there.

6th...if there's any way I could help with finding out more about this please let me know.

Laura

PS Saruman...thanks for the post about 'orbs'. I was never really convinced by them! The pics I have from Donadea are interesting though as they were taken with a manual camera and do look slightly different to most I've seen. I must dig them out and find someone with a scanner so you can have a look at them!

Saruman

Oh that picture looks familiar.. pretty sure i was there as a kid too Did not see anything strange.. too busy runing around and climbing that ruin

stevenmu

Welcome to the forum Spirals.

Spirals wrote:

I always found the forest surrounding the castle far scarier. You really feel like someone's watching you in there.

I noticed that too. I used to go there as a kid and walking around the paths it always seemed like there were things watching me from the trees. I'd forgotten all about it till I read this thread

fabcat

Whereabouts is this place? I really like old buildings like this

6th

its in kildare not too far outside lexlip.

Spirals

stevenmu wrote:

Welcome to the forum Spirals.

I noticed that too. I used to go there as a kid and walking around the paths it always seemed like there were things watching me from the trees. I'd forgotten all about it till I read this thread

Delighted to hear I'm not the only one! Wouldn't it be great to do an investigation here? I haven't been to Donadea in years and I'd love to go back

stevenmu

From the coillte site:

Location: Donadea Forest Park is located 8km south of Kilcock on the R407 to Naas and is also accessible via the R407 about 13km north of Naas on the Kilcock road. It can be found on discovery map number 49, grid reference N-838 332.

Spirals wrote:

Delighted to hear I'm not the only one! Wouldn't it be great to do an investigation here? I haven't been to Donadea in years and I'd love to go back

I'm thinking the same thing. Do you know is it accessable at night ?

Spirals

stevenmu wrote:

From the coillte site:

Location: Donadea Forest Park is located 8km south of Kilcock on the R407 to Naas and is also accessible via the R407 about 13km north of Naas on the Kilcock road. It can be found on discovery map number 49, grid reference N-838 332.


I'm thinking the same thing. Do you know is it accessable at night ?

I know they lock the gate at night so the carpark wouldn't be accessible but I'm sure we could arrange something with them (there'd be nothing stopping people going in on foot). As far as I remember, there's a cottage just down from the main entrance and they are responsible for locking the gates.

6th

Coilte are pretty cool and i'm sure we could arrange something.

Steven, Spirals ....seems like a mission?

Spirals

6th wrote:

Coilte are pretty cool and i'm sure we could arrange something.

Steven, Spirals ....seems like a mission?

Count me in! I likes a good mission

6th

Spirals wrote:

Count me in! I likes a good mission

Count you in? You started this one!

Only posting a couple of hours and already you're kicking off an investigation - all hail Spirals!

Spirals

6th wrote:

Count you in? You started this one!

Only posting a couple of hours and already you're kicking off an investigation - all hail Spirals!

LOL I do my best

stormkeeper

6th wrote:

Looks like a very nice area. Am going to dig into it a bit and maybe contact the history society (yes they have one) for Donadea. The forest and grounds seem to be looked after by Coilte who also manage the grounds for Masseys Estate and the Hellfire Club.

I was there years back for a school tour... didn't know it was haunted at the time though. It predates any of my real interest in the paranormal. I wish I knew if I took a picture of that place.

What would be funny is if I still remember the area. I think Donadea is easily the Epping of Ireland... I'll tell you on Wednesday for definate though.

Welcome btw

Spirals

Kennett wrote:

I was there years back for a school tour... didn't know it was haunted at the time though. It predates any of my real interest in the paranormal. I wish I knew if I took a picture of that place.

What would be funny is if I still remember the area. I think Donadea is easily the Epping of Ireland... I'll tell you on Wednesday for definate though.

Welcome btw

Epping Forest?? I remember reading somehwere about that place being haunted. I have a bookcase full of ghost books! Wasn't there also some incident with Most Haunted and Epping Forest?

Thanks for the welcome

Laura

stormkeeper

Spirals wrote:

Epping Forest?? I remember reading somehwere about that place being haunted. I have a bookcase full of ghost books! Wasn't there also some incident with Most Haunted and Epping Forest?

As far as I know it's quite haunted... as I said, I'm going up there tomorrow to check it out. Gonna look at arranging an investigation there too down the line. I wasn't aware that MH visited Epping Forest, but I'd say it is quite possible. By the way, if you're interested in looking at some pics that were taken on investigations that myself, 6th and a few of the others were on, as well as other places I've been, check out the gallery on www.irishparanormal.org

Hope you enjoy your stay here ^_^

Thanks for the welcome

Laura

You're welcome

Zillah

6th wrote:

Coilte are pretty cool and i'm sure we could arrange something.

Steven, Spirals ....seems like a mission?

My father is one of the executives, maybe I could ask him

No promises like, but the option is there.

6th

Sure no harm asking his advice on how to go about getting access to places they manage. They cover so many of the parks and estates of ireland.

Spirals

How would we go about arranging something like this? I challenge anyone to go to Donadea at night and not pick up the atmosphere in there!

Zillah....It would be great if you could ask your father where we'd stand re getting access to Donadea at night. I'd say they'd be fine with it as long as they know we're there for a legitimate reason

Kennett...Can't wait to hear how it goes in Epping! I had a look at those pics earlier. They're really interesting. Need more time with my PC to get through everything!

stormkeeper

Spirals wrote:

Kennett...Can't wait to hear how it goes in Epping! I had a look at those pics earlier. They're really interesting. Need more time with my PC to get through everything!

People shall be informed sometime on Wednesday of how things go... I'm looking forward to going ^_^

Those pictures are reduced in quality btw, so they don't fully represent what I've taken... the larger pics ar much better, though I haven't the space (screen and web) to upload 2048x15xx pictures, and I bet they'd be too big for everyone to look at... lol

GuanYin

Welcome contestant, try some more blamange!!!

(or perhaps just welcome )

solas

it's blancmange. (I don't just sit here doing nothing y'know)

hello to the newbie.

GuanYin

I am considering using my all-powerfulness to hide my mistake by erasing all evidence!!!!

Abuse of power wayhay!

solas

wish I had my wings back...

all hail the mighty and powerful PSI
mumbles..

6th

solas wrote:

wish I had my wings back...

Really?

solas

don't worry 6th, I'm just flirting with psi.. in a very blancmange type of way.

GuanYin

solas wrote:

don't worry 6th, I'm just flirting with psi.. in a very blancmange type of way.

Flirting? Well I'm the open minded type for the right girl!

ASL?

6th

Jeez, spring is in the air!

(sure we can always say we were possessed if we did anything regreted )

Nevyn

Tis past spring it is the fact it has been beltaine

possessed eh ?
I don't think the "it wasn't me I was channeling cassanova/mae west/pan/eros"
defense would get anyone very far.

6th

Thaedydal wrote:

Tis past spring it is the fact it has been beltaine

possessed eh ?
I don't think the "it wasn't me I was channeling cassanova/mae west/pan/eros"
defense would get anyone very far.

Sure it might be worth a try?

solas

thaed wrote:

I don't think the "it wasn't me I was channeling cassanova/mae west/pan/eros"
defense would get anyone very far.

psi wrote:

Flirting? Well I'm the open minded type for the right girl!

you do know all the best psychics are gay...apparantly.