High Park Convent, Drumcondra

Kivun Sotilas

I was just wondering if anyone from here has done any investigation into possible hauntings at High Park Convent. I guess most of you would know of the history of the building but if not here is some info:
http://www.netreach.net/~steed/portfolio/write/magdalene.html

"When the 133 graves at High Park were discovered, a huge cry went up among Irish society. What would become of these sad women and their legacy? Many of the graves were unmarked."

Probably shouldn't post this but I work in part of the building and have been told by many people of strange happenings they have experienced most recently a ruler flew up into the air from a desk and smashed mid air, leaving pieces all over the room.

Other things I have heard about from guards and other staff are voices being heard in places where no people are like crying and screaming. I am often here alone in the mornings and have heard things like very loud banging in the walls and doors slamming around the place.

I can only imagine it is worse in the parts of the building in which the girls were actually living.

Would be interesting for some to investigate the building I think.

6th

Very interesting, I went to college in a building off Summerhill which has a similar history I believe.

What is the building used for now?

Kivun Sotilas

6th wrote:

Very interesting, I went to college in a building off Summerhill which has a similar history I believe.

What is the building used for now?

One part of the building (the place the girls lived in I believe) is used as like a hostel thing for men who are homeless.

The other part is an organisation that rents affordable housing.

Some people have worked here since it was first sold by the Nuns and took part in the removal of old things from the building. I wish some of that stuff was still here. They sold alot of it but she said they found some weird stuff and rooms where babies had been obviously living. They had alot of the girls clothes in big trunks. It is all gone now.

6th

More similarities, the building on Portland Row - half the building is a hostel for Down&Outs.

Gillo

Interesting both buildings have a very similiar history...

I imagine there is a certain amount of negative energy coming from the current occupants in the buildings perhaps this is attracting the previous negative energies that would have been there. Not sure if that completely makes sense

6th

It does Gillo, and a good theory too.

tk123

I've never even heard of this place and I live in Drumcondra! Where abouts is it?!

Kivun Sotilas

tk123 wrote:

I've never even heard of this place and I live in Drumcondra! Where abouts is it?!

Grace Park Road, you have probably seen it before. Hard to miss the huge building on top of the hill when you are sitting at the traffic lights on Collins and Swords Rd.

Fajitas!

Actually, was talking to a guy the other week, said he was working as a security guard in here...he said there was some pretty odd stories coming out of it.

Doors locked one second, open the next, as he called them, 'shadows' walking around. Don't know him, so can;t say these are 100% accurate, but seeing as there's a thread here and all

aratcam

Interestingly my school used to rent a portion of the convent. One of the students went utterly mad and went running around the building screaming.
Before it was knocked down the "St. Mary's building" as it was called, We used to use the facility that was used by the women to do our own laundry. it always had a very creepy air about it, but we never heard anything about the history of the building. I left there in March 1993 when they were in talks of selling. there were little tiny roms with pink walls, and we were confused why there were son amny cramped in this huge freezing dormitory n the second floor. We were told only it was a reform school for "bad girls". In hindsite it all makes sense. there was always a very strange energy in that building nobody could just put their finger on, just a constant feeling of dread.

gracehopper

Kivun Sotilas wrote:

Grace Park Road, you have probably seen it before. Hard to miss the huge building on top of the hill when you are sitting at the traffic lights on Collins and Swords Rd.

I'm at them lights everyday and i never seen it. Are you coming from town?

mesa1

Kivun Sotilas wrote:

I was just wondering if anyone from here has done any investigation into possible hauntings at High Park Convent. I guess most of you would know of the history of the building but if not here is some info:
http://www.netreach.net/~steed/portfolio/write/magdalene.html

"When the 133 graves at High Park were discovered, a huge cry went up among Irish society. What would become of these sad women and their legacy? Many of the graves were unmarked."

Probably shouldn't post this but I work in part of the building and have been told by many people of strange happenings they have experienced most recently a ruler flew up into the air from a desk and smashed mid air, leaving pieces all over the room.

Other things I have heard about from guards and other staff are voices being heard in places where no people are like crying and screaming. I am often here alone in the mornings and have heard things like very loud banging in the walls and doors slamming around the place.

I can only imagine it is worse in the parts of the building in which the girls were actually living.

Would be interesting for some to investigate the building I think.

hello kivun
why dont the people here not set up an investigation id be up for that.i know some people who could give some tips on wat to do and wat not to do.it would be interesting to see wat comes up.my freind was talking to a girl who lives in the apartments there and she said that she doubts that the bodies were removed from the graves prior to building.there has to be quite a lot of activety due to wat happened.the last ml shut down in 1996 i think its hard to believe they still had one running in the 90,s i wouldent say it was anyway near as bad as the way they used to be.those nuns were bad people back then i hope the bad ones went to the firey depths of hell along with the preists:mad:if anyone wants to do it let me know we wouldent have any equiptment though but digital cameras are good for picking up things

mesa1

6th wrote:

Very interesting, I went to college in a building off Summerhill which has a similar history I believe.

What is the building used for now?

i heard the building is derelict now but there must be a protection order on it but if someone wants it gone say for building reasons theyl just get it burnt to the ground wat can u do then

mesa1

the film dosent even come close to wat happened to those women and children

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6m9GMGQFkw

mesa1

sorry i posted in the wrong place

Dublingirl23

Hey

Just wanted to re-activate this thread. Myself and a friend, went up to have a look atound here a few weeks back and it was a horrible atmosphere....

I'd be very interested to bring a medium along with me, to check this place out.

We shot a video of it, check it out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HliU0bee_Uw

calexico

Hi Dublingirl23,

I recently started to take interest in the Magdalene laundries cause and I would like to take some photographs in the places where all these atrocities happened.
Do you have a list of locations by any chance?

Dublingirl23 wrote: »

Hey

Just wanted to re-activate this thread. Myself and a friend, went up to have a look atound here a few weeks back and it was a horrible atmosphere....

I'd be very interested to bring a medium along with me, to check this place out.

We shot a video of it, check it out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HliU0bee_Uw

Dublingirl23

Sure have a list of the laundries here

http://tethys.croydon.ac.uk/magdalenecircle.nsf/pages/GoodShepherdConvent/$FILE/magmap.jpg

Let me know how you get on. Try google earth as well, for more specific results.

psycho-hope

just realised where this place is now. My aunt lives in the apartments built behind the old convent, have stayed with her a good few times and have met several taxi drivers who refuse to go to the back gates of the apartments at night because they have seen strange shadows and seen things in and around the convent, Dont know if they were talking rubbish or not but is a fairly creepy place at night

Dublingirl23

I definitely got a sickening feeling walking around it. That is very interesting, I wonder how anyone would go about further investigating this convent before its demolished....

Lets keep this thread alive with our vids and photos.

calexico

Dublingirl23, you're just brill!
Thanks very much for that!
I'm interested in taking some photos of the buildings in Dublin (unless they've been demolished...).
And yes, we can arrange for a bunch of us to go there.
What do you guys think?

Dublingirl23 wrote: »

Sure have a list of the laundries here

http://tethys.croydon.ac.uk/magdalenecircle.nsf/pages/GoodShepherdConvent/$FILE/magmap.jpg

Let me know how you get on. Try google earth as well, for more specific results.

Dublingirl23

Heya,


It's not demolished yet. We were up there in October and the back of it looks like it's had some builders in. Overall, it's easy enough to access. I wasn't brave enough to go inside the derelict buildings, but sure i guess someone would be brave enough to go inside and take some photos. :D There's a few of these places in Ireland (10 I think). The Cork one looks huge. I am arranging to head down there after Xmas, with a friend of mine.

Looking forward to getting some good shots of this place

The video of it, is on my youtube www.youtube.com/irishplaces

retroireland

went to the old High Park convent yesterday for a wander around, it sure was creepy, posted some pictures from inside the place here....

http://www.barelythereireland.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=111

Ziycon

Is there any word on a group going up to High Park some night? Also bare in mind you should get permission from the land owners to be there, you don't want the gard's being called!

Dublingirl23

Ye let's sort something out

I'm not even sure who owns that land these days ??? It wouldn't be the nuns, perhaps we should ask Dublin City Council ?? Not entirely sure on that issue....

Ziycon

Dublingirl23 wrote: »

Ye let's sort something out

I'm not even sure who owns that land these days ??? It wouldn't be the nuns, perhaps we should ask Dublin City Council ?? Not entirely sure on that issue....

Might be a good idea to try and get one or two investigators to go aswell!?

retroireland

Ziycon wrote: »

Is there any word on a group going up to High Park some night? Also bare in mind you should get permission from the land owners to be there, you don't want the gard's being called!

probably better off getting permission if you can, but as the building is unsafe they probably won't be able to let you in....

i was there in the afternoon yesterday with 2 friends and we were spotted from the window of the business that's located beside the convent, but no-one came out to stop us and we hopped the wall and got all the pictures that we wanted......

IrelandsEye2009

yeah myself and retroireland and limerick student went to explore the place. it was very very creepy. unsettling to say the least. for all the pictures check them out at www.barelythereireland.com/forum/index.php we have almost every well know derelict building photographed . also i thin kti would be great to go to the Convent with a few people to investigate, i have heard some crazy stuff in that place. voices and bangs !

Kivun Sotilas

Hello all, I haven't posted on here for a long time. I don't live in Ireland anymore but was wondering about this thread I made years ago.

Still a bit disturbed by events that happened when I worked in that building, alone early in the mornings.

I currently work in a very haunted building in Australia, alone in the basement agh!

Kivun Sotilas

psycho-hope wrote: »

just realised where this place is now. My aunt lives in the apartments built behind the old convent, have stayed with her a good few times and have met several taxi drivers who refuse to go to the back gates of the apartments at night because they have seen strange shadows and seen things in and around the convent, Dont know if they were talking rubbish or not but is a fairly creepy place at night

I had to walk through that park every night by myself in the dark and I did find it really really creepy.

_sparkie_

my friend and i walked his dog around that convent for years, i still live just across the road from it. it really isnt a nice place, the worst was the big work house which has since burned down and was replaced by apartments.

culchiewoman

Hi,

Could I have your permission to link to your eerie YouTube video of High Park Convent at www.magdalenelaundries.com?

Many thanks,

Mari Steed
Justice for Magdalenes Committee
www.magdalenelaundries.com
www.netreach.net/~steed/magdalen.html

dee232007

Of course

Work away

scottser

high park is a freaky place alright. there is a therapeutic community located on the site run by merchants quay, and most of the site is social housing administered by respond housing. i've been up there a few times and there is a really intense energy from it as most of the original convent is still there, albeit derelict. i had a wander through it a couple of years ago and left feeling sad and hopeless for no apparent reason. one of the guys who works up there told me that they often find shoes, hats or momentos belonging to the children they would have had to give up. i hope they don't develop that site - it should be a shrine to the girls who suffered there, and their energy is still palpable and present.

Milly33

That website in relation to the laundarys is very interesting...Ye are after sparking my interest now I may see if I can take a trip to the Good Shepard in Cork at the weekend

ray101

I was in the building 3 weeks ago and knew straight away bad things had accured there.I asked is there ghosts here and then was told what the place was.You can feel the death and sorrow in the walls.Would love to go and investigate if any one is interested.Or maybe some things are best left alone.What do you think....

Riamfada

ray101 wrote: »

I was in the building 3 weeks ago and knew straight away bad things had accured there.I asked is there ghosts here and then was told what the place was.You can feel the death and sorrow in the walls.Would love to go and investigate if any one is interested.Or maybe some things are best left alone.What do you think....

Generally people in the community dont even like talking about these places I seriously doubt you would get permission to investigate and it would be about as ethical as asking Eamonn Lillis's daugther could you investigate her place. So no, some places are out of bounds and this is certainly one of them

Grimes

Grimes wrote: »

Generally people in the community dont even like talking about these places I seriously doubt you would get permission to investigate and it would be about as ethical as asking Eamonn Lillis's daugther could you investigate her place. So no, some places are out of bounds and this is certainly one of them

May I ask why you think it's out of bounds and why it would be unethical to visit it?

The only remaining building of the complex left is the industrial school.As far as I know the building that contained the magdalene laundry was burnt down/demolished and is now replaced by appartments.Even so I wouldn't consider visiting a long abandoned magdalene laundry unethical and wouldn't think twice about doing so.

Anyway back to the topic...I visited High Park Convent last year with 2 friends.Getting inside wasn't too hard,the only problem is that it's location makes it difficult to enter.Anyway once inside it became apparent that the remaining building was infact the industrial school (St.Michaels I think) which closed in the nineties.Some photos in this album if anyone's interested http://pix.ie/limerickstudent/album/333862

Riamfada

Deleted User wrote: »

May I ask why you think it's out of bounds and why it would be unethical to visit it?

I never said anything against visiting it. I would have an issue with paranormal groups investigating it.

fred.dodds

We've just found from the 1901 census, that my wifes grandmother and her sister, aged 8 and 10,were living in the Sacred Heart Home, on Drumcondra road, and thier possible gradmother was an inmate aged 60, in High Park Convent, as a laundress. doe's anyone know if these two places were connected.??. We know her grandmother was laundress in Summerhill in 1918,,, anyone have any info,???:p:p

MrMojoRisin

fred.dodds wrote: »

We've just found from the 1901 census, that my wifes grandmother and her sister, aged 8 and 10,were living in the Sacred Heart Home, on Drumcondra road, and thier possible gradmother was an inmate aged 60, in High Park Convent, as a laundress. doe's anyone know if these two places were connected.??. We know her grandmother was laundress in Summerhill in 1918,,, anyone have any info,???:p:p

Well, the Sacred Heart Convent was a school, or an orphanage, for girls during the 1940s-1950s. I'm not sure how you would connect your wife's grandmother and her sister staying there to their grandmother's stay in High Park Convent, tbh.

Would it be possible that their grandmother had been placed in High Park Convent as a result of having a child outside wedlock? That was the primary reason for putting women in those institutions back then.

That, or they didn't have any family to look after them as children, or they were depressed. There were many reasons.

These sites might be able to help you further: http://www.nationalarchives.ie/search/index.php?simpleSearchSbm=true&category=19&searchDescTxt=high+park+convent&simpleSearchSbm=Search#searchfocus

http://www.dublindiocese.ie/content/archives

The Sisters of Our Lady of Charity of Refuge ran High Park Convent. I'm not sure who exactly ran the Sacred Heart Home, though it was obviously some type of religious order. I can't see any connection between both places but, then, I don't know all the details about these places.

fred.dodds

MrMojoRisin wrote: »

Well, the Sacred Heart Convent was a school, or an orphanage, for girls during the 1940s-1950s. I'm not sure how you would connect your wife's grandmother and her sister staying there to their grandmother's stay in High Park Convent, tbh.

Would it be possible that their grandmother had been placed in High Park Convent as a result of having a child outside wedlock? That was the primary reason for putting women in those institutions back then.

That, or they didn't have any family to look after them as children, or they were depressed. There were many reasons.

These sites might be able to help you further: http://www.nationalarchives.ie/search/index.php?simpleSearchSbm=true&category=19&searchDescTxt=high+park+convent&simpleSearchSbm=Search#searchfocus

http://www.dublindiocese.ie/content/archives

The Sisters of Our Lady of Charity of Refuge ran High Park Convent. I'm not sure who exactly ran the Sacred Heart Home, though it was obviously some type of religious order. I can't see any connection between both places but, then, I don't know all the details about these places.

Hi, Thanks for the reply, i'll try the other sites you gave,much oblidged.

K2011

Hi all,

There was a thread on this forum some time ago about one person’s experience at the CHAPELGATE complex on St. Alphonsus' Road in Drumcondra.

I understand that this is still a working convent/monastery with redemptorist nuns living on the grounds. Part of the original building has been converted into (public) apartments and it is this that is supposed to be haunted. The original poster of the other thread reported first hand experience in an apartment in this building. Around this building there are apartment blocks within the grounds.

Does anyone have any experiences of this location or information about those of others on any part of these grounds? Thank you.

rob459

I was in that Convent in the late 60's the only thing I remember was the cruelty by the nuns.

Dublingirl23 wrote: »

Hey

Just wanted to re-activate this thread. Myself and a friend, went up to have a look atound here a few weeks back and it was a horrible atmosphere....

I'd be very interested to bring a medium along with me, to check this place out.

We shot a video of it, check it out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HliU0bee_Uw

thebullkf

6th wrote: »

More similarities, the building on Portland Row - half the building is a hostel for Down&Outs.

The Old maids ot was called, used to be church and old folks home (retired Nuns i think ) Priests name was Father Noonan, a gentleman. Spooky stories from that place afterwards , i knew a scaffolder before it was a College....

maryhmyers22

I am a paranormal investigator and would love the opportunity to investigate hyde park got my own equiptment also.

Orlyworly

Hi there, my aunt lives in high park on the Grace park road , so stay there quite frequently, and I’m pretty sure there is a ghost of a young girl there. I know Im replying to an old post but maybe someone might know more about the area !!