Haunted areas in Bray

Rasmus

There was an article about the Grotto in Loreto in The Bray People on the 27th of October. Only viewable online though as premium content...

Onslaught

King Edward road? Or something liek that anyway... apparently some weird stuff has been seen on that road .. and some older folk in bray won't walk down it at night.. Been told of different incidents on that road by different people .. been down it few times in the middle of the morning.. there is just something about it... Apparently a lot of stuff happend under the town hall also years ago..

Annasopra

really? Never heard anything about King Edward road before and I lived just off it on herbert road for 27 years and my cousins lived on King Edward for about 20 years so I was a regular visitor

bernard0368

The ones I remember as a kid,
The old graveyard in loreto as already mentioned.
Giltspur house, this was pobably a scout thing as it was a hostel on the side of the sugarloaf.
Bentley house stables, long gone now Murphy's funeral home on the Boghall road.
There was also supposed to be a tunnel from Pres down to base of Bray head pirates cove or something similar.
The sheep Sacrifices on Bray head, If I am right this was just something that was spread around to keep people of Old Reds land.

lucy2010

Hollybrook/Ballywaltrim lane ( Behind hills Garage)

We were always told banshees up there - never detered us as teenagers walking it night & day

gcgirl

ciaran67 wrote: »

Never seen a ghost in the area but i did see a 184 bus once... once.

Pics or GTFO

braycrazy

kingtorres9 wrote: »

I don't believe any of you people have ever heard about the tunnel in corke abbey going from nypro to the beach. Do any of you actually live here.

that tunnel i belive was used as an easy way for the nuns who ran the abbey there to get easy access to the back beach, its blocked off now.

Eirexile

Turquoise1 wrote: »

Thanks tdv, very interesting.

Do you mean the old graveyard located between St. Patrick's NS and Loreto?

I remember when I was younger (before the estate was built on the avenue leading up to Loreto) there was a graveyard that was surrounded by a wall and it was all overgrown and weeds covering it and such. Is that the same area you are talking about? Of course I maybe wrong since I was really young at the time.

I heard quite a few stories about Loreto myself, and also about the old Loreto School that was located down towards Covent Avenue/Sidmonton Gardens. Remember that old building? Of course its gone now, I remember it was infested with mice but never saw any ghosts though.

As for Bray Head, the only story I heard was of the Headless Horseman who rides up through Lord Meaths and on up to the back of Bray Head. Don't know anyone who actually saw him thou!

Aah ... that's my old school you're talking about, Loreto Convent. Yes, the nuns were buried there in the circular wall - buried standing up! (I'm sure I heard of a legendary reason for that, but can't for the life of me remember what the story was). Someone mentioned about one of the pupils that was buried there, died in tragic circumstances? That was in my time, she was in my year - going back a good few years now, I can't remember her name but I do remember she had lovely thick, very red, curly hair. She was drowned whilst on holiday in Spain.
General Franco of Spain's granddaughter was a boarder there in my time too.

There was an article about the Grotto in Loreto in The Bray People on the 27th of October. Only viewable online though as premium content...

Any chance of a link to that article? I would be really interested to read about it.

Dr Strange

Eddie Tynan brought out a booklet called "Haunted Bray and Environs".

You can get it in Dubray in Bray or online I think.

Annasopra

Preusse wrote: »

Eddie Tynan brought out a booklet called "Haunted Bray and Environs".

You can get it in Dubray in Bray or online I think.

I was googling it and couldn't find it

It's just called "Haunted Bray"

http://www.eason.ie/look/9781845889951/Haunted-Bray/Tynan-Eddie

---

http://www.omahonys.ie/catalog/books-by-author-Eddie%2BTynan.html

Dr Strange

Johnnymcg wrote: »

I was googling it and couldn't find it

It's just called "Haunted Bray"

http://www.eason.ie/look/9781845889951/Haunted-Bray/Tynan-Eddie

---

http://www.omahonys.ie/catalog/books-by-author-Eddie%2BTynan.html

Yes, online it is but on the actual cover the full title is Haunted Bray and Environs

Whippersnapper

I remember a story from inside Loreto. In the convent part of the school there is a staircase leading to the top of the building and at the bottom is a marble floor. Story went that on a certain night each year you could hear a girl scream after falling over the top banister and you could see a red stain appear on the floor. We were told that by the teachers and I vaguely remember sleepovers being held on the night so people could scare themselves silly.

JayMul

I know its an old thread but just wanted to share, lived in a haunted house in Bray for around a year. The front lodge Woodbrook House, owned by Cochrane of C & C.

Thought I was seeing things first few months, but when my other half got locked in the toilet which was bolted shut from the other side, we realised what we were dealing with. Lampshades would rock, doors would visibly close by themselves, objects would move. Sound of moving furniture upstairs (one storey house), I'll just add there were no draughts in the house.

At night the temperature around the perimeter of the house was about 5-10 degrees colder than if you walked twenty meters away. Heard the guy who lived there before us went berzerk and smashed all the windows. Moved out a few reads back now, never looked back.

Annasopra

Has anyone ever heard of a story on the Herbert Road? Specifically between the End of Ardmore Hill and the End of Kind Edward Road?

Prometheus

Remember when growing up, used to have friends in Fassaroe Park. There used to be a lane called the blind lane. Led from Fassaroe to St Gerards and on to the refuse dump. A lot of stories around the same theme. In medieval times, two guys on horseback, and one decapitates the other. And ever since the ghost of the headless rider, roams still.
Also a ghost wagon or chariot in the same area.

SparkySpitfire

https://www.facebook.com/braydidyouknow?fref=ts

There's a few scary stories to be found there! Interesting to peruse in itself too

briano.de.rhino

http://youtu.be/HFNvrzNUoVc?t=22m40s

I made a video recently on vevay house in Bray in which this gentleman recounts a scary story of oldcourt castle. Nice bit of Bray folklore caught on tape.

Wicklowandy

Very good video, well done:)

MissingBray

I know this is a few years after the other posts, but having lived a good amount of time in Bray in Sancourt Lodge, the house next door to the Martello Tower that Bono bought, I can tell you that there are haunted places, or at least one. As for the folks who posted here, I don't know what to say to those who have never even heard of anything, because my very first day at Loreto, I will never forget (and that is not counting watching the dead nun that was carried in a coffin past all of us standing solemnly outside (I was fresh from California - so a bit of culture shock). When I told everyone where I lived, Sancourt Lodge, the entire classroom knew about the strange happenings there. They had their own ideas of what was behind it. For example, several girls I heard, muttered, "That's where the witch lived!" Well, of course, I didn't believe in any so-called witchcraft. Anyway, as a scientist/research chemist for many years, I am one of the last to believe in something such as this. However, that said, what I do believe is that there are things we are just unable to measure these days, for whatever reason, yet. If you had taken a flashlight back to an ancient time, you could have been burned as a witch. That is how I view what I experienced in our house, every single blessed night I slept there, without variation as to time and the events. Yes, repeated every single night. It took me three months before I could finally sleep an entire night and not feel terrified. I finally realized that what was going on outside my bedroom door was not going to come into my room, at the top of the landing, as I eventually discerned there was a rigidly defined pattern. I am fairly tired right now, so I'll not go into more detail at this time. But, if anyone wishes, I can come back and elaborate. These events were very well known, however, in the early 70s, at least, many townfolk knew that the place had "things" happening in it. I was surprised, myself, when the other girls at Loreto seemed to know more about the house than I did. How it had been exorcised by previous owners with no effect. And how, after a few years, the owner, Anna Dolan, told our family all of what she had experienced in the house. I am curious to know, after all these years, if the same things are still happening in that house, but wonder if I'll ever get back to visit Bray. In spite of the house, I still loved it, and the town. Both lovely!

Wicklowandy

Please tell, i know of the house but never heard stories

Rasmus

Please do elaborate! My house in Bray was 'haunted' as well and I can relate to not sleeping for years!

MissingBray

Hey all, So, now I'm debating. One, I have written the whole experience up somewhere on my computer and, on the one hand, might like to put that up. Or, I can just go ahead and tell it here off the cuff. Most of what I experienced was an exact replay every single night. But, there were a few additional "events", the last of which, was the most bizarre, and which, I think, being about 11 or 12 (actually, I don't think my age was relevant to my reaction), so shocked me, I blocked that particular memory because I really couldn't reconcile it with anything - I was a pretty logical kid. Anyway, then my mom reminded me once we moved to British Columbia, for which my first reaction wasn't thankful lol. Anyway, let me think about this. I also have this weird thing where there are some times I don't mind thinking of this, but sometimes, when I think back on it too much, I get creeped out, and just want to stop. I just thought of this last night for the first time in a long time, and looked up this topic to see if anyone had finally written about Sancourt Lodge. Anyway, let me think a bit. Btw, Rasmus, I'd like to hear your experience, as well. I did, eventually, sleep through the night. But, took about three months. Of course, there were the trains to get used to, as well. The trains, as you may know, at least back then, ran at night, literally right in front of our front yard over the low stone wall. So between those two things LOL, I had a rough couple, three months.

MissingBray

PS: Sorry to be so wishy washy, but now, after I've offered to write about this, I realize I'm not sure I want to think that deeply about it right now, which will have to happen, if I am going to write about it. Yeah, still conflicted about it after all these years, however weird that sounds. And when I encourage the memories, they come flooding back in more intimate detail than the last fifteen years of my life for me. Off to sleep for now and will think on this. I do want to share, if for no other reason than to preserve some history of the place, get it out there, before it's lost for good, as we humans don't live forever lol. And also, I can't really ask Rasmus to share, if I can't share myself - quid pro quo . Good night.

Wicklowandy

If you change your mind, please post it here or on the bray did you know facebook page, a lot of fabulous social history and personal tales are lost, and we're a nosy bunch

Calibos

After my grand parents had both passed away our family bought my fathers siblings share of the house and we moved in and renovated the house the following year. I sleep directly over the spot my grandmother was found dead. I slept soundly from Night One. After the second time I heard a weird sound within the walls 2 years later (this year) I had reasoned out what it was. The fireplaces at the back of the house were blocked off and the Chimney stacks within the walls were filled in with rubble by the builders/renovators to stabilise the gable wall. The vibration from the dart line 100 yards away was causing the looser smaller elements of the rubble used to fill the chimney stacks to cascade down the stack. Another weird sound I reasoned out to be the branches of a tree rubbing the metal corrugated roof of a building behind us when the wind is from a particular direction. The tapping I often here is when water flowing through a particular pipe causes thermal expansion in the pipe and it makes a friction tapping kind of sound where the pipe runs through a joist. The apparition of Jesus in the back yard was the reflection in the back door window of a towel hanging on the chair beside me superimposed over something hanging on the side of the shed out in the yard and my brains pattern recognition centre guessing wrong for an instant.

Whats the difference between me and all the people who see/hear ghosts???

As a sceptic, I worked from the basis that these incidents where something mundane but they were an interesting puzzle for me to stimulate my brain. No fear or jumpiness clouding my judgement. No preconceived notions of the supernatural. No running off to tell someone about what I had heard or seen before I had given it any rational thought. I heard the noises and said to myself I wonder what that could be. I thought it through and came up with hypothosis and then in the following minutes or hours and in some of the cases days and weeks, tested those hypothosis or had to wait for them to happen again and figure out what conditions were common to both instances.

My hypothosis about the noise in the wall was as I described at the beginning. It was confirmed the third time it happened. The second time I noted the sound of some locomotives being moved at the train station during the wee hours. When I heard the sound and locmotives the third time I knew I had the complete explanation.

The tapping during the night was confirmed the second time when I investigated and say that someone had left a hot water tap dripping. Enough to cause thermal expansion in the pipe going through the pipe.

The Jesus apparition stopped me in my tracks. Rather than running of screaming, Instead I stopped instantly, knew I wasn't seeing what I thought I was seeing, studied it until the illusion collapsed and realised what I was seeing. I was then able to make the apparition of The white robed Jesus appear and disappear at will, much like the candle stick illusion (One instant its two faces looking at each other, the next instant its the candlestick) The cause is the part of the brain that has evolved to play it safe when it recieves insufficient sensory input. Your eyes sees movement in the bushes beside the pliestocene camp fire. If your brain makes a guess that its a sabretooth tiger and draws such on your visual cortex, well if it actually is a sabretooth, you just jumped out of the way in time and someone else got caught and eaten. If the brain guessed wrong and it was just a bush branch blowing in the wind, well you just laughed to yourself. UG, me just thought I saw sabretooth Hurhur . ie. The result of guessing wrong about the sabretooh 9 time out of 10 is an adrenaline burst and a chuckle to ones self. The result of the brain waiting for more sensory input all the time so it can guess correctly 100% of the time that its a branch is that those 9 times the branch moves you don't get your shot of adrenaline and a chuckle but that one time when it really was a sabretooth means.....you're dead cause your brain took too long to work out what the movement in the bushes was!!

The brain does this all the time. I once walked out the back door and saw a big brown rat run past. Except it wasn't a rat. I happened to walk out one door looking at the ground. My mother happened to come out the other door at the same time. She happened to be wearing grey slacks that camoflaged her legs against the grey concrete. So what I was actually seeing was what looked like the disembodied brown shoes moving along the ground. The brain is subconciously thinking that shoes don't move on their own, What brown thing the size of a shoe would move across the yard like that. Why a big brown rat of course. It draws a big brown rat on my visual cortex and thats what I see/percieve.......until my gaze shifts a little, I catch the rest of my mothers body in my peripheral vision, the illusion collapses and the rat disappears and my mothers....shoes...and the rest of her appears

This happens to everyone all the time. Everyone has had those, "Jaysus, for a second there, I thought I saw a......"
The difference is that when it happens during the daylight hours one sees it for what it is. For some reason when the caveman fear of the dark creeps over us at night time, the very same people don't see that the ghost they saw/heard is the very same type of common neurological glitch that they laugh off during the day.

briano.de.rhino

Quite,
Buuuuuuuuuuuuut, I still wanna hear 'Missingbray' tell here story.

Rasmus

briano.de.rhino wrote: »

Quite,
Buuuuuuuuuuuuut, I still wanna hear 'Missingbray' tell here story.

Don't think that's gonna happen!

CozyasToast

Whippersnapper wrote: »

I remember a story from inside Loreto. In the convent part of the school there is a staircase leading to the top of the building and at the bottom is a marble floor. Story went that on a certain night each year you could hear a girl scream after falling over the top banister and you could see a red stain appear on the floor. We were told that by the teachers and I vaguely remember sleepovers being held on the night so people could scare themselves silly.

The staircase story got me a murder mystery weekend away with my sister... This is how it happened. When in Loreto, we all heard a story (totally made up) that Lord Putland had chopped off his wife's head and that it rolled down the stairs leaving a permanent blood stain at the bottom. When my sister was in Prep, she and her classmates came over to the convent (where I was in 5th year) one morning at break-time. We were still in class and heard them giggling and running along the corridor. A friend and I went out to see what the commotion was and while they were all hyperventilating they eventually managed to tell us why they were there and were very disappointed at not having found any stain. Thinking on my feet, I told them that no-one would ever see the stain until the stroke of midday or midnight. My friend and I suggested they come back at lunch-time for a look.... of course we went to the art room, got paint and marked a large spot under the mat at the bottom of the stairs and waited..... Lunchtime came and very shortly after the bell had rung we again heard the clatter of excited feet and whispers. We waited just outside our classroom door trying not to laugh. Then the worst happened. 13 shrieking and crying hysterical 12 year olds tore past us and went straight to the Principal's office... Detention was the reward for my friend and I.... many years later, in the month of October, when I was expecting my 4th and final child, my sister rang a radio station offering a murder mystery weekend in Renvyle House Hotel in Connemara as a prize to anyone who rang in with the creepiest ghost story and she told the whole story of what happened all those years ago! We had the best craic driving over in the rain in a beat up old car full of rust (rain came in through the floor!!) and I'd brought my "maternity ward" bag with me too just in case!! The weekend was great fun, and baby number four was born the following week!

Seanieke

Powerscourt.... ask for Justin (as seen in the video)

cognizant

Has anyone heard about any ghosts up bray head? I'm sure people have died up there by accident or murdered or anything but I was walking up bray head one time with a few people and caught what looked like a white ball in the air floating it was kinda like a shadow started feeling a bit weirded out but the people i was with started sensing something if you get me? just wondering if anyone knows anything about bray head hauntings or spirits good or evil