Declan Flynn and Wicklow Jail scam

Darlughda

It gets harder and harder to try and defend your own stance regarding the otherworld/afterlife and/or medium abilities.

Especially when blatant charlatans like this come along
http://www.herald.ie/national-news/i-chatted-with-ghost-of-dead-president-in-gaols-museum-2564125.html

Declan Flynn, who claims to have chatted with Erskine Childers in Wicklow Jail.
Funnily enough, Declan is offering ghostly tours off Wicklow jail at €50 euros a pop. http://www.angel-lights.net/ Oh, golly you get a hang samwich and cuppae tae with that.

My father knew Erskine Childers. He was a hesitant man, not eager to come forward. Hardly likely he would bust a spiritual gut to break through to help Declan with his business.

I dislike the usual mob mentality of lets defraud the charlatans, but in this case...

MrMojoRisin

Darlughda wrote: »

It gets harder and harder to try and defend your own stance regarding the otherworld/afterlife and/or medium abilities.

Especially when blatant charlatans like this come along
http://www.herald.ie/national-news/i-chatted-with-ghost-of-dead-president-in-gaols-museum-2564125.html

Declan Flynn, who claims to have chatted with Erskine Childers in Wicklow Jail.
Funnily enough, Declan is offering ghostly tours off Wicklow jail at €50 euros a pop. http://www.angel-lights.net/ Oh, golly you get a hang samwich and cuppae tae with that.

My father knew Erskine Childers. He was a hesitant man, not eager to come forward. Hardly likely he would bust a spiritual gut to break through to help Declan with his business.

I dislike the usual mob mentality of lets defraud the charlatans, but in this case...

I know. They're really pushing the publicity gravy train now in a feeble effort to pull in punters. There was another story in some paper last year about one of the mediums/psychics inside the place:

Jailer Jack Brings Psychic to tears at Wicklow’s Historic Gaol 20th May 2010

Last week one of Ireland’s most renowned psychics has been brought to tears by spirits at Wicklow’s Historic Gaol.

Mike Fallon (aka the Sandman) was overcome by the spirit of Jailer Jack, who has been giving the prison’s former in-mates a hard time.
Earlier this month, the Sandman started leading night-time paranormal investigations at Wicklow’s Historic Gaol along with top Irish psychic, Louise Kings, who he has worked with for over 15 years.

The two have been overwhelmed by the level of spirit activity and have made contact with a number of the Wicklow Gaol spirits. Spirits who have come through to the duo to date include: the overpowering jailer Jack, the spirit of a monk in cell 13, a 13 year-old boy called Kevin and a young girl called Grace.

The Sandman’s powerful sensory ability means he can feel the emotions of the spirits and interpret events they experience hundreds of years ago.

“On every visit to cell 13 emotions come welling up inside - but I have learned to control them a bit more.”
The fear that Jailer Jack inspired in the prisoners makes the grown man cry as he leads the investigations.

“Jack would visit the cell at least once a day. He was a very frightening figure who stood almost 6’5” tall. Everyone was very frightened of Jack. “

The spirits respond to the call of the Sandman and Louise:
“On our visit last Saturday night, the presence of a child called Grace was very strong. She reacted over and over to my call for her to respond. The whole group heard it – Three very light, very low knock. We knew she was there.”

“Louise and I first met Grace two years ago on our first visit to the haunted jail in Wicklow. As I walked around I felt something pulling at my clothes. Louise also saw her and felt her presence. On one occasion as Louise was sitting in the area they call the ship, someone took a picture of her. When we looked to the picture there was

an orb and there was a clear picture of the little girl in the orb.”

My cousin and her friends attended one of the overnight vigils last year and they only thought it was so-so. When they were booking it first, they thought that the €50 price included overnight accommodation. They didn't have a clue what the set-up was until they rang the place. €50 per person? What the hell does €50 cover? Running around cold cells for a few hours with breaks in between dishing out ham and cheese sandwiches, custard creams and tea/coffee? Ffs.

My cousin said that the medium Angie Freeland was over-exaggerating when they were upstairs in some 'ship room' trying to contact a spirit. They were doing 'table tipping', which my cousin doesn't 'believe in' (too easy to fake it). I'd be the same, tbh. She said Freeland was roaring like a mad thing at the table/spirit, "COME ON SCHWEET-ART (sweetheart)! COME ON DAHLING! MOOOVE THE TABLE!!" and that herself and the other people with their fingers on the table were pushing the bloody thing. I heard the recording of it - it was farcical. Apparently the table was only a small, light table as well, so Verne Troyer could have probably shifted it with his baby finger.

She reckoned that there were a few 'plants' in each of the groups as well - young, regular guys who were being paid to say stuff like, "I can feel a presence of a tall man in this cell. He seems quite angry", etc.

When they were in some other room that was like an old classroom (complete with mannequins slumping over school tables), the old lady guide was trying to make contact with a spirit using pendulum dowsing. She told them it was the spirit of a little boy. My cousin said one of her friends got upset that the old lady was trying to use a boy's spirit for 'entertainment' and refused to partake.

I think it is good that these comical paranormal nights are keeping the jail open (it'd be a shame for it to be shut down, plus the business is probably good for the town), but telling the papers that you had a chat with Erskine Childers is pushing it.

Angie Freeland Psychic Medium

Hi this is Angie Freeland, the person at Wicklow Gaol who was demonstrating table tipping when your cousin and friends attended one of Wicklow Gaol's Paranormal investigations MrMojoRisin.
It is inappropriate for me to say anything about comments in the thread referring to the articles quoting Declan Flynn, Mike Fallon and Louise Kings. I do of course know and respect all three of them. I do wish to respond to your comments about my work at the gaol.
I am really sorry your cousin felt it was "so so" and even more sorry that she felt the table was being pushed and that there were plants in the audience. I would be more than happy for your cousin to return to a future paranormal investigation that I feature as a part of at Wicklow Gaol on a complimentary basis to allow me to demonstrate personally that all of the work I do is genuine and not faked.
I have many hundreds of people who have attended our public paranormal experiences at Wicklow Gaol, many of whom have attended 4 or 5 times who will verify that my work is totally genuine. It is easy to fake I agree and the table I use at Wicklow Gaol is light. I personally no longer touch the table in my demonstrations once it starts moving and I keep a very close eye on those attendees around the table and have in fact asked people to leave if I have found they are moving the table. It is not in my professional interests to fake anything. I would advise you to be very careful when making such claims in a public place.
Last week in Leap Castle the table was not small and light. It was 8ft long and solid oak. It was moving violently. That is not so easy to fake!
Our work does help Wicklow Gaol enourmously and I am very proud to be associated with it, the manager and staff there. Two winters ago the gaol had to close because it could not financially justify staying open based on the amount of visitors for the historical tours. I am pleased to say that since my husband Keith and I have been associated with the gaol, it has remained open the whole year. If our work played a part in making that happen I'm sure you will all agree that our work is worthwhile.
The price of Euros 50 in my view is competitive compared to other locations offering premises to use for these purposes. I personally paid Euros 60 per person at Leap Castle including breakfast cooked by the lovely owner Sean Ryan. This was merely for the use of the premises, not an organised public paranormal experience. Similarly I will be paying Euros 600 to take a ten person paranormal team into Charleville Castle in the near future. This fee is again purely for the use of the premises.
Last night we had 50 people attending our paranormal experience at the gaol, last month it was 80, our Halloween special last October attracted over 100 people to the gaol, the largest attended paranormal investigation ever held in Ireland. I believe those figures say far more about Wicklow Gaol and my work there than any posts made in a public forum.
I look forward to welcoming any readers of this post to Wicklow Gaol to experience our paranormal investigation for yourselves rather than believe what has been written here.
Angie Freeland x

Ruth KPS

Angie Freeland Psychic Medium wrote: »

Hi this is Angie Freeland, the person at Wicklow Gaol who was demonstrating table tipping when your cousin and friends attended one of Wicklow Gaol's Paranormal investigations MrMojoRisin.
It is inappropriate for me to say anything about comments in the thread referring to the articles quoting Declan Flynn, Mike Fallon and Louise Kings. I do of course know and respect all three of them. I do wish to respond to your comments about my work at the gaol.
I am really sorry your cousin felt it was "so so" and even more sorry that she felt the table was being pushed and that there were plants in the audience. I would be more than happy for your cousin to return to a future paranormal investigation that I feature as a part of at Wicklow Gaol on a complimentary basis to allow me to demonstrate personally that all of the work I do is genuine and not faked.
I have many hundreds of people who have attended our public paranormal experiences at Wicklow Gaol, many of whom have attended 4 or 5 times who will verify that my work is totally genuine. It is easy to fake I agree and the table I use at Wicklow Gaol is light. I personally no longer touch the table in my demonstrations once it starts moving and I keep a very close eye on those attendees around the table and have in fact asked people to leave if I have found they are moving the table. It is not in my professional interests to fake anything. I would advise you to be very careful when making such claims in a public place.
Last week in Leap Castle the table was not small and light. It was 8ft long and solid oak. It was moving violently. That is not so easy to fake!
Our work does help Wicklow Gaol enourmously and I am very proud to be associated with it, the manager and staff there. Two winters ago the gaol had to close because it could not financially justify staying open based on the amount of visitors for the historical tours. I am pleased to say that since my husband Keith and I have been associated with the gaol, it has remained open the whole year. If our work played a part in making that happen I'm sure you will all agree that our work is worthwhile.
The price of Euros 50 in my view is competitive compared to other locations offering premises to use for these purposes. I personally paid Euros 60 per person at Leap Castle including breakfast cooked by the lovely owner Sean Ryan. This was merely for the use of the premises, not an organised public paranormal experience. Similarly I will be paying Euros 600 to take a ten person paranormal team into Charleville Castle in the near future. This fee is again purely for the use of the premises.
Last night we had 50 people attending our paranormal experience at the gaol, last month it was 80, our Halloween special last October attracted over 100 people to the gaol, the largest attended paranormal investigation ever held in Ireland. I believe those figures say far more about Wicklow Gaol and my work there than any posts made in a public forum.
I look forward to welcoming any readers of this post to Wicklow Gaol to experience our paranormal investigation for yourselves rather than believe what has been written here.
Angie Freeland x

I feel I need to comment here and could not agree more with Angie above.

Yes, table tilting is easy to fake but as someone who has worked with Angie on numerous occasions now, I can confirm that nothing is "faked" nor "planted".

I feel it is very easy for someone to comment when they have not attended and are only listening to word of mouth.

I was one of the people present in Leap Castle on Feb 26th 2011 when we had an 8ft, solid oak table rocking violently, so much so that we felt the need to remove objects off of the table for fear someone would get injured.

While also along side of it having a smaller table ( the one in which Angie uses in the gaol ) rocking along side it, going up on one leg and moving along the room.

Now, there were no "plants" in Leap Castle that night, as everyone who attended are friends, we trust each other when we work, and it is myself who booked that investigation, therefore i know there were no people planted among the attendees.

Back to Wicklow Gaol, I have attended the gaol with Angie on 3 occasions now, and can confirm that no untoward carry on occurred.

€50 is a reasonable price if it keeps the Gaol open, I would be proud to pay the €50.

I would encourage your cousin to take Angie up on her complimentary offer and see what she thinks of the investigation.

Ruth ( www.killarneyparanormalsociety.com )

MrMojoRisin

Thank you for your reply, Angie. Well, firstly, allow me to apologise if I offended you. That wasn’t my intention – I was just relating what I was told. Granted, I could have omitted some of the sarky embellishment in the quotes.

Look, I don’t see the harm in making any claims (I wouldn’t have viewed them as claims, tbh) in a public place because they’re just someone’s honest opinion after all – hardly worthy of incrimination. This is a forum where people are free to comment on things, within reason. AFAIK, I don’t think I breached the rules of the forum’s Charter by relating the opinions of my cousin. And just because I post the comments of someone else doesn’t mean that that’s gospel, or that anyone who reads it will, or should, believe it. People are free to think, and do, whatever they like. They have their own minds.

Well, that’s good that you opt not to touch the table during the table tipping anymore, and that you’re mindful of anyone else possibly manipulating the movement of the table.

I never cast any doubt over the success of Wicklow Jail’s paranormal nights, and the numbers attending – I wouldn’t really know, tbh – but I was just commenting on what my cousin said. I know her to be unflinchingly honest (sometimes to the point of bluntness) and I believe her when she said the table in use on the night of their attendance was light. But if you’re now, or since using, a solid oak eight-feet table, then that’s great altogether; at least there’ll be little doubt about it being moved.

I’ll let you know if my cousin wants to attend a future investigation on a complimentary basis (thanks, that’s kind of you given what was just written!) but, tbh, I’d say she’ll be sh*tting herself now knowing that her less-than-favourable comments are out here for all-and-sundry to see (my fault)! Lol.

I’ve never met Declan Flynn but I’ve never heard a bad word about him as a medium. From what I gathered in the other thread in the Paranormal forum about this same story, Declan didn’t pointedly go to the papers himself. A journalist was present on the night, or something. So, that is one redeeming aspect of all this.

But I am glad that the paranormal vigils contribute strongly to keeping the jail open because I think it’s a terrible waste when historic buildings are left derelict and unused; a state in which people don’t have the opportunity to appreciate them up up close. So, fair play to ye for contributing to that. I also think that, generally, the paranormal nights do raise some sort of awareness of the paranormal field, which is good too.

Angie Freeland Psychic Medium

Many thanks. Apology accepted. If your cousin wishes to accept my offer I would happy for you to accompany her, also on a complimentary basis.

I have copied below just one of the comments posted on one of my professional Facebook pages from a participant of last night's paranormal investigation at the gaol as an illustration. I do not know the author, have never met the person until last night. These type of comments are common following events I take part in and many repeat the experience again and again.

"it was a great night i was in the cell when they ran i would do it again great experence"

I cannot accept the credit for comments such as these. I must thank my fellow team members in the Irish Ghosthunters without whose professionalism, these events would not be possible.

Angie x

MrMojoRisin

Alright, thanks. I don't doubt you RE: the feedback.

I know that my cousin had a 'middle-of-the-road' opinion (hence the words, "so-so") of it - so it was neither love nor hate - and herself and a couple of the others just disagreed with some aspects of the night. They didn't lambast the whole thing. So, those are their own opinions and, of course, other people could feel entirely differently (as you illustrated in your post: "it was a great night i was in the cell when they ran i would do it again great experience").

I don't/didn't want to knock the Wicklow Gaol activities or be indirectly responsible for discouraging people from attending (hell, I might even head along myself before the year draws to a close and draw my own conclusions), when it's essentially a bit of fun. So good luck with it and long may the jail remain open.

Angie Freeland Psychic Medium

Thanks MrMojoRisin, I really appreciate your comments. If you do decide to visit the gaol and attend one of our overnight paranormal experiences please let me know in advance, I will be there to welcome you personally. Take care. Angie x