Ghosts - What are your experiences?

LoughNeagh2017 wrote: »

I am open minded about it all but given that I live in one of the oldest areas of human settlement on the island and I've never had a single strange experience I find it hard to believe in ghosts, I've walked in deserted forests alone and driven on country roads after midnight, nothing. I was also in an abandoned house the other week, an old cottage that was last occupied in 1991, the scariest thing was the 1970s wallpaper.

I also walked around my parish graveyard after midnight too.

im at a loss trying to figure out how not seeing a ghost in an old cottage, a forest, country roads or a graveyard make the paranormal any less likely. Like - why would anything haunt a graveyard considering they'd have been dead a few days at least before getting there?

LoughNeagh2017 wrote: »

I am open minded about it all but given that I live in one of the oldest areas of human settlement on the island and I've never had a single strange experience I find it hard to believe in ghosts, I've walked in deserted forests alone and driven on country roads after midnight, nothing. I was also in an abandoned house the other week, an old cottage that was last occupied in 1991, the scariest thing was the 1970s wallpaper.

I also walked around my parish graveyard after midnight too.

Ha ha...was the bathroom suite Avocado?

Not ghosts per say but this absolutley freaked me out.
January, two years back. I live in the east Galway area and had a meeting in Waterford. Usual way back would be into Durrow, around to Borris on Ossary, across to Birr and home that way.
This particular evening I wanted to visit a friend in Kinnitty, so I made the call to drive up through the Slieve Bloom mountains, down the other side into Cadamstown then over to Kinnitty. One of those winter evenings when it got dark really quickly and after a few mins driving I was instantly regretting it. Roads up there (non hiking ones) would be bad at the best of times but in the pitch dark it was a complete nightmare when not a local. Anyway after driving for a while I got the feeling I had made a wrong turn or something. Stopped the car in the middle of the road (no other traffic obviously) and was checking google maps on my phone to see where the hell I was.

I had my head lights on and as I was looking down at my phone, I spotted something up ahead of me, about 30 yards so not far. It had come out of the trees on the left and was walking really slowly across the road. This thing was massive, straight away I was thinking what sort of an animal is that. Way too big to be a dog, sheep or goat, not big enough to be a horse or donkey. Then, it turned it's head to the right and looked straight down at me. I literally jumped out of my seat, phone fell on the ground. Its eyes, can only describe it as really, really bright shiny blue and were piercing. It looked at me for about 10secs and then just strolled across the road and into the wooded trees (all forest up there).I could only describe it as like a giant wolf. Was white, had a tail, massive head.
I was completely petrified and shaking. Turned the car around and put the boot down, ended up in Mountrath.

Probably not doing it justice on here but what I saw was beyond weird. I grew up in the countryside, so am familiar with all the usual animals. Rang my friend from Kinnitty that night to tell him. He called me back the next day to say that he was telling his grandfather what I had seen up there. His grandfather mentioned that there were tales years ago of people seeing wolf like animals up there, supernatural kind.

Whatever it was it freaked the living hell out of me.

I've read Gary Lineker's book of Ghost Stories, does that count?

myusernamehere wrote: »

This thread had been great entertainment today.

I would regard myself as a skeptic, bordering on cynic, after the last few years. I have no beliefs but always interested in these stories.

I've never had a shred of an experience like others, no mind tricks even after the deaths of a number of loved ones. Any one had any more in recent years or have we lost interest in the paranormal?

Ive had light type stuff happened. Twice (once myself and once my girlfriend) on approaching the bathroom at night, the door being ajar, and what looks like a soft glow of light seems to be shining through the gap between the door and door frame (the door in my case was open about 10 inches). When I opened the door the bathroom was in complete darkness. Same happened by girlfriend. Happened to her first and then to me a few months later. hasnt happened since.

Then a few years back on an summers evening, i was sitting out at the back of the house. it was dusk, and getting dark when a light about the size of my fist popped up in the garden - about 4 feet from me - swirled around a large plant and then shot off to the sky. Absolutely no idea what that was.

Butson wrote: »

Not ghosts per say but this absolutley freaked me out.
like animals up there, supernatural kind.

Whatever it was it freaked the living hell out of me.

I have shot Deer around Kinnity and over Clare Galway neck of the woods for the last 25 years, I have come accross large tracks (paws)in both places, that are definitely larger than the usual dog prints plus they were not in areas where you would have dog walkers, they were in pretty isolated places. there has been tales and rumors of big cats around the country over the years.

There have been a few times where I got spooked (chills sinking feeling in your stomach and the rise of panic) for no reason and I just left and then feeling like a total eejit 20 minutes later.

Over the years I have seen and heard enough to believe in the supernatural.
Glad to see this thread is going strong

A micro-supernatural experience for ye- Just over ten years ago I was sharing an old 5 bedroom Edwardian house in South London with some Kiwis. This particular night at about 10pm, there were just two of us in the house and all was quiet- we were both engrossed our respective books in the living room... Then we heard the kettle in the kitchen click on and start to boil.

We looked at each other, and went in to the kitchen, and of course nobody was there. We couldn’t figure out how that happened. There was definitely no one else in the house, and the kettle was bog-standard and nothing fancy. The Kiwi reckoned it was the playful ghost of her dad, as she had a few experiences like this before. I wouldn’t be as certain, but it sure did creep us out at the time!

Bdoon51 wrote: »

The house in Hackensack NJ we grew up in had the foundations/basement installed in 1712 by some Dutch patroon for his manor house. Due west of Manhattan, the area, when I lived there, was gas stations, restaurants and dense residential. No open space. Hackensack completely developed and Dutch farms gone by 1800.

Beautiful interior in this house, the fifth to be constructed on the basement/foundation. Four bedrooms for seven of us with a walk-in attic stairwell (walk-in fireplace as well).

Late winter, at night, the knocking and scraping sounds started followed later by screeching and low screams. We kids were terrified. My father, hard-nosed engineer was perplexed. He had spent 2 weekends investigating but found nothing.

Local government investigator found nothing nor did State of NJ investigator who had even stayed late one night making recordings. Did we call Ed and Lorraine Warren? Ghostbusters? No, but a zoologists from the Bronx Zoo, recruited by the NJ official, called us.

This scientist spent the night up in the attic and several days later met with the seven of us. Lo and behold ... some photos and other evidence of a group of raccoons coming and going in our house.

We had enjoyed the fear and the haunted house reputation more than we thought. A couple repairs and the house was exorcised. More's the pity.

Just think,if you hadn't have posted the reason behind the noises there d have been lots and lots of theories about ghosts and the paranormal at work.
This proves to me that most spooky goings on have a perfectly natural explaination.
It's the small percentage that can't be explained away that I find facinating 😳

100% do not believe in ghosts etc but remembered a few events today and thought would put one of them on the record for anyone interested. I can't explain it, whether or not it happened, I did experience it...

Lived in a very old house for a few years, one evening was practicing on an instrument alone when felt a presence of something or other in the room. Got a shock when I looked at it, it was basically a disembodied head made up of parallel black bands or concentric rings. I ran for it. Don't want to say any more about it, only that when I moved out locals told me the house had a known history. Used often "hear" a voice right in my ear when living there, nothing before or after.

Found this site the other day because some one I know was looking at property in Atkins Hall apartments in Cork, some good reading

https://www.spookyisles.com/haunted-cork/

Charleville castle in Tullamore is supposed to be haunted by the ghost of a three year old girl who fell down a staircase. This is the only real event that can be tied to a paranormal phenomenon there.

Other so-called paranormal researchers who purport to work there and have 'researched' the place extensively talk a lot of rubbish about haunted basements and human sacrifices and eight cornered rooms but none of this means anything at all. Just invented for visitors.

As a comment from 2006 (!) has summoned me I may as well chip in on this point. I visited Charleville and the family's daughter, then probably about 14 or 15, randomly appeared in the dark on the supposedly haunted staircase and just went down a flight of stairs and out another a door; avoided eye contact, didn't say anything, just glided silently past. I was highly suspicious that she knew we were in the area and was under instructions to walk about and maybe we'd catch a glimpse from a distance and assume something supernatural.

Still reading all posts on this thread, its brilliant. Just thought I would add on before I continue.

So not personal experiences but two from other people about my Dad. He passed away 22 years ago. One night my mam was in the kitchen having a drink and a catch up with a friend of hers. All of a sudden her friend goes very quiet and pale and says she has to go home. My mam thought it a bit weird but said goodnight and thought maybe she had too much to drink and wasn't feeling well. Then she was on the phone to her friend a few days later and she apologised for leaving abruptly but she swore she seen my dad out the back garden ( she was sitting facing the back door so seen him through the window ) and he had a cigarette in his hand and was holding it out as if asking for a light, funny thing is that my aunt left a cigarette in his coffin before they closed the lid.

Another time my mam had a medium over to the house and had a few of her friends over to get readings done ( my mam is very spiritual and believes in tarot cards etc ). The lady arrived and after a few minutes ran out of the house screaming as there was a male spirit telling her to get out of his house. We believe it was my dad.

Not freaked out by these stories but like to think that he has stuck around the house to watch out for us and thats a comforting feeling :)

My best way of seeing ghosts was by asking God for it. Asking God to see ghosts allowed me many opportunities to observe and document the visuals and behaviors of the afterlife.