Killakee House up for rent

If the money was running better these days it might have been an idea to pill in the money and some of you lads could have done month long investigation on the place.

Saying that thought, you'd probably get bored after a week of nothing happening and listening to people riding/shooting up behind the house.:rolleyes:

Talking to the estate agents.

There was an RTE series called 'Newsbeat' back in the '70s, and one of the programmes reported on the psychic and occult disturbances in Kilakee House. The place first attracted attention through newspaper reports with Margaret O' Brien who, with her husband, was working hard to turn Kilakee into an arts and crafts centre at the time. They hoped that it would be a centre where artists could not only learn their craft, but be provided with an outlet for selling their work.

The house itself was originally built as the Dower House for the Massey family and, although the house appears to be mainly eighteenth century in character, parts of the building appear to be older. As refuge and residence, Kilakee has known many famous and infamous people, including W.B. Yeats, 'AE' (AKA George William Russell, the Irish artist, poet, and mystic), and Countess Markievicz.

Margaret O' Brien reported that the manifestations began in 1968, just after the family had begun renovating the house and its outbuildings. Several manual labourers working on the project at the time were said to have left the site without collecting their wages. The alleged phenomena ranged from feet rushing along the upper galleries, to lights switching themselves on and off, and some apparitions that were seen by different individuals. Eventually, the O' Briens were forced to finish the work on the house themselves with the help of friends only.

One of the most impressive apparitions encountered was that of a large and unpleasant black cat (the one that most people have heard about). Some eyewitnesses said the cat was "the size of an Airdale dog", and the cat seemed to favour the square, stone-flagged hall - it was here that Margaret O' Brien and a male artist friend supposedly saw the cat on several separate occasions.

The friend told reporters that one of the incidents (the one in which he was involved) took place in the spring of 1968, and the cat appeared in the hall despite the door having been locked. He said, "I saw it (the cat) crouched in the half-light. I thought my legs wouldn't take me from the place, and I staggered to the front room."
He also recalled that, at the same time, he received a clairaudient message intimating that, the door that he himself had locked while he had been working, was now open. "The door is now open. See for yourself. Let there be no mistake", said the voice.
But the apparition of the cat left such an impression on the artist's mind that he subsequently painted a portrait of it from memory. The canvas hung in that same square, stone-flagged hall for some time afterwards.

In conjunction with the apparition of the cat, a shadowy figure would be seen outside the hall door; this shadowy figure was the second apparition that came to prominence. This was an apparition of a crippled boy, who was reputed to have been living in the house in its early days. An unwanted, unloved member of the household, this young lad was supposed to be clairvoyant, and this psychic faculty of his resulted in him being forced to participate in certain magical rituals performed by members of the nearby Hell Fire Club.

When his usefulness had reached its end, and with his deformity being a source of embarrassment to his family, it was believed that the boy was strangled and his body was buried on the ground floor of the old tower. Around the time of the second apparition kicking into action, Margaret O' Brien found the iron effigy of a cat affixed to the wall of the tower, and when she moved in, she removed it and nailed it to her own front door. Apparently this holds occult significance - the occult belief that it may restrict earthbound entities by virtue of its placement.

The apparition of the boy and the apparition of the cat were never seen together, but in succession of the other. The apparition of the crippled boy was mostly present in the area of the hall and its adjoining room, a room which has been suggested to have served the purpose of imprisoning the boy. That room later became the coffee bar in the art centre.

Kilakee House had other apparitions as well, as well as manifestations having been heard, but remaining unseen. The sound of the running feet that fled along the gallery, and the apparition of a man in a torn shirt that appeared from time to time in one of the bedrooms, have been linked to each other. The house is known to have been used during the Civil War by men on the run. One afternoon, three fugitives were cornered inside the house. Two of them, familiar with the interior layout of the house, escaped successfully. However, the third man took a wrong turning, found himself stuck in one of the bedrooms, and was shot dead where he stood.

Of the three apparitions that were seen in the yard, little is known about them, except that they appeared on at least three occasions to different people and they seem so normal, they were mistaken for visitors to the old art centre. The trio of apparitions consisted of two nuns - one of them was fairly stout - and a dark-skinned man. All three were dressed in black. On each occasion they were said to appear in daylight, and they would 'walk' from the main gates, go across the courtyard, and into the passage that leads around to the other side of the house. One genius that spotted them on one occasion attempted to accost them and question them. Unsurprisingly, he didn't get a reply from them.

On another occasion, Margaret O' Brien was in the boutique beside the passageway, and saw them passing the window outside. In trying to ascertain the reason for the recurring etheric apparition of the three people, it has been postulated that they may have been frequent visitors to the house, or had been called in a time of sickness. Sightings, as well as sounds, may never be completely lost, but could remain dormant in the ether until a certain set of circumstances (e.g. renovation, restoration, or demolition) activates them.

Most of the above incidents took place in the spring and summer of 1968.

In 1970, a seance was held in Kilakee House, after which a host of various physical reactions took place. Furniture was broken, lighting circuits were tampered with, and mysterious bells began to chime so loudly that the O' Briens couldn't sleep at night. To add to that melee of confusion, the apparition of both the crippled boy and the audio manifestation of the man in the bedroom (the running footsteps), appeared at intervals during the hours immediately after the seance. The remnants of the furniture were shown to the outside Broadcast Unit of RTE at the time, where one chair was reduced to mere firewood, while the solid wooden arm of another chair was wrenched clean from its place. The following night, the house played host to crockery and bottles being broken, surfaces were covered with a sticky substance of some kind, and some of the canvasses in the art gallery were destroyed.
Margaret O' Brien admitted at this time that herself and the gardener had previously and unwittingly disinterred some skeleton remains in the grounds; the remains were then re-buried and the grave was blessed.

There were a couple of reports from local people during the 1970s that they had seen a coven functioning in the vicinity of Kilakee House.

During the alleged manifestations, caps and hats would be found in odd locations all over the house. Sometimes the caps contained odd coins, amongst them a Polish crown and a farthing. One cap that was recovered was one bearing strings that looked to have been congruent with the ladies fashions of the early 20th century. Another was a sunbonnet, and there were numerous children's knitted caps and bonnets.

I wish the brave soul who decides to live there the very best of luck with their stay.

DoctorGonzo08 wrote: »

Was just put onto this by a member and thought I'd update the thread. Estate agents must have been very hopeful or it has been put back on the market as it is listed on daft. I would be interested in taking up residance as it seems quite workable. I would have a iffy moment with the fact that an excorsim has been carried out, bbut I was also told of the more pressing concerns of druggies, unmentionables floating about the house. Is the area really that bad? And is it hard to access town from there by means other than car?

You wouldnt be able to walk and I wouldnt advise cycling down that road. Recently (this week) a body was found a kilometer or two up the hill so aswell as drug addicts and scobes the area is also prone to the odd gangland execution. I was up there one afternoon and was eyeballed by a 5-6 older men as I drove passed Pipers Hill. Not a great place to be at night

Thanks for the detailed post MrMojoRoisin. Very comprehensive and an interesting read.

riseagains wrote: »

Dont be so nieve all your lives. my mate lives there, it's not haunted!!!!!! he's been there for a while and shockingly enough nothing has happent!!!
It's all tricks of the mind buddy.

Yeah until one day there is a dead body hanging in his bedroom.

On another note, I was driving down the mountains and passed the house on my way back to Tallaght about 5/7 weeks ago. As I passed Kilakee house there was the biggest black dog standing directly across the road from it. No joke. Shat a brick I did. Then I forgot about it until now.

riseagains wrote: »

well if it's a rotwilder, that dog actually comes with the house when ya rent it. It's the most harmless dog. Would drool ya to death before he'd attack ya. And I've actually stayed in the house before!!!

Is it accepted that when you rent a house you get to look after a dog? Also if the tales are anything to go by it might just be the resident devil dog of Kilakee House.

Seriously, when you rent Kilakee house it comes with a big black dog?

KeithAFC wrote: »

We should really try and get a list of the haunted buildings in Ireland and see if anyone has had any experiences in them.

Anyone been to Charville castle?

Paul Fennell has a book out about haunted locations in Ireland. Its called Haunted. There is also a website you might find interesting.

Most people here have done Charleville Castle although most wouldnt have experienced any paranormal activity there. Its a handy one to do because there are always tours and groups heading there. It can be expensive though.

KeithAFC wrote: »

We should really try and get a list of the haunted buildings in Ireland and see if anyone has had any experiences in them.

Anyone been to Charville castle?

What about the Cooneen Ghost house in Fermanagh?
There isn't too much about it online.

Perhaps someone should go up and check on them? Or at least spray some fabreeze on the corpses.

Pablo Sanchez wrote: »

Anthing to report 3 months on?

Sorry, I should have gotten back on to you, I took AGES to get Eircom up off their arses so I could get a phone & broadband (12/02/11 believe it or not) I forgot that I posted on here about the place.

Anyway - What a place to live!!!! Rent is cheap, awesome place to hold parties I mean fúckin deadly spot, snooker table, landlords are cool. When I moved in at the start(on my own), it was proper creepy to begin with. Weather vane screeching, metal gates slamming, the house groaning with the wind and every now and again a big gust would gently toll the bell in the tower and when all that is happening a bloody fox barks right outside the window!!!!! FFFUUUCCCKKKKK!!!! After a while you get used to it and you figure out where all the banging and rattling is coming from

BUT...

**** you Not!! The Fúcking Microwave turns on and off on its own accord, the bloody timer (digital) dial moves up ever so slowly and it just stops!!! Creepy..

its permanantly plugged out

robbie_998 wrote: »

maybe your microwave is broken ?

just a wild stab in the dark ........

Of course its faulty :rolleyes: creepy none the less:eek: