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17th May 2017
04:21pm BST
We all know the Irish tales; The Children of Lir, Cú Chullain and his magic hurl, The Salmon of Knowledge.
All tales filled with magic and mystic.
But what about the darker side of Ireland? The ones they don't put in the children's books...
Ireland has a heap of haunted places that are guaranteed to make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up.
Check out this list of some of the spookiest and see if you could brave a visit...
Loftus Hall is supposedly haunted by both the devil and the ghost of a woman. Lovely.
The story goes that the Tottenham family who lived there took in a stranger one night after arriving at Slade Harbour. While playing cards together, Anne (one of the daughters) dropped a card but when she went under the table to pick it up, she saw that the visitor had a hoof as a foot - he was The Devil.
The Devil then left immediately but Anne never recovered, leading her to be locked in The Tapestry Room until she died. It's said that her ghost still haunts the house, and there have been several reports of ghost-like activity. Oooooh.
One of Ireland's most famous haunted women lives here, in Charles Fort. The White Lady, as she is called, was married to a local soldier.
Unfortunately, her husband was shot as he fell asleep on duty. In despair, The White Lady threw herself from one of the fort's walls. Although the fort is no longer in military use, there are still reports of her wandering through the area. You've been warned.
This popular walking destination has a murky and haunted history. Built on an ancient Stone Age burial site, it is said that the Hellfire Club used the site for both human and animal sacrifices, particularly cats.
People have reported their necklaces being pulled at, and broken, by spirits. The screams of a woman who was brutally murdered at the club can also be heard. If that's not enough, there's also the Black Cat of Kilkee, a dog-sized spirit.
Also, The Devil has been linked to this site, as he used to frequent the club before it was mysteriously burned down...
The home of famous Maire Rua, whose red-haired ghost is said to still haunt the castle today. She is believed to have had over 25 husbands, with each one mysteriously dying and Maire keeping her fortunes each time.
After her last husband died, she was apparently sealed into a hollow tree and left there to starve and die.
This is said to be the site of one of Ireland's first recorded vampires, Abhartach. He rose from the dead, demanding blood from the villagers. He was killed and buried standing upright, but he rose again.
He was killed once more, when he rose for a second time. This continued until he was killed and buried for a final time, upside down with rods driven through his body.
Duckett's Grove is apparently so haunted that even America has noticed it. It appeared on supernatural TV programme Destination Truth, where unexplained figures, lights and sounds were found. Even though the house itself hasn't been lived in since 1916, people have reported seeing and hearing the Duckett family throughout the property.
A very creepy discovery was made in this castle during renovations: a dungeon full of decaying human bones, including a pocket watch. There were also spikes at the bottom of the dungeon.
This is not the first instance of a bloody history in the castle. Back in the 1550s, there was a rivalry between the two O'Carroll brothers, which resulted in one killing the other with a sword during Mass.
However, Sean Ryan (who owns the castle now) insists that the spirits are not harmful. Not sure if we believe him.
If you stay here and hear a knock on your door, it's probably Lady Isabella Shaw. She haunts the hotel after falling to her death from her room, which her husband locked her in.
Many guests report feeling a presence in their room, or even a hand on their body or face while asleep. Delightful.
The room where Lady Isabelle was locked is not used as a room for guests. I wonder why.
Another castle that has appeared on international supernatural TV, Charleville Forest Castle is said to be haunted by a little girl called Harriet. She was the youngest daughter of the Earl, and she died tragically on the main staircase.
Guests have apparently seen a young girl with curly hair and a blue and white dress, while others have heard laughing and singing. In the middle of the night. Yeah, don't think I'll be staying there either.
