High Spirits: Is it ‘ghost tourism’ — or is a spirit really walking the halls of Ballyseede Castle?

Tom Breathnach visits the Kerry hotel reaping interest in a resident ghost

Sun, 30 Oct, 2022 - 21:03

Tom Breathnach

It may have fit my story brief, but to use Cork parlance I wasn’t exactly haunted by the weather. Arriving at Ballyseede Castle, a luxury four-star hotel just north of Tralee, I wind up the property’s oak-veiled avenue as a deluge of rainfall buckets down in my wake. Oh and what’s this to my left? Ballyseede’s very own pet cemetery which immediately adds a Stephen King-esque eeriness to my arrival. The popular Kerry escape and wedding venue soon reveals itself through my windshield wipers and its ivy-clad, gothic structure complete with turrets, parapets and castellated wings strikes quite the imposing vision. The first vision of many, hopefully?

Almost all the more imposing is my welcome at Ballyseede’s doorway: nine year Irish wolfhound, Molly. Though her presence is far more docile than her calf-like stature might suggest. After a few ear rubs and manoeuvre attempts, I hurdle my way inside to the hotel’s ornate lobby where Doric columns flank an elegant staircase which leads up and down to storeys of history. Receptionist Hilla from Finland provides my welcome before escorting me down to my West Wing room via Paddy’s Way, a labyrinthine ground floor corridor festooned with shields of armour and medieval style signage. "You know one of our staff heard voices down here before when he was working here,” she casually announces ahead of me, presumably easing me in for what tales are to come. I was staying in Ballyseede’s McAleese room, named after the former president who once stayed here, though albeit without any paranormal encounters, I understand. The room is impressive, highlighted by a canopy curtain bed, soft furnishings embellished with castle crests and fleurs-de-lis as well as plush armchairs to admire…or perhaps wonder at…the estate outside.