Wedding Blog
Thick Eel. Bloody Puddle. In Want of Mary. No, these are not punk bands we’re auditioning for the reception. They’re the nicknames of ghostly manifestations throughout Ireland, some of which we’ll be exploring…on our haunted honeymoon!
Yes, that’s right. Mr. LB has just hatched a genius twist to our plan for a self-driven, self-guided, self-paced tour of the Irish countryside. We’re going ghost hunting, baby! It’s absolutely perfect for us. We love all things creepy, worship Tim Burton, celebrate Halloween more than Christmas, and are avid TAPS enthusiasts. Fields of green and pints of brown are lovely - but foggy bogs and creaky castles make us HOT!
(Can’t you just see a headless apparition drifting across that bridge?)
Nothing’s been booked yet; we’re still doing research and plotting our course. Fortunately, there are tons of sites dedicated to the documentation of UK hauntings, including this one and this one.
For a sunnier, happier tour of the Emerald Isle, click here. For a somewhat bleaker, darker (read: awesomer!) view of Ireland, have a peek at a few of our potential stops:
Leap Castle (sightings include floating candles, an old man sitting by the fireplace, and a woman in a red dress)
Kilkea Castle (a young, jilted lover haunts these halls, as well as a former wizard!)
Glendarry Lake (supposedly inhabited by a scaled, sheep-headed monster who moves in “little hops”)
Coleraine (chandeliers sway without cause, an old piano plays by itself, and phantom voices moan and whisper)
I can see it now: It’s the first night of our honeymoon. I step demurely out of the bathroom, wearing a lacy black teddy, garters…and night vision goggles. Smiling coyly, I inform Mr. LB that I’ve brought a few “toys” along. I then bust out the EMF reader, the EVP recorder, and the thermal imaging camera. Cue porn music.
And speaking of getting in the mood, check out these cool Flickr groups:
Abandoned Cottages
Entrances to Hell
Haunted Houses, Buildings, and other Creepy Places
Haunted Cemetaries
Any other ghost junkies out there? Or any suggestions on must-see spots in Ireland?
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No matter what you do in Ireland, you MUST take a horseback tour of the national park in Killarney. This one in particular is amazing!! I took the 2 hour ride and out of everything I’ve done in my life and all my travels, it ranks up there in the top 2 or 3!
Love it– but I get all freaked out and can’t sleep. I like the Ghost Walking Tours that they have in major cities. Also, my ceremony site is reputedly very haunted!
I think you meant “bridge”… freudian slip spelling, hehe.
This is so funny! FI and I are going to Ireland as well for our honeymoon and are really excited to see leap castle and watch TAPS and loooooove TNBC 
Barry from Ghost Hunters runs a ghost tour…you might want to check that out!
How fun!! I went to Ireland back in 2000 and I had such an awesome time… but I didn’t come across any ghosts or hauntings 
Too bad.
The Rock of Cashel was kind of creepy, though. I could see it being haunted.
ooh…lovebug, we’re definitely on the same line…our originaly honeymoon choice was ireland (renting a cottage)…and we looove ghost tours, guided or otherwise…we’ve even been in cemetaries…after midnight….CREEPY photos, I’m telling you. I want lots of pictures (but no dust “orbs” please)
oooh i would love that idea. as much as that stuff piques my interest i doubt i’ll be able to sleep. lol. and i loves me some sleep more than a good ghost story. but i’ll live vicariously through you. y’all need to hurry up and get married so you can go on the honeymoon. i want to hear all about the ghosts!
That’s so cool! Sometimes I have a hard time with Ghost Hunters because I feel like it’s a lot of sitting around waiting for something to happen, but I LOVE all the international episodes…it’s just more interesting when there are that many more years of history! Didn’t TAPS actually go to Leap Castle?
Being fans, yoy may already know about the ParanormalDatabase.com — a serious ongoing project to quantitatively document as many locations with paranormal / cryptozoological interest as possible, region by region, in England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland., but in case you don’t here’s the link to thieir page on haunted Ireland:
http://www.paranormaldatabase.com/ireland/ireland.htm
There’s also N.I.P.R.A.– the N.Ireland Paranormal Research Association– who apparently arranges overnight stays in haunted castles. http://www.nipra.co.uk
omg I love to watch Ghost Hunters! I just got into it, so every Wednesday I’ve been glued to Sci Fi watching all the episodes (I’m such a dork). That would be so cool if you got to experience hauntings on your honeymoon. I think the international team did go to a few places in ireland and I thought they got good results?
AWESOME!!! I just stayed overnight at the Myrtles Plantation last month to do some ghost hunting and it was a total scream! LOVED IT! You’ll have a blast!
oh my goodness I was so excited to see that you are going to Ireland! We are also going to Ireland for our honeymoon in May. Thanks for all the good tips, My fiance is working the planning so I will pass on the links to him.
Ghost stuff totally freaks me out, but Mr. Canary thinks supernatural stuff is funny! I couldn’t do a honeymoon like yours, but I would love to hear all about it!
hi!
I lived in Ireland for a while and your tour sounds like fun!
However, try to avoid Coleraine or stay there as little as possible: it’s really not a town to remember. However, push to Downhill if you’re there, beautiful cliffs, amazing beach, and a little hostel/BnB, as charming as you can get, just set on the beach. Had a fantastic time there with my (now ex-)boyfriend…
Hello from Ireland!
I’m an avid reader of all things wedding bee because I’m getting married this June in this castle - http://www.ballyseedecastle.com/ - which “…boasts the ghost of Landlords past and they are known to walk the long corridors in the basement level.
On the 24th of March each year the ghost is known to make its presence felt as it did on that night in 1998 when the residents of the castle vacated their rooms and were last heard of when they went to a local bookshop and asked for a book on ghosts. They told the shop assistant they had a frightening experience “they saw a Spirit”.
This is the first time anyone was scared of the ghost. The past residents of the castle fondly call the ghost Hilda.”
If you get a chance on your honeymoon I’d recommend it as a place to stay!!
My husband is from Ireland and we were there this Christmas. Anyway, as we were taking a drive one afternoon, it got really foggy all of a sudden and the fog laying low on the surrounding fields was one of the creepiest things I have ever seen! have a great time!
ps- one nitpicky thing, you mentioned that you were looking at websites for UK hauntings…Ireland is not part of the UK or Britain. Northern Ireland is, but the Republic of Ireland is not. sorry to be annoying but I always need to correct that whenever I see it.
I love the ghosties! I too am an avid watcher of Ghost Hunter and the haunted city shows on the travel channel and I just did a haunted tour of Chicago. I feel like those old ghosts in Ireland are way scarier than our younger ghosts. Your honeymoon sounds amazing, I can’t wait to hear more!
Sounds amazing! Ireland is one of my favorite places - I lived therefor a semester and return as often as I can. The suggestion that I give everyone going there is visit Inishmore if at all possible. It can be done as a day trip, though it’s well worth spending a night. You can take a ferry from near Galway, rent a bike when you get off the ferry, and ride up to Dun Aengus, this cool old fort. Stop by the pub next to the hostel for a pint after, and the locals are sure to be singing Irish tunes.
Miss Lovebug, you are a Bee after my own heart! I loves the ghosties! Mr. Donut - not so much. He just doesn’t believe they exist. These castles might just be the thing to change his mind.
This is the most wonderful idea ever!
I love TAPS and Ghost Hunters and now Ghost Hunters International! Cool idea for your honeymoon! Have fun!
I’ve got a ghost sighting story from when I was at Killaghy Castle in Co. Tipperary a few years ago. It’s a bit too long to recount here, but let me know if you’re interested.
What’s also great about Killaghy is that during the day it is charming & bright and so inviting. Yet during the night when the mist comes off the bogs and there’s not an artificial light for miles, it becomes another (& frankly pretty spooky) place.
[...] LB and I have declared today the unofficial kickoff to our haunted Ireland honeymoon. We’re going to wear green and drink Guinness every day from now until our departure. And the [...]
Wow, how great to hear that all you lovely people want to visit us here in Ireland so much…..cool!! I live in Carlow, where Kilkea Castle is. My Mom worked there a few times and said it’s way haunted.
Loved your tour ideas and the comments. I am particularly interested in more information from Carrie re Killaghy Castle — we’ll be staying there this summer for a week. Any more details would be appreciated!
Hi Carrie — basically, anything and everything about your stay at the castle, your ghost sighting, recommended local places, etc. We’ll be a large family group….ranging in age from 18 to 58….and one is a ghost tracker, so he’ll be psyched to know more about your story!
thanks!
my email is roboller4839@hotmail.com
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Mrs. Lovebug, Tucson
Age and Occupation in 06: 31, Writer
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 27, Professional Game Show Contestant
Engagement Date: February 18, 2007
Wedding Date: April 19, 2008
Venue: Historic Inn
About Me: Likes: blogging, wikis, semi-colons, cuddling, fragrant flowers, syntax, and spooning. Dislikes: typos, dangling modifiers, flypaper, citronella candles, and run-ons. If I had my druthers, I'd exchange simple vows in a candlelit library. But I lost my druthers long ago...anyone seen them?
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