The Ghost of Glendalough
Ghost/Paranormal
Monday 13th, June 2022
Glendalough is located in county Wicklow and is the site of an ancient monastery, with tower and cemetery. The monastery can be traced back to the 6th century. The site contains a 30 metre round tower, archways, a 12th century priest's house and an 11th century 'cathedral'. The site is reported to have been destroyed by the Normans in 1214.
The apparition/ghost of Kathleen has been seen an is believed to haunt the monastic site in Glendalough, County Wicklow. Over the years the stories about Kathleen have passed from person to person and down through generations with Kathleen being forever placed in poems and songs.
There are two stories around Kathleen and how she came to haunt the site in Glendalough.
The first of these stories is that Kathleen, a local girl who fell in love with the young handsome St. Kevin, Kathleen is said to have tried to seduce St. Kevin and he was not interested. St. Kevin is said to have gotten handfuls of nettles and stung Kathleen on the face, arms and feet until Kathleen came to her senses. Following this Kathleen, full of remorse begged St. Kevin for forgiveness. St. Kevin prayed to God that he would help her to see the errors of her ways, St. Kevin's prayers were answered and Kathleen became a sincere convert soon afterwards.
The second version of the story is said to be where Kathleen was possibly a witch (depending on what source you look at) and she became so infatuated with St. Kevin that she followed him to his cave high up on the side of Lugduff mountain which is now known as St. Kevin's bed. St. Kevin is said to have pushed Kathleen over the edge of the mountain in anger and Kathleen fell into the lake below and drowned.
There have been many sightings over the years, one that was reported on in 'The Wicklow People' newspaper on the 25th of April 1975 was of three different sightings of a ghost in Glendalough.
The first of these sightings was by a couple who visited Glendalough on all souls' day in 1970. The couple took a number of photographs but it wasn't until the photos were developed that they saw an old women wearing what looked like a shawl in one of the photos standing a few feet away from the photographer's fiancé.
The second was reported in November 1974 was reported by an American lady while she was visiting Glendalough with a group of tourists. The lady was with her daughter and they took a number of photographs of the cemetery and the round tower. When the photos were developed a women wearing a long red gown and shawl was reported to have been captured in at least one photo. It was also reported that it looked like the woman in the photo was hurrying along a pathway towards the tower on the site.
And the third historical sighting was reported by an American man named Dick Fuller while he was visiting Ireland for Saint Patrick's Day in March 1975. While Mr. Fuller was visiting Glendalough he reported, "My wife had gone to see if the gift shop was open, while I visited the cemetery. I walked from the entrance to the Tower and went around to see if I could read the inscription on the back of the stones. I glanced around to see if my wife was joining me and, as I did so, I saw a red figure moving from the left to the right, towards a fallen down building. I though it was another person in the cemetery. I walked towards the ruins, expecting to see a person dressed in red, but there was no one there’. He continued ‘Since there was only one entrance the person couldn’t have appeared without passing me… as far as I am concerned, I saw a ghost.".
The apparition/ghost of Kathleen has been seen an is believed to haunt the monastic site in Glendalough, County Wicklow. Over the years the stories about Kathleen have passed from person to person and down through generations with Kathleen being forever placed in poems and songs.
There are two stories around Kathleen and how she came to haunt the site in Glendalough.
The first of these stories is that Kathleen, a local girl who fell in love with the young handsome St. Kevin, Kathleen is said to have tried to seduce St. Kevin and he was not interested. St. Kevin is said to have gotten handfuls of nettles and stung Kathleen on the face, arms and feet until Kathleen came to her senses. Following this Kathleen, full of remorse begged St. Kevin for forgiveness. St. Kevin prayed to God that he would help her to see the errors of her ways, St. Kevin's prayers were answered and Kathleen became a sincere convert soon afterwards.
The second version of the story is said to be where Kathleen was possibly a witch (depending on what source you look at) and she became so infatuated with St. Kevin that she followed him to his cave high up on the side of Lugduff mountain which is now known as St. Kevin's bed. St. Kevin is said to have pushed Kathleen over the edge of the mountain in anger and Kathleen fell into the lake below and drowned.
There have been many sightings over the years, one that was reported on in 'The Wicklow People' newspaper on the 25th of April 1975 was of three different sightings of a ghost in Glendalough.
The first of these sightings was by a couple who visited Glendalough on all souls' day in 1970. The couple took a number of photographs but it wasn't until the photos were developed that they saw an old women wearing what looked like a shawl in one of the photos standing a few feet away from the photographer's fiancé.
The second was reported in November 1974 was reported by an American lady while she was visiting Glendalough with a group of tourists. The lady was with her daughter and they took a number of photographs of the cemetery and the round tower. When the photos were developed a women wearing a long red gown and shawl was reported to have been captured in at least one photo. It was also reported that it looked like the woman in the photo was hurrying along a pathway towards the tower on the site.
And the third historical sighting was reported by an American man named Dick Fuller while he was visiting Ireland for Saint Patrick's Day in March 1975. While Mr. Fuller was visiting Glendalough he reported, "My wife had gone to see if the gift shop was open, while I visited the cemetery. I walked from the entrance to the Tower and went around to see if I could read the inscription on the back of the stones. I glanced around to see if my wife was joining me and, as I did so, I saw a red figure moving from the left to the right, towards a fallen down building. I though it was another person in the cemetery. I walked towards the ruins, expecting to see a person dressed in red, but there was no one there’. He continued ‘Since there was only one entrance the person couldn’t have appeared without passing me… as far as I am concerned, I saw a ghost.".
