Spooked Ireland Review - Episode One - Charleville Castle
Ghost/Paranormal
Friday 20th, October 2023
With Spooked Ireland taking over our Friday nights in the run up to one of the spookiest nights of the calendar year, what has Spooked Ireland been telling us about the other side of Ireland that most of us are used to hearing whispers of in stories.
We're going to approach the Spooked Ireland series from a purely fact based and reasonable assumption based on common knowledge and societal intelligence. Due to this approach it is hard to either prove or disprove any of the personal experiences that are presented in the Spooked Ireland series.
The first episode, aired on the 29th of September 2023 and is based in Charleville Castle in County Offaly, a well known location among most if not all paranormal investigators in and around Ireland.
The Spooked Ireland team consists of presenter Vogue Williams, spiritual medium Chris Fleming, technology guru Ryan O'Niell and consultant parapsychologist Dr. Evelyn Hollow.
Based in the midlands of Ireland Charleville castle has a rich history and anyone who has visited the location will tell you what an amazing building it is and the grounds around it are stunning to wander through.
With the arrival of the Spooked Ireland team led by Vogue Williams the aim of the team is stated as,
A quick overview of some of the technology used by the team throughout the episode includes the REM-pod, digital thermometer, DVR (digital video recorder), The Miricle Box App., Mel Meter (paranormal multi-tool designed by Gary Galka), K2, Frank's Box (invented by Frank Sumption) and an Eddy meter to name but a few.
The episode starts off entering Charleville castle and talking about the staircase that seven year old Harriet fell to her death on, leading onto the reported story that Harriet was in the nursey and went to the banister of the stairs, lent over, slipped and unfortunately fell to her death. Harriet has been confirmed to have existed in records from the time and records have further backed up that she passed away at the young age of seven years old in the castle.
The episode flows into the stories of doors seeming being locked and then unlocked with no keys present for someone to do this. One of these cases was one of the kids living in the castle was locked in a closet in the Nursery, the mother tried once to open the door, and a second time without being able to open the door, then the mother is reported to have asked for the door to open and on the third attempt she was able to open the closet door without a key.
One note about the house, having previously visited the house it looked very staged, most notable the nursery with the toys placed there, the nursery has always been empty when visited in the past.
Another story surrounding a three year old boy who lived at the castle was reported that he disappeared and then after a frantic search he was spotted coming down the stairs that Harriet fell to her death, saying that it's ok the the girl and boy held his hands.
It was stated in the episode that a lot of cases of doors 'locking' have been experienced in the castle, now having visited the castle a number of time in the summer months and winter months, unless in the areas where the family live the rest of the building can be bitterly cold.
And as we know cold weather (hot weather aswell, for the record) can affect door locks and the door frames as well. During seasonal changes, as lower levels of humidity affect the material of doors it's common to experience the following. Freezing temperatures and the absence of moisture in the air can cause your door frame to contract, leading to a poor fit between the door and the lock itself, contraction means the door will begin to warp around your locks, and may lead to your deadbolt suddenly not being able to lock or unlock properly.
Additionally, if there is existing moisture in the lock, you may experience issues with your key not being able to turn. Moisture in the mechanisms of the lock may freeze over, causing your key to become stuck or much harder than usual to put into the lock.
In Charleville Castle a lot of the building is not heated and is at the mercy of the cold temperatures, especially the higher up the castle you go with holes in the roof and walls.
Next the team wander into the Red Room, which was once a ladies room, no men were allowed into this room and it's stated in the episode that there is no key for this room either.
In the episode it's stated that a number of individuals have experienced being locked in the room and strangely affected if they were to stand in the centre of the circular Red Room. Men are reported to have mostly experienced these events.
It's further stated that a ley line exists between the two towers of the castle that passes through the centre of the two towers. There is some evidence that suggests that the castle might lie where a ley line is said to exist in Ireland, a ley line possibly pass through the castle from West to East as well as a ley line possibly passes North to South as well.
The first of many reported, a 'fresh' battery dies. It's impossible to verify batteries dying as we don't know how the batteries were stored, when they were changed and how much of a charge they contained. We have covered in the past (article linked below, 'Battery Drain, Is It Caused By A Ghost? Why Does It Happen?') how cold environments can affect battery charge.
The episode turns to the toilet area of the castle where a bang is heard as Chris is walking down the main stairs, upon investigating they find a door unlocked just as two staff members of Charleville castle appear and state that the door is always locked as it's off limits. The door is said to lead to the sub-levels of the castle which contains the tunnels but that all those areas are off limits to everyone except staff of the castle.
As with other reports of doors being locked or unlocked it's impossible to verify if the door was locked previous to the banging heard and also it's possible that a draught could have caused the door to bang, again impossible to verify from what is seen in the episode.
The episode cuts to Vogue and Ryan doing 'research', we think it's safe to assume this research was done offsite due to the nature of research, it takes time and access to multiple sources of verifiable data and records. With that said, this instance could very well have been the first time Vogue and Ryan had seen the documents that were possibly produced by the production team prior to recording the show onsite.
It's at this stage, during the research that Vogue brings up the idea of yew trees and spirits. This idea is supported by the beliefs which stemmed from Scotland where the Druids held scared the yew tree in pre-Christian times. Due to the yew tree’s qualities of longevity and regeneration as well as the drooping branches of old yew trees which can root and form new trunks where they touched the ground, the yew tree came to symbolise death and resurrection in Celtic culture.
So the jump from death to spirits is very plausible.
Following the research, Ryan goes to setup for the investigation and heads to the nursery to put some motion senors that will play music when movement is detected. But as Ryan is in the room two of the sensors go off and start playing music.
Without knowing the actual sensors used and the calibration of the sensors it's hard to talk about what might and might not trigger them. Additionally looking at the room, it's floorboards partially covered with a rug, it's very possible a person stepping on a floorboard could cause small movements that trigger the motion sensors further along the floorboard.
Going to jump about a bit now from the flow of the episode, going to the actual investigation piece of the episode reference is made to the camera not working in the Red Room, it's not clear in the show and it's not stated if they are using wired or wireless camera's, if the camera's were wireless it's very plausible that the old stone walls were too much for the wireless signal to penetrate., again, impossible to verify either way without further information.
At a number of times in the episode Chris looks to have made contact with Harriet and Henry among others, due to the technique used there is no scientific evidence to support that the method used is valid or accurate, so has to be taken with a pinch of salt.
Further on Chris states that he channels one spirit, the father of Harriet, that talks for multiple spirits, again we have to take this on it's merit as there is no way to verify or dismiss this event.
A number of doors were reported to have shut on their own throughout the episode, once in the Red Room when Chris was in the room with a couple of people and a camera person, the camera person had their back to the door so unable to verify what occurred in this instance.
Another two incidents of doors closing were when Ryan and Evelyn were doing the investigation piece of the episode and a door at the back of the room, which was open when they entered as you can see it in the background, slams shut as Ryan and Evelyn talk about the experiment they are about to do.
As Ryan, Evelyn and the camera person investigate the slammed door, they hear another door slam in the room, as they enter back into the room they just came from they notice the door they originally entered through is now closed.
Again, unable to verify any of these door closures as nothing is shown or caught on camera.
One note I will call out which was great to see was Evelyn calling out her concern for audio pareidolia and wanting to do a 'blind' test with Evelyn writing four words on paper and placing them face down on the floor for the spirits to then read and pass the words along via a radio signal, even with this praise for Evelyn, it could have been made more credible by using words not already used many times throughout the night like, for example Nursey was one of these four words.
All four team members, Vogue, Chris, Ryan and Evelyn gather in the nursery to try and make contact with some spirits in the castle. They look to make contact with Harriet and Henry who reportedly state they are happy where they are but there is sadness with other spirits in the castle.
This session is interrupted many times by motion sensors triggering and different colours showing up on electronic devices with software used to capture anomalies.
A prayer is said by Chris in the library with Evelyn and a camera person present. This wraps up the episode in Charleville castle.
A few thoughts on everything seen and not seen in the episode. As with any paranormal investigation where many people or one person experiences an event, these events are interpreted by the individual and this interpretation is based on the reaction of others around them, also any other events that the individual might have been part of leading up to the current event and maybe most important of all the experiencer's own beliefs in the paranormal.
Without being able to see the door slams on video or examine the floorboards in the nursery or look at the doors, door frames and locks it's impossible to verify any event that took place but similarly it's impossible to dismiss the events either.
Spooked Ireland does have a hint of Most Haunted and the episode plays out in a similar way to the way most paranormal investigation shows do, it's almost like the less you see the more doubt that is instilled in a viewers mind forcing the question 'what did I just see' or didn't see.
With all that said, it was an enjoyable watch, showcases an amazing castle in the heart of Ireland and we look forward to reviewing episode 2.
We're going to approach the Spooked Ireland series from a purely fact based and reasonable assumption based on common knowledge and societal intelligence. Due to this approach it is hard to either prove or disprove any of the personal experiences that are presented in the Spooked Ireland series.
The first episode, aired on the 29th of September 2023 and is based in Charleville Castle in County Offaly, a well known location among most if not all paranormal investigators in and around Ireland.
The Spooked Ireland team consists of presenter Vogue Williams, spiritual medium Chris Fleming, technology guru Ryan O'Niell and consultant parapsychologist Dr. Evelyn Hollow.
Based in the midlands of Ireland Charleville castle has a rich history and anyone who has visited the location will tell you what an amazing building it is and the grounds around it are stunning to wander through.
With the arrival of the Spooked Ireland team led by Vogue Williams the aim of the team is stated as,
Vogue Williams invites American medium Chris Fleming and his team to investigate a spike in paranormal activity across Ireland. With exclusive access, they uncover the mysteries, myths and murders behind some of Ireland's most haunted locations.
A quick overview of some of the technology used by the team throughout the episode includes the REM-pod, digital thermometer, DVR (digital video recorder), The Miricle Box App., Mel Meter (paranormal multi-tool designed by Gary Galka), K2, Frank's Box (invented by Frank Sumption) and an Eddy meter to name but a few.
The episode starts off entering Charleville castle and talking about the staircase that seven year old Harriet fell to her death on, leading onto the reported story that Harriet was in the nursey and went to the banister of the stairs, lent over, slipped and unfortunately fell to her death. Harriet has been confirmed to have existed in records from the time and records have further backed up that she passed away at the young age of seven years old in the castle.
The episode flows into the stories of doors seeming being locked and then unlocked with no keys present for someone to do this. One of these cases was one of the kids living in the castle was locked in a closet in the Nursery, the mother tried once to open the door, and a second time without being able to open the door, then the mother is reported to have asked for the door to open and on the third attempt she was able to open the closet door without a key.
One note about the house, having previously visited the house it looked very staged, most notable the nursery with the toys placed there, the nursery has always been empty when visited in the past.
Another story surrounding a three year old boy who lived at the castle was reported that he disappeared and then after a frantic search he was spotted coming down the stairs that Harriet fell to her death, saying that it's ok the the girl and boy held his hands.
It was stated in the episode that a lot of cases of doors 'locking' have been experienced in the castle, now having visited the castle a number of time in the summer months and winter months, unless in the areas where the family live the rest of the building can be bitterly cold.
And as we know cold weather (hot weather aswell, for the record) can affect door locks and the door frames as well. During seasonal changes, as lower levels of humidity affect the material of doors it's common to experience the following. Freezing temperatures and the absence of moisture in the air can cause your door frame to contract, leading to a poor fit between the door and the lock itself, contraction means the door will begin to warp around your locks, and may lead to your deadbolt suddenly not being able to lock or unlock properly.
Additionally, if there is existing moisture in the lock, you may experience issues with your key not being able to turn. Moisture in the mechanisms of the lock may freeze over, causing your key to become stuck or much harder than usual to put into the lock.
In Charleville Castle a lot of the building is not heated and is at the mercy of the cold temperatures, especially the higher up the castle you go with holes in the roof and walls.
Next the team wander into the Red Room, which was once a ladies room, no men were allowed into this room and it's stated in the episode that there is no key for this room either.
In the episode it's stated that a number of individuals have experienced being locked in the room and strangely affected if they were to stand in the centre of the circular Red Room. Men are reported to have mostly experienced these events.
It's further stated that a ley line exists between the two towers of the castle that passes through the centre of the two towers. There is some evidence that suggests that the castle might lie where a ley line is said to exist in Ireland, a ley line possibly pass through the castle from West to East as well as a ley line possibly passes North to South as well.
The first of many reported, a 'fresh' battery dies. It's impossible to verify batteries dying as we don't know how the batteries were stored, when they were changed and how much of a charge they contained. We have covered in the past (article linked below, 'Battery Drain, Is It Caused By A Ghost? Why Does It Happen?') how cold environments can affect battery charge.
The episode turns to the toilet area of the castle where a bang is heard as Chris is walking down the main stairs, upon investigating they find a door unlocked just as two staff members of Charleville castle appear and state that the door is always locked as it's off limits. The door is said to lead to the sub-levels of the castle which contains the tunnels but that all those areas are off limits to everyone except staff of the castle.
As with other reports of doors being locked or unlocked it's impossible to verify if the door was locked previous to the banging heard and also it's possible that a draught could have caused the door to bang, again impossible to verify from what is seen in the episode.
The episode cuts to Vogue and Ryan doing 'research', we think it's safe to assume this research was done offsite due to the nature of research, it takes time and access to multiple sources of verifiable data and records. With that said, this instance could very well have been the first time Vogue and Ryan had seen the documents that were possibly produced by the production team prior to recording the show onsite.
It's at this stage, during the research that Vogue brings up the idea of yew trees and spirits. This idea is supported by the beliefs which stemmed from Scotland where the Druids held scared the yew tree in pre-Christian times. Due to the yew tree’s qualities of longevity and regeneration as well as the drooping branches of old yew trees which can root and form new trunks where they touched the ground, the yew tree came to symbolise death and resurrection in Celtic culture.
So the jump from death to spirits is very plausible.
Following the research, Ryan goes to setup for the investigation and heads to the nursery to put some motion senors that will play music when movement is detected. But as Ryan is in the room two of the sensors go off and start playing music.
Without knowing the actual sensors used and the calibration of the sensors it's hard to talk about what might and might not trigger them. Additionally looking at the room, it's floorboards partially covered with a rug, it's very possible a person stepping on a floorboard could cause small movements that trigger the motion sensors further along the floorboard.
Going to jump about a bit now from the flow of the episode, going to the actual investigation piece of the episode reference is made to the camera not working in the Red Room, it's not clear in the show and it's not stated if they are using wired or wireless camera's, if the camera's were wireless it's very plausible that the old stone walls were too much for the wireless signal to penetrate., again, impossible to verify either way without further information.
At a number of times in the episode Chris looks to have made contact with Harriet and Henry among others, due to the technique used there is no scientific evidence to support that the method used is valid or accurate, so has to be taken with a pinch of salt.
Further on Chris states that he channels one spirit, the father of Harriet, that talks for multiple spirits, again we have to take this on it's merit as there is no way to verify or dismiss this event.
A number of doors were reported to have shut on their own throughout the episode, once in the Red Room when Chris was in the room with a couple of people and a camera person, the camera person had their back to the door so unable to verify what occurred in this instance.
Another two incidents of doors closing were when Ryan and Evelyn were doing the investigation piece of the episode and a door at the back of the room, which was open when they entered as you can see it in the background, slams shut as Ryan and Evelyn talk about the experiment they are about to do.
As Ryan, Evelyn and the camera person investigate the slammed door, they hear another door slam in the room, as they enter back into the room they just came from they notice the door they originally entered through is now closed.
Again, unable to verify any of these door closures as nothing is shown or caught on camera.
One note I will call out which was great to see was Evelyn calling out her concern for audio pareidolia and wanting to do a 'blind' test with Evelyn writing four words on paper and placing them face down on the floor for the spirits to then read and pass the words along via a radio signal, even with this praise for Evelyn, it could have been made more credible by using words not already used many times throughout the night like, for example Nursey was one of these four words.
All four team members, Vogue, Chris, Ryan and Evelyn gather in the nursery to try and make contact with some spirits in the castle. They look to make contact with Harriet and Henry who reportedly state they are happy where they are but there is sadness with other spirits in the castle.
This session is interrupted many times by motion sensors triggering and different colours showing up on electronic devices with software used to capture anomalies.
A prayer is said by Chris in the library with Evelyn and a camera person present. This wraps up the episode in Charleville castle.
A few thoughts on everything seen and not seen in the episode. As with any paranormal investigation where many people or one person experiences an event, these events are interpreted by the individual and this interpretation is based on the reaction of others around them, also any other events that the individual might have been part of leading up to the current event and maybe most important of all the experiencer's own beliefs in the paranormal.
Without being able to see the door slams on video or examine the floorboards in the nursery or look at the doors, door frames and locks it's impossible to verify any event that took place but similarly it's impossible to dismiss the events either.
Spooked Ireland does have a hint of Most Haunted and the episode plays out in a similar way to the way most paranormal investigation shows do, it's almost like the less you see the more doubt that is instilled in a viewers mind forcing the question 'what did I just see' or didn't see.
With all that said, it was an enjoyable watch, showcases an amazing castle in the heart of Ireland and we look forward to reviewing episode 2.
