Terror of work at gaol revealed 20 years on
ONE of the workmen involved in the restoration of Wicklow Gaol some 20 years ago has finally revealed some of the spooky and frightening experiences he and his colleagues encountered during the works.
The gaol has a well documented association with paranormal events and Wicklow County Council’s Project Construction Manager Brian Grennan has now spoken publicly about the six-month ordeal the men faced as they worked to get the jail ready for the official opening by President Mary McAleese in 1998.
‘People were genuinely frightened,’ said Mr Grennan.
‘It came from a world we know nothing about. A lot of pain and suffering went on in that place.’
Built in 1702 and finally closed in the 1920s, the history of Wicklow Gaol is intertwined with the history of Ireland and, in its time, its walls held thousands of prisoners during the Great Famine, the 1798 Rebellion and the War of Independence.
During the restoration 20 years ago, the first strange incidents began to occur as workmen were bringing electricity into the building. One man said he had been touched on the shoulder while he worked alone inside the building.
‘After that, we were afraid to work alone inside the jail,’ said Mr Grennan.
‘Many a time I was closing up at night and I couldn’t get around the place fast enough to get out. The hairs would stand on the back of my neck.
‘It’s not a place you’d want to spend the night in. People were genuinely frightened,’ he said.
One of the strangest events of all took place as the building of a replica convict ship (located in the vicinity of the old chapel) was being completed.
‘ The men had been working late into the night varnishing the decks of the ship.
‘We left and locked up and then at eight o’clock the next morning, the foreman was shocked to discover children’s footprints running across the deck which had all been caught in the varnish,’ said Mr Grennan.
On another occasion, a cleaning firm was removing dust from the cells when staff members heard horses trotting into the yard, only to find there was nothing there at all.
Marie Comerford has worked in the jail for the past 15 years and has documented dozens of strange events, both involving herself and visitors to the gaol.
She often sees the swirls of mist and said that the presence of the mist was verified by the American group Ghosthunters International who caught it on their equipment.
She has also regularly heard whispers and felt tugs on her skirts.
‘It was just like a child pulling on her mammy’s skirt,’ she said.
Some visitors to Wicklow Gaol also have also their own spine-chilling tales to tell.
One American woman began feeling weak and couldn’t breathe while in the old cell of the rebel Billy Byrne.
‘She said she felt something around her neck...and Billy Byrne died by hanging,’ said Ms Comerford.
Then there was the new staff member who complained that one old man dressed in period clothes was far too old to be expected to work in the gaol.
He had been sitting on a bench outside the café and greeted her as she was passing by. But there was no old man in the jail.
‘ The spirits are certainly there but they are not going to do any harm to us. They’re just telling us their stories,’ said Ms Comerford.