My home is haunted by Padraig Pearse, says Canadian ambassador

THE Canadian Ambassador to Ireland believes his official residence in Dublin is being haunted by the ghost of Padraig Pearse.

Kevin Vickers, who made headlines when he rugby tackled a protestor to the ground during a 1916 centenary commemoration service, thinks the spirit of the 1916 leader lives on in the elegant setting of Glanmire House.

The ambassador (inset) describes hearing unusual bangs, laboured breathing and heavy footsteps in the residence’s halls in a recent social media post.

“Ghosts. I never believed in ghosts. Until I arrived here,” he said.

Mr Vickers is not easily spooked. He was hailed as a hero in 2014 when, in his role as Sargeant-at-Arms, he shot dead a gunman who had opened fire in the Canadian parliament building in Ottowa.

When he moved into the Ranelagh home Mr Vickers heard rumours Pearse had once lived there. After extensive research he discovered documents signed by Pearse to lease the grounds between 1908 and 1912.

“I wonder if it is he who walks the hallways,” Mr Vickers writes. “Some evenings he or she seems agitated. Then days go by and all is quiet.”

According to the BBC, Mr Vicker’s maid Anna is sometimes nervous to go upstairs. Vickers said that if anyone doubts “the validity of this story, you are welcome to come and stay a night or two here.”

He has no plans to exorcise Pearse’s ghost out of respect to the Irish people.