It may have fit my story brief, but to use Cork parlance I wasn’t exactly haunted by the weather. Arriving at Ballyseede Castle, a luxury four-star hotel just north of Tralee, I wind up the property’s oak-veiled avenue as a deluge of rainfall buckets down in my wake. Oh and what’s this to my left? Ballyseede’s very own pet cemetery which immediately adds a Stephen King-esque eeriness to my arrival. The popular Kerry escape and wedding venue soon reveals itself through my windshield wipers and its ivy-clad, gothic structure complete with turrets, parapets and castellated wings strikes quite the imposing vision. The first vision of many, hopefully?
Almost all the more imposing is my welcome at Ballyseede’s doorway: nine year Irish wolfhound, Molly. Though her presence is far more docile than her calf-like stature might suggest. After a few ear rubs and manoeuvre attempts, I hurdle my way inside to the hotel’s ornate lobby where Doric columns flank an elegant staircase which leads up and down to storeys of history. Receptionist Hilla from Finland provides my welcome before escorting me down to my West Wing room via Paddy’s Way, a labyrinthine ground floor corridor festooned with shields of armour and medieval style signage. “You know one of our staff heard voices down here before when he was working here,” she casually announces ahead of me, presumably easing me in for what tales are to come. I was staying in Ballyseede’s McAleese room, named after the former president who once stayed here, though albeit without any paranormal encounters, I understand. The room is impressive, highlighted by a canopy curtain bed, soft furnishings embellished with castle crests and fleurs-de-lis as well as plush armchairs to admire…or perhaps wonder at…the estate outside.
Molly the Irish wolfhound that resides in the hotel takes a walk around the grounds. Pictures: Domnick Walsh © Eye Focus LTD
And Ballyseede — cue ghostly introductions — is an estate with history. It was here that the Blennerhassett family, a well-heeled noble family from Cumberland in England, first built a property in 1721. They had been granted the lands after the former owner, the Earl of Desmond, refused to pledge allegiance to the Crown and literally lost his head as a result. However, it’s not the ill-fated earl who is said to wander these grounds but rather one Hilda (not to be confused with Hilla) Blennerhasset. Hilda, the last surviving member of the Blennerhassett family at Ballyseede who worked as a nurse in France during WWI, is said to still appear in Ballyseede to this day, typically carrying a rose and appearing in a black Victorian dress.
Ballyseede Castle Hotel in Tralee Co Kerry is all set for Halloween. Pictures: Domnick Walsh © Eye Focus LTD
“A lot of guests expect the ghost to date from hundreds of years ago… so they’re surprised when I tell them that Hilda died in 1965.” They’re the words of Tim Mahoney, the bar manager of Ballyseede Castle who I meet that evening at the hotel’s ambient Pappy’s Bar. “You can have a lot of fun with the stories here but you also have to be careful how far you push it,” he adds. “I once ran two girls out of it! Americans,” he tells me. “I’d told them that Hilda had died in the room in which they were staying and one of them was so afraid she refused to go back in there. So, we had to find them another room… in Tralee!” When asked whether his ghost stories might land him in hot water with management, Tim’s sense of divilment comes to the fore. “I thought I might get in trouble alright but there were no issues… plus I figured If we ever oversell by a room I could always get to work on a couple…”
Stairs to the Bed Rooms in Ballyseede Castle Hotel in Tralee Co Kerry. Pictures: Domnick Walsh © Eye Focus LTD
Skittish reactions to Hilda are rare, however and guests either seem largely indifferent to her story or display a positive curiosity. American visitors appear a common denominator in many accounts, however. Tim produces a black and white photograph taken by a US couple some years ago which, once developed, revealed a figure of woman in the background vision straight from The X-Files. “See her there in the window? And can you read what’s below the window sill?” Tim asks me. “The letters RIP?” I reply, feeling like the North Kerry version of David Duchovny. But Ballyseede is in fact, no stranger to its X-Files moments. An English filming crew once visited the hotel to detect paranormal activity while the hotel also made the headlines in 1989 after three guests from Connecticut abandoned their stay early after being spooked.
These tales of Hilda don’t just fall on my ears that evening. Even without my own Spanish Inquisition, and as if perfectly orchestrated by that TV production team, Hilda becomes the main topic of conversation in the bar. From curious guests as they saunter in, to Ballyseede’s chef suddenly emerging to announce “sure she’s always flying stuff off the kitchen shelves”. Even the local curate, fresh from an on-site wedding, joins in on the musings. “Oh the ghost? Sure she’s been at it for generations,” he jokes, with a nod and a wink.
Tim Mahony tour guide at the Hotel
As for Tim, he remains sceptical yet respectful of Hilda and her clout. “A few of us used to live here at the castle many years ago, which was normal enough in those days when many people didn’t have cars. Some days, when the hotel was closed, I’d be staying here by myself and walking up the avenue, with the graveyard on one end and the pet cemetery on another, the castle would appear up ahead of you black as the night,” he recounts. “And I’ll tell you, when I went into my bedroom that night, I wasn’t coming out again. I suppose, I’m not big on the ghost thing but when you’re here by yourself, sounds all take on a different meaning.”
Having survived my night in Ballyseede and without any disturbing sounds that evening (does Wagon Wheel from the wedding band count?) the next morning, I tucked into breakfast downstairs and was treated to a chat with front of house tour de force, Esther McCarthy. Esther, who has enjoyed a 47-year career in hospitality has seen some things in her time. And she’s pretty sure Hilda Blennerhassett is one of them. “Oh sure it’s definitely haunted,” she reveals to me with a twinkle in her eye.
One of the dining rooms
“I remember being alone here one winter’s night when the hotel was empty. I came in to do a stock take, you know checking the curtains and the like, to see what needs replacing. And weren’t the lights on the TV on in Hilda’s room when I arrived.” Things took a further twist the next night when Esther smelled the fragrance of roses surrounding her on the staircase. “Hilda was known to let her presence known with the smell of roses and the strange thing is there isn’t a rose garden on the grounds.”
As for owner Marnie Corscadden, whose family have been Ballyseede Castle’s most recent custodians since 2005, running a hotel with a resident ghost has proven an unlikely blessing. “Well, there’s definitely an aspect of ghost tourism driving it all,” she tells me. “A lot of guests are definitely drawn here by the ghost. I’d say 5 to 10% of our American market. Plus, we actually get a lot of visitors from Cork too. I think they must be a very curious county.” But above all, Marnie underlines that the presence of Hilda is a benevolent force. “Much of the noise here has been down to old building rebelling a little and I think most guests just have a bit of fun with it.”
A bedroom in the Castle
As a bid my farewell to Esther, Tim, Molly and co, I may have failed in my ghostbusting mission but I left enriched nonetheless by the ghoulish heritage that permeates through Ballyseede. As Halloween, spirit legends and ghoulish attractions play a multi-million Euro role in Irish tourism nowadays, it’s clear that our innate fascination with spirits plays a dormant but ever murmuring driver in the industry. Hilda and her legacy certainly added to the character of my stay and while I didn’t get a sighting, you could say my stay still came up smelling of roses.
- To experience Ballyseede Castle’s ghostly heritage or perhaps even spot Hilda yourself, you can check into the hotel from €160 per night. The hotel is also one of the most popular wedding venues in Munster.
