Ballyshannon's Most Famous Ghost Story for Halloween

  

The scene of the ghostly appearance was the Barracks on the left of this photo.

At Halloween it is good to remember the most famous Ballyshannon ghost story of all time and how there were eyewitnesses to the strange events which happened.. The barrack’s building at the bridge in Ballyshannon County Donegal is considered to be the oldest and most interesting building in the town and it was there that a most strange apparition occurred.

Keystone still visible today at the front of the barracks with the date 1700

The Barracks is a detached six-bay building of two-storeys over a basement and was built in 1700. The building was planned as a T-shaped building and this outline can still be seen today. It is considered it to have been the work of Colonel Thomas Burgh   an ancestor of well -known singer Chris De Burgh. 

The interior of the building has been renovated and reconstructed and today the most authentic features are to be seen on the facade. The barracks was constructed for the British military to protect a very strategic crossing point into Ulster. What follows here is the unusual ghost story of the Goblin Child which has been handed down for generations and which was popularised by local poet William Allingham. It deserves to be remembered at Halloween as it has all the hallmarks of a true story.

The Goblin Child seen in Ballyshannon by Lord Castlereagh

Lord Castlereagh saw the ghost in Ballyshannon

 The story of the Goblin Child concerns the supernatural appearance of a boy in the barracks at Ballyshannon, and is one of the most authenticated ghost stories in the area. The tale centres on Robert Stewart, Lord Castlereagh, who arrived in Ballyshannon barracks following military manoeuvres. Having retired upstairs to his bedroom, in which a fire was still glowing in the fireplace, he went into a fitful sleep. During the night he was awakened from his sleep and claimed that he saw the image of a naked child emerging from the fireplace and coming across to the foot of his bed. The child did not speak and the apparition receded back into the fireplace. 

Robert Stewart later recounted the tale to Sir Walter Scott, the famous Scottish novelist in 1815- “It is certain he related several strange circumstances many years after, at a dinner party in Paris, one of those present being Sir Walter Scott who afterwards referred to it in his writing.”  Scott said only two men had ever told him that they had seen a ghost, and that both had ended their own lives. One of these men was Lord Castlereagh. 

Francis Joseph Bigger M.R.I.A placed the ghostly appearance of the boy in the barracks at Ballyshannon in 1796, whilst referring to the apparition as ‘the radiant boy’ and recounted how Lord Castlereagh had told the story to Sir Walter Scott and to the Duke of Wellington. There is also strong anecdotal evidence to locate the strange happening at the barracks beside the river Erne in Ballyshannon. 

The Curse of the Goblin Child

Who was Lord Castlereagh? He was born Robert Stewart in Dublin in 1769, the son of a Presbyterian landowner and Member of Parliament, who built Mount Stewart near Newtownards in Co. Down. By a strange coincidence he had a Ballyshannon connection, as he was married to Lady Emily Hobart, who was a relative of William Conolly, the Speaker of the Irish Parliament, who was born in Ballyshannon in 1662. By a strange quirk of location the Speaker’s birthplace was just across the street from the barracks where Robert Stewart saw the apparition. Stewart later rose to prominence as Chief Secretary, War Minister, Foreign Secretary and Leader of the Commons during the Napoleonic Wars. He is remembered in Ireland for his suppression of the 1798 Rebellion and for forcing through The Act of Union. In 1822 he cut his throat at his residence in Kent. An added piece of information about the Goblin Child was that when the boy/child appeared to anyone, that person would rise to high prominence but would have a violent death.  Castlereagh’s violent death leaves one to wonder about the curse of the Goblin Child, as Castlereagh rose to high office but then met a violent death.,

William Allingham heard the story of the Goblin Child in his Youth

The account of the story in William Allingham’s narrative poem, "The Goblin Child of Ballyshannon", graphically describes the appearance of the child to Lord Castlereagh and locates this unusual tale at the barracks in Ballyshannon.  The room in which the event occurred in the barracks was, for many years, referred to as Lord Castlereagh’s Chamber. 

William Allingham wrote a poem about Ballyshannon's most famous ghost story

It is significant that the Allingham family lived close to the barracks at Ballyshannon, when the apparition occurred in the late 1700’s, and that the poet William Allingham who was born in 1824, published his poem on the occurrence in 1850.

William Allingham would have been familiar with the story, growing up, and in the extract from his poem quoted below describes the apparition and names of  Lord Castlereagh as the person who saw the Goblin Child in Ballyshannon barracks.

When   suddenly – Oh Heaven! – the fire

Leaped up into a dazzling pyre,

And boldly from the brightened hearth

A Naked Child stepped forth.

  

                                                                       With a total, frozen start,

A bound – a pausing of the heart,

He saw.  It came across the floor,

Its size increasing more and more

At every step, until a dread

Gigantic form stood by his bed.

Glaring for some seconds’space

Down into his rigid face –

Back it drew, with steadfast look.

Dwindling every step it took,

Till the Naked Child returned

To the fire, which brightly burned

To greet it: then black sudden gloom

Sunk upon the silent room,

Silent, save the monotone

Of the river flowing down

Through the arches of the bridge,

And beneath his casement ledge.

This happened when our island still

Had nests of goblins left, to fill

Each mouldy nook and corner close,

Like spiders in an ancient house,

And this one read within the face

Intruding on its dwelling-place,

Lines of woe, despair, and blood,

By spirits only understood;

As mortals now can read the same

In the letters of his name,

Who in that haunted chamber lay,

When  we call him – Castlereagh.

From the 19^th century to the present day the barracks building at the bridge in Ballyshannon has been used as commercial premises and currently houses an auctioneer’s premises, a computer shop, a cafe and Mr. G's shop. This barracks still stands, beside the bridge over the Erne at Ballyshannon, and has a rich ghostly history.

The Green Lady

Local people for generations have identified the Barracks building as the ghostly home of both The Green Lady and The Goblin Child. The story of The Green Lady centres on an officer’s wife who defied her husband by attending a ball in the town. On her return to the barracks an altercation developed with her husband and he threw her to her death down the stairs. The lady had been wearing a green dress and right up to present times local people believe that she haunted the barracks, particularly around the Harvest Fair day in September. The story of the Green Lady was carried to Canada by emigrants from Ballyshannon and made its way back to Ballyshannon before it was lost forever. A few years ago Patricia Keane played the role of the Green Lady to a packed audience in the Abbey Centre. The occasion was a talk I was giving at the Allingham Festival on Ghostly Ballyshannon. Soinbhe Lally kindly scripted the short play.

NEW BOOK ON BALLYSHANNON BROTHER AND SISTER WHO MADE HISTORY IN AMERICA

 

The Sheil Hospital Ballyshannon Lives On

This  is a  tribute to all who played a role in the development of the Sheil Hospital since1894 and who  look forward to the next chapter in a wonderful history. 

Dr. Simon Sheil the Founder

Dr.Simon Sheil was the generous philanthropist who left a large sum in his will for the construction of a hospital in Ballyshannon in 1894.The Sheil family were renowned as a medical family for generations and had been in Ballyshannon since the early 19th century. Dr. Simon Sheil qualified as a medical doctor in Edinburgh in 1840 and was appointed a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons (F.R.C.S.I.) in 1844. Dr. Sheil practised medicine in Sheil House Ballyshannon during the distressing years of the Great Famine and inherited much of his father’s extensive property. On his own death in 1889 he left endowments in his will which are still providing humanitarian assistance in Ballyshannon today. Dr. Simon Sheil died on the 2nd June 1889 and the distinctive Sheil vault still stands today, in the Abbey graveyard, overlooking the ruins of the Cistercian Abbey of Assaroe. Dr. Simon Sheil’s will was probated on the 1st August 1889. In his will he left £6,000 for the construction of a hospital with an additional £1,000 available as required.

A Hospital for the Wider Community

The hospital served a wide community in South Donegal, North Sligo and North Leitrim. After stipulated endowments in his will, Dr. Sheil left his remaining property in the care of the Sheil Trustees for the erection, maintenance and furnishing of the Sheil Hospital. A management committee for the day to day rules, regulations and ethos of the hospital was to be composed of the following; The Catholic Archbishop of Armagh, Catholic Bishop of Raphoe, Parish Priests of Bundoran and Kilbarron, the County Judge of Ballyshannon, the Protestant rector of Kilbarron and the Chairman of the Ballyshannon Board of Guardians.

Dr. Simon Sheil founder of the hospital

From the Early Days to the Friends of the Sheil Hospital

The Sheil Hospital from the outset was a medical and surgical hospital for the reception of poor patients but with a ward or wards for patients who would be able to pay or contribute towards their support. Architect for the Sheil Hospital was William H. Byrne and the builder was Mr. McAdorey of Dundalk. Looking to the future Dr. Sheil directed that the hospital be built in such a manner that it could easily be added to afterwards. This is currently the situation with the planned extensions in 2021 adding to the original building. The foundation stone for the Sheil Hospital was blessed by Most Rev. Dr. Logue, Primate of All Ireland, and the stone was laid by Ms. Henrietta Sheil in September 1891. She was the last of the family to live in Sheil House on College Street which is currently occupied by Túsla. The role of the Sisters of Mercy has been pivotal in the provision of nursing and administration in the Sheil Hospital and they provided the Matron to the hospital until the early 1990s. The surgeons, doctors nursing and ancillary staff have always provided a professional and caring atmosphere for the patients which is recognised by the wider community .In the 1970s a large extension was added to the hospital with operating theatre, bed lift, children’s ward, female medical ward as well as nursing and domestic staff apartments. The Friends of the Sheil Hospital played an important role in fund-raising for developments such as the new laundry at that period. The Sheil Hospital developed an expertise in surgery and in modern times was recognised for its maternity facilities. In March 1974 the Sheil Hospital was taken over by the North Western Health Board.

Modern Times and a Legacy for the Future

The Health Service Executive’s major building project for the Sheil Hospital,  has been welcomed by the entire community and the tireless work of their staff must be acknowledged. Investment in the extension to the hospital will include the addition of 80 new bed units in a combination of short stay, long stay and dementia wards. The existing buildings at the Sheil Hospital will keep its façade and will also be upgraded. Main contractors for the Sheil Hospital project are Boyle Construction Letterkenny and architects are Rhatigan Architects (Sligo) and Tangram Architects (London). Next door to the Sheil Hospital, the new H.S.E. Primary Health Care Centre has opened and replaced the Convent originally endowed by William Stephens, while also keeping the original facade of the building. Both buildings enhance the built heritage of the town and have their origins in the generous legacies of two Ballyshannon men in the 19th century. Dr. Simon Sheil originally gave an exceptional sum of money for the construction of the Sheil Hospital in 1894 and his legacy to the community will live on, in the much appreciated enhanced developments by the Health Service Executive well into the next century.

Extension to the Sheil Hospital under construction 2021.