Reputedly Dublin’s most haunted street, Hendrick Street has seen many changes over the years, but time will tell whether the ghosts attached to some of the (now gone) buildings have moved on too.

Many of the stories related to number 7 and number 8 – both now demolished. A family once moved into number 7 and were given an ominous warning that they should stay upstairs after dark. The story went that an old lady had died there and that she was heard pacing up and down the stairs from midnight until 5 am each day. Sure enough, one day the father was returning from an evening out and was struggling to unlock the door, when he heard someone running down the stairs behind the locked door. The door then opened and he felt a gust, as if someone had just run passed him – but there was nobody there.

Next door and number lived an elderly couple – who apparently hated each other! From what little I can gleam from this story, the man was deeply unpleasant and when he died, his wife was glad to be rid of him. Except that he refused to leave. One night, he appeared and began to shout at her. She was eventually forced to arrange an exorcism.

It was said that the properties were haunted by no less than six ghosts and that residents would often witness apparitions around them and hear footsteps emanating from the later empty buildings prior to their demolition in 1963. The site is now occupied by The Hendrick Smithfield Hotel. The hotel even references hauntings on its own website, but it doesn’t go as far as to say whether there have been any disturbances in the hotel itself.

A building directly across from where the two houses once stood is also said to be haunted. You can read about that here.