Coláiste Éamann Rís (formerly Deerpark CBS) was founded by the Christian Brother on Sullivan’s Quay in 1828. The current building dates to the late 1960s.

In October 2017, a CCTV clip began to circulate in which it was claimed that poltergeist activity had been caught at the school. The school management did not deny or downplay what was allegedly happening, and admitted that they were unsure if was legitimate activity or a just a clever prank. Either way, the school was investigated by researchers and was also featured on a paranormal TV show, Spooked Ireland.

In the clip, which I have included below, the viewer can hear noises in the deserted hallway, before items begin to move, seemingly of their own accord. A backpack is seen to fly from the top of one of the lockers, a poster on a wall is displaced by an unseen hand and a chair is dragged across the floor by an invisible force.

As an aside, it is interesting that the date of the capture was so close to Halloween!

While various parties claimed that this was a clever hoax, investigators attempted to replicate the events without much success. But another referenced that the school and its pupils are not adverse to creating good content and that the movement captured was actually computer generated. What do YOU think?

Irrespective of whether something real was captured in the famed footage, witnesses have reported hearing footsteps in the building when they have been alone, objects have moved and there have been sudden changes in temperature. Some have reported seeing movement in the corner of their eye. Now, if the witnesses were all students, the more cynical might well dismiss this altogether. But some of those that have encountered strange activity in the walls of the school are actually staff, some of whom had even dismissed the notion that anything out of the ordinary was occurring. So perhaps there is something behind the proud claims that this school is haunted.