Built in 1900, the Good Shepherd Convent in Waterford served for decades as both an orphanage and a Magdalene Laundry, operated by the Good Shepherd Sisters. Within its walls, countless women—many sent there against their will—laboured under harsh conditions, and children lived in institutional care.

By the early 1990s, its time as a religious institution had ended. In 1993, a grim discovery was made: unmarked graves containing the remains of women who had lived and died within the convent. This revelation added to the already dark reputation of the site.

Two years later, in 1995, the convent buildings and grounds were repurposed as part of the Waterford Institute of Technology, now the College Street campus of the South East Technological University (SETU). Yet the past has not been forgotten—and some say it has not entirely left.

Former students and staff tell of unsettling experiences: cold spots in empty corridors, doors closing on their own, and an unshakable feeling of being watched. One visitor recalled entering a rarely opened attic room at the top of the building, normally locked and off-limits. Inside were old cots, wardrobes, and beds, untouched since the convent’s operation. Overcome by sudden sadness and fear, he quickly left.

A campus porter who worked during the building’s transition to WIT admitted that the attic was considered haunted—and that the mysterious room remained locked for a reason.