Located in the historic heart of Belfast’s old commercial district, Direct Wine Shipments has been trading as an independent wine merchant since 1954, making it one of the city’s longest-running businesses of its kind. The building itself, however, predates that use by many decades and is believed to have served a variety of purposes over time – reportedly including storage and commercial use typical of Corporation Square’s trading past.

Like many older buildings in this part of the city, it has developed a reputation for unexplained activity – particularly on its upper floors.

Staff and visitors have described a number of incidents centred around the third floor. Objects have reportedly been moved without explanation, including chairs found overturned when rooms were known to have been left in order. There have also been accounts of items being knocked from surfaces or even from people’s hands, with no visible cause. When the building is being secured at night, footsteps have allegedly been heard crossing the floors above – despite no one else being present.

While such reports are difficult to independently verify, they are consistent in one respect: the sense that the activity is confined to specific areas, rather than the building as a whole.

The location gained additional attention through its inclusion in the television series Northern Ireland’s Greatest Haunts, during which psychic medium Marion Goodfellow conducted a walkthrough of the premises. Upon arrival, she claimed to sense a presence associated with a neighbouring property – describing a “barrel-chested” man named John, whom she believed to have once worked as a doorman. According to her account, this presence appeared protective in nature.

Inside the wine merchant itself, Goodfellow reported a very different impression. She described sensing a distressed female presence, which she believed to be connected to a violent death on the premises. She further claimed to perceive another figure – a tall, thin man – whom she interpreted as being linked to that event.

During her exploration of the upper floors, she also stated that she encountered what she believed to be the presence of a deeply troubled man, associated in her reading with a death by hanging. As with all psychic interpretations, these impressions remain subjective and are not supported by independently verified historical records.