Galgorm Castle, located just outside Ballymena in County Antrim, is an impressive Jacobean manor house dating back to 1618. It was originally built and owned by Sir Faithful Fortescue, a notable Royalist and Jacobite sympathiser, who held lands and influence during a turbulent period in Irish history. Fortescue’s political and religious alliances earned him the deep resentment of many local Irish inhabitants, and in time, his estate came under attack. According to local tradition, the chapel on the grounds was burned down by hostile locals, a symbolic rejection of his presence and power.

Roughly 100 years later, the castle passed into new hands. Records indicate that it was purchased by a man known as Doctor Colville, though little is documented about his background. What is remembered—passed down in local folklore—is that his sudden wealth and acquisition of the grand estate sparked suspicion among nearby residents. In an era when superstition ran deep, many came to believe he had gained his fortune through a pact with the Devil himself.

As the story goes, Doctor Colville was a man obsessed with wealth. According to legend, he summoned the Devil by the banks of the nearby River Maine, offering his soul in exchange for enough gold to fill a boot in his attic. But Colville, cunning by nature, cut a hole in the sole of the boot, nailed it to the floorboards, and positioned it over a hidden space—creating an impossible task for the infernal messengers. The Devil’s servants arrived with a single bag of gold, but found themselves forced to return time and again, endlessly pouring coins into the bottomless boot to fulfil the bargain.

The legend ends grimly. Though Colville got his gold, the Devil claimed his soul in the end. To this day, it’s said that his tormented spirit still roams the halls of Galgorm Castle, cursed to walk its grounds for eternity. Adding to the unease, servants in ghostly form have also been spotted, continuing to carry out their duties long after death—bound, perhaps, to Colville’s service in the afterlife.

One final thread in the tale warns of a portrait of Doctor Colville that once hung in the castle. According to local belief, anyone who removes the painting will bring misfortune or doom upon themselves, reinforcing the notion that the legacy of the devil’s deal still lingers within the walls of Galgorm.