Knock Na Moe Castle was built in 1875 for the Stack family. The property was requisitioned during the second world war before becoming a hotel in the 1960s. In 1973, a bomb exploded in the car park and five off duty soldiers were killed. Despite this bleak day in its history, the hotel continued to welcome guests and to host popular shows and dance nights featuring well known names from the time. Sadly, the hotel was destroyed by fire in the early nineties and the questionable decision was later made to demolish what remained of it.

While housing and retail units have since been constructed on the site, many local people still speak fondly of the old hotel… and its ghosts.

Like many hotels, this one had its own “haunted room” – the one that was never allocated to guests and was kept locked. It was said that a young woman took her own life in that room and that her disturbed spirit was responsible for an assortment of phenomena there ever since. A security guard once dared two young employees to stay in the room overnight, and sure enough – he had collected £20 from them before the night was through. While inside the room, they encountered strange knocks and dragging sounds. The final straw came when a loud bang came from the middle of the table they were seated at in the darkened room while they tried to make sense of what had been happening around them.

Other reports spoke of a ghostly woman who would stand by a window at the top of the stairs, and of porters who would hear her moving through empty corridors during the night. Objects would also move of their own accord on occasion.

One old story told of how a priest managed to capture a troublesome spirit in a bottle and concealed it somewhere on the site. One resident even recalled being told the story by a parent who worked at the hotel, and said they were shown “the bottle” – although this was more likely to have been a parent spinning a yarn! Over the years, people also spoke of that bottle being broken and the spirit escaping. There’s a story that tells of a couple who moved into a new house near the old hotel and how they fled in terror after just seven months there. They encountered loud rapping sounds, icy chills and a “black mass” hovering above their baby’s cot. The couple that moved in after them only lasted three months. Some did question whether the “lady in the bottle” was responsible for the activity in their house, but I guess we’ll never know. All is apparently quiet. For now.

If you remember the old hotel and can share your own ghost stories, please do hit “Add Your Experience”.