Okay, so I've been working in the old Gaol (Jail) - a heritage site here in Ireland - for about 4 months, and it is known to be a haunted hotspot. There have been many documentaries filmed there, and plenty of YouTubers have come to film there too and do some hunting, and in general, many visitors seem to be attracted, by the idea of seeing or hearing something out of the ordinary.
Brief History
The Gaol was built in 1702, while Ireland was under occupation and ran until 1924. For added context, many people would have gotten themselves locked up there back during the famines especially, hoping to get meals. Regular civilians would have gotten about 1 meal, every 3 days, while rebels, and noteworthy prisoners, would have been given 3 meals a day. They'd be kept fit and healthy for their execution.
Normal prisoners - especially during the peak - were put into cells with 15 - 20 other people; before reforms in the 1800s, men, women, and children were locked in cells together. There were no toilets, or wash facilities, so disease was rife.
Around 50 people a day, were dying from disease, execution, and torture. So, as you can imagine, that place's walls have seen some stuff.
The bodies were disposed of in the large river that runs through the town, but fishermen complained that nobody was buying the fish anymore, so new means of disposal were found. Mass graves. There are many all throughout Ireland, and even now, they are uncovered.
Okay, No More History
The point I was making is, that if there are places that are haunted, this is one of them. If places can remember, or if there are locations where tormented souls linger, this is one of them.
When I went in for my interview, my supervisor said, "You're not afraid of ghosts are you?" I laughed, taken aback by the question, but she was being serious.
I replied, "Not really, why? Is the place actually haunted?"
She went on to tell me not to be worried, or surprised if I get my hair pulled, or get the occasional shove when nobody is around.
I'm Going To Preface This. I'm a bit of a sceptic, while I do think that there are many mysteries in this world we don't and maybe, will never know. I don't hold onto beliefs in the paranormal, mainly because I've never experienced anything.
That has kind of changed since working in the Gaol, and I'm a bit shook.
First Experience
This story is a little bit embarrassing, just because it's not that impressive. Basically, a ghost coughed on me.
I was walking along the walkway, on the second level, heading into the ticket room, and there was a speaker to my left playing some music, not too loud, but loud when standing next to it.
As I pass by the speaker, I heard/ felt a cough, right in my left ear; the ear between me and the speaker.
It was louder than the music, and I could feel the breath. I was alone on the walkway. Looking down, I saw that there were some people on the lower level, but unless they coughed, and that sound hit the wall and bounced right into my ear, it was the only way it could be louder than the music.
It's not irrefutable evidence and could be explained away, I'm sure. But, it shook me and left me standing in place, as I looked around to make sense of it.
I told my supervisor, "I think I've had my first experience." Said what happened.
She laughed and said, "Oh yeah, that happens," and carried on about her business.
The other people I work with have had some strange things happen, that they can't explain, and they've shared a few experiences with me.
Second Experience
Today, myself, another colleague, and the caretaker went down to the dungeon to re-attach a head that had fallen on the ground. (Okay, seriously, in what other job can you say that, and mean it?)
We finished up, came back to the ground floor, and were working on fixing a projector, our supervisor walked to the second-level railing - right where my first experience took place - and we chatted for a bit. After a few minutes, she went back to the ticket room, and we carried on.
A few minutes later, I heard her shouting something like, "Come on, guys." or, "Come back, guys."
I looked back and there was nobody there, so I figured she was calling from the ticket room.
The three of us heard it, anyway, and the caretaker said, "She must need us back upstairs."
This is around 10 o'clock, and we don't open until 10:30, so we're the only people here, and we think nothing much of it, finish up and leave.
I was the first to get into the ticket room, and she was just focusing on some paperwork. I asked if she was calling us, and basically just said, "What's up?"
She just looks at me, confused, and says, "No, I wasn't calling you's, I've been concentrating on this stuff." Referring to the papers. The others arrive back and are as weirded out as me.
We talk about it, and each of us say exactly what we heard. It was our supervisor's voice, asking us to come back, no doubt in any of our minds that it was her.
This isn't a new occurrence, but it's the first time I've heard something like this. The others have said that it occasionally happens, I heard stories of theirs where they hear someone calling their name, or asking something, only to find out the person either, wasn't calling them, or in general, wasn't in the building.
We all heard it, it came from that direction, and it is a phrase that our supervisor would use.
What It May Have Been
All of us spoke about it, felt creeped out, started looking up folklore about Mimics, and came to the conclusion, that it's a trickster ghost in Irish folklore, possibly a joker when they were alive, but not harmful.
The other option is that it's a demonic entity that manipulates people by copying other people's voices.
The third option is that we're all schizophrenic and had an audible hallucination together.
We all agree that the first is probably the best option. Nobody minds a little trickster.
Nonetheless, it's some pretty weird stuff and a strange way to start the day.
This post got fairly long, so I couldn't share another thing that happened, so maybe I'll save that until I have another experience or two and add it to the next post on this subject.
