Glenart Castle

6th

Ok was off down around around Arklow at the weekend and passed by this place. I'd gotten the name of it from someone with regards to doing an Investigation there sometime. They are a hotel and dont usually accommodate such things but lets just say I might have a way

Anyway was wondering if anyone was familiar with the place and thought i'd pop up a few picks I took.




There was also more buildings on the same land that I took a look at (urged on by my adventurous wife), the place is very similar to Charleville Castle and build around the same time:









This may very well be a location for a Investigation in either October or November.

stormkeeper

Well, depending on when it is, I may go... provided it doesn't clash with an investigation I wanna attend over here in November.

6th

Dont forget there maybe a trip to Edinburgh in November

stormkeeper

True, true.

Stoner

looks very good, and different too

Riamfada

did you get much on the History of the place 6th?

6th

Glenart Castle Co. Wicklow

A historic castle estate set amid 63 acres of ground and woodland. Glenart Castle was originally built around 1750 and was formerly the Irish Residence of the Earl of Carysfort. Around 2 km from Arkiow on the road to Woodenbridge in the picturesque Avoca Valley just 44 miles from Dublin & 1.5 hours drive from Dublin Airport.

Glenart Estate goes back to the Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland which began in 1169. Between 1177 and 1185 large quantities of land were granted by Prince John acting on behalf of his father King Henry II to Theobald Walter from whom were descended the Butler Family and the Earls of Ormonde. The Butlers held their possession in this area for the next 500 years.

In April 1714 James, Duke of Ormonde, granted the fee-farm to John Allen of Stillorgan, Co. Dublin for £1,140.00 containing 8528 acres which had been demised on the 2nd March, 1713 for lives renewable forever, at a rent of £380.00 and two fat beevers or £3.00.

The first Allen Family to settle in Ireland was John Allen who came over from Holland near the end of the 17th Century. He was made Baron Allen of Kildare and Viscount Allen of StiIlorgan. He was succeeded by his son John who was a member of the Irish Parliament for 25 years representing in succession Counties Dublin, Carlow and Wicklow His second son, Robert became M.P. for the Borough of Carysfort in Co. Wicklow. John died unmarried in 1745 and he also had three sisters.
In 1750, the eldest sister Elizabeth Allen was married to John Proby who was raised to the peerage in 1752 as Baron Carysfort of Co. Wicklow. Through this marriage John Proby came into possession of Glenart Castle and this Arkiow Estate. He died in 1772 and was succeeded by his only son John Joshua who was created the 1st Earl of Carysfort in 1789, and also a Peer in the UK in 1801 under the title of Baron Carysfort of the Norman Cross. John Joshua died in 1828 and succeeded by his second son John who was born in 1780.

John Proby, 2nd Earl of Carysfort joined the British Army and reached the rank of a General. He died in 1855 unmarried. Succeeded by his brother Granville Levenson Proby, who became the 3rd Earl of Carysfort.

Granville Levenson Proby, the 3rd Earl joined the royal navy and became admiral in 1857. He was M.P. for Wicklow from 1816 to 1829 and Sheriff of Co. Wicklow in 1831. He married Isabella Howard, a granddaughter of the 1st earl of Wicklow in 1818 He died in 1868. He was succeeded by Granville Levenson as the 4th Earl of Carysfort.

Granville Levenson the 4th Earl became a member of Parliament in 1858 until he succeeded to the title in 1868. He died in 1872 and was succeeded by his brother William Proby, the 5th Earl of Carysfort.

William Proby, the 5th Earl of Carysfort was born in 1836. He was captain of Wicklow military in 1861, high Sheriff in 1866 and Lord Lieutenant of Co. Wicklow from 1890 until his death in September 1909. William Proby was Senior Magistrate of the Arkiow Bench and always presided when he was resident in Glenart Castle. In 1860, William Proby married Charlotte, daughter of Rev. Robert Booshy but had no children. After his death, as the male line of the Proby's had ceased, so also did the Earldom.

How's that?

Ziycon

I read a review on the net somewhere about a family that went to stay over one night and they described the place like a 'Shining' type hotel (as in the movie the shining) they where told when booking that there was only one room left and when they arrived there they were the only people in the place, they also said that the place was in bit, carpet ripped, walls damaged, basicly that it was a kip!

6th

yeah its currently undergoing restoration but the again Charleville could be discribed the same way.

Those people we're talking about it in regards accomodation so obviously they are gonna be dissapointed.

Ziycon

I understand that but still aint explain why they where told only one room was left then when they arrived that they were the only people there!??? Spooky!:eek:

6th

They were probably working on the other rooms, at teh moment they are closed for refurbishments but are taking "invited guests"

Ziycon

Ah, it all makes sense now! Let this be a lesson to everyone! Theres a rational explaination for everything!:D

6th

One thing thats amazing about the place is the palm trees, the area they are in is completely over grown and they are obviously old enough, they must have been part of some gardens as they have a protective wire around the base of them.

Pipp

Im from Arklow and Ive always had a fascination with the castle. It was derelict up until around ten years ago (I think) when it was bought and refurbished into a hotel and Chinese restaurant. I was actully up at the castle at the weekend walking the dogs and I was surprised to see it closed.
Ive been in it a few times when it was open, its gorgeous inside, and has a real warm feeling to it. Although I have to admit that i did get the collywobbles a bit as there have been stories of suicides in the castle knocking around Arklow for years. It feels "old" in there, like there is some definate history to it, if that makes any sense?. A friend worked there for a while and told stories of lights and delph hovering in mid-air in the kitchens.

I remember going up to the castle as a child, it was all overgrown and ruined but you could see the remnants of what it looked like in the past with beautiful gardens and a huge ballroom. We got into it a few times, and all I can remember is that there were bees everywhere and that there were huge velvet curtains hanging in tatters from the windows. It was beautiful though, even in that state.

The present owners have really done a fabulous job with it and its absolutely stunning, especially as you approach from the forest walks as you see the big arched windows of the ballroom and the gardens, which Im told they are going to try to get it back to what it was when the Earl was in residence.

For anyone thats interested in the history there is a local historian that can fill you in with details, although I do know that it was a seminary before it was abandoned to dereliction. Im not sure of the order or details but I know that those extra buildings were used as accomodations for the young priests.
(Im not sure what use they would have had for that massive ballroom though:o ) If anyone wants the historians name PM me.

One thing thats come to mind also is that my father (whos retired now) was working on the site when they were re-building and he said that the walls were almost a metre thick and that the original structure dated back hundreds of years. I distinctly remembering him saying that the work men started saying that they were seeing things in the castle and towards the end of the re-build they even refused to work in the castle late in the evening.

Anyway, if you are going to do an investigation can you post it here?
Glenart wood also has some local ghost stories attached to it. Unfortunately a very depressed person hung themselves in the wood about eleven years ago.

6th

Great info there Pipp, am really hoping to do an Investigation there in the near future so would love to get the Historians name. Also would you be interested in coming along on one yourself?

Would love to get mini-interviews from people with stories about the place too.

Ziycon

This sounds like a very interesting place to investigate, i'd be very interested in it! Espically the woods!

kc66

I know the people that own it and I have stayed there a few times.

They have restored a good bit of the castle but there is a whole wing that remains locked. I got the keys from the owner and went in there with another guy. There was a longish corridor, at the far end was a stairs going up to another corridor directly above where we were. We heard clear footsteps right over our head. Remember, this whole part is locked off from the rest of the castle. Needless to say we legged it. Was weird.

There is a doorway where in recent enough times (the last century I think) somebody hanged themselves. I was told he has been seen here a few times since. Didnt hear it first hand though.

I stayed in another room one night and just had a very uneasy feeling all night.

Its a nice place, owned by nice people. They run a sort of part time hotel also.

I could enquire if they would allow an investigation if you want 6th.

6th

Everything I've heard about this place is good from my point of view, and everyone says how nice the owners - here's hoping we can do a trip there in the next couple on months.

I plan to get in touch with them next week.

Pipp

6th wrote:

Everything I've heard about this place is good from my point of view, and everyone says how nice the owners - here's hoping we can do a trip there in the next couple on months.

I plan to get in touch with them next week.

Ooh goodee.
Ive pMd you the name of that historian, if he cant help you Im sure hell point you to someone who will, hes v. nice.

Keep me posted about the investigation, Im fascinated about the post above about the disused wing of the castle.
I think I had heard that story about the hanging though.

Ziycon

6th can you ask the owners when asking the about the investigation if its ok to have some night vision cameras setup in a corridor or two and maybe a room or twop where sightings may have taken place as i should have some of the cameras ready to go by then!?

6th

night vision camera would be fairly standard for an Investigation. I have one, stevenmu has one, monkeyfudge has one. We also have infrared lights to increase the range of the cameras and i'm buying one that will light up a whole room (obviously you cant see IR with the naked eye).

Ziycon

i mean as in the wireless cctv cameras i was talking about awhile ago with kennett about! so as to watch areas that people aren't in and get a realtime viewing.

6th

like a infrared webcam type thing?

Shinners23

This is all very interesting. There is a small castle in Cavan, its called Ross castle. You can hire it for a night at €40 per person and there are 10 rooms. I can't get any of my mates to go as its supposed to be frightening!!! Have any of ye been there before?

Ziycon

6th wrote:

like a infrared webcam type thing?

Yup, thats the idea, to have maybe 8 or 10 cctv cameras around the place and someone watch them all night to see if anything is spotted then if there is something spotted its already recorded and peopel can be directed to the area there and then!

6th

Shinners23 wrote:

This is all very interesting. There is a small castle in Cavan, its called Ross castle. You can hire it for a night at €40 per person and there are 10 rooms. I can't get any of my mates to go as its supposed to be frightening!!! Have any of ye been there before?

hi Shinners, take a look here http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2054952492

6th

Ziycon wrote:

Yup, thats the idea, to have maybe 8 or 10 cctv cameras around the place and someone watch them all night to see if anything is spotted then if there is something spotted its already recorded and peopel can be directed to the area there and then!

itsd a great idea but will have to see if the place can facilitate it. It wouldnt be suitable for all the places we'd do investigations but its worth a look at those that might.

6th

This is beginning to look like a really great spot - September trip me thinks

stormkeeper

6th wrote:

This is beginning to look like a really great spot - September trip me thinks

As long as it's not the first week in September, I should be game...

LegacyUser

i was at a 21st in this place around september / october time, and the place was a bit weird alrite. the place is huge, and yet there was only about 4 (chinese) staff on that nite. the 21st was on in the ballroom i think but we could walk around a good bit of the castle. the outside seemed nice, and plenty of people were walking around the gardens (people from arklow) and didn't seem the least bit frightened - maybe cuz they were drunk but nobody ever told me anything of any ghost stories.

i stayed the night aswell, the room was ok, fairly old. there was about 10 of us in the room that nite, so it was freaky enough without seeing any paranormal activity (which we didnt see). here's a weird thing though, the next morning we were waiting for brekkie in the restaurant part but the chinese dude kept ignoring us. so 3 of us walked into the kitchen (in front of the fella who was employed there) and started to make our own brekkie. ur man never said one word to us and just let us be. so we walked out of the kitchen (which wasnt very clean tbh) and ate our food. ur man never asked us for money or anything and never reported us - weird.

there's graffiti and marker all over the walls and some of the walls are shabby lookin. a few people were tellin me that the place is used for raves or something like that. anyways thats me done, good luck with the investigation!

kc66

I wonder was that the 21st where the place was pretty much wrecked.