After I posted last week’s Freaky Friday, I received two comments from friends—Kate Mayo and Wyatt Herrmann—about the series “Haunted Ireland,” which also featured a story about Leap Castle. I was not disappointed—the investigation at Leap Castle was amazing!
Of course, now I’m binge-watching (well, binge for me is more than one show in a week) the rest of Haunted Ireland, and I came across Charleville Castle (which is probably pronounced “Char-ville” but in my mind “Charley-ville” is much more friendly.)
According to Adelaide Haunted Horizons, “Charleville Castle began in 1798 when the first Earl of Charleville, Charles William Bury, drew up some sketches, which were improved upon by his talented wife. The first foundation stone was laid in 1800, and Charleville was completed 12-14 years later. It is a wonderful example of neo-gothic architecture.
Throughout its history, Charleville Castle did experience periods of not being lived in, often due to a lack of direct family heirs. When this happened, it passed to the closest family members, one being Lady Emily, a niece who inherited it in 1885. She changed her name to Howard-Bury to comply with certain terms, and the Bury name continued, although the title of Earl did not. The last Charleville Earl was Alfred, who passed away in the 1830s. The final Bury at Charleville was Colonel Charles Kenneth Howard-Bury, who was her son. He became well known in his own right, being a notable explorer and botanist who was the leader of the first expedition, which, in 1920/21, climbed Mount Everest.
After Colonel Charles Howard-Bury passed away in 1963, no more interest was given to the castle, and with nobody living there, it deteriorated, eventually being classified as a ruin. Even the roof was removed to avoid the local property taxes. Finally, in the 1970s, a group of people made a move to try to restore and protect the castle, and so, in 1994, the Charleville Castle Heritage Trust was set up to continue the work of restoration. At present, it is managed by Dudley Stewart with a team of volunteers who are doing a fantastic job, and the castle is now starting to come back to its former glory.”
When the Haunted Ireland team came in, they were greeted by a member of the Vance family who actually currently resides in the castle. She tells them about her paranormal experiences and those that have happened to members of her family, like being locked in a room where there are no locks.
She also tells them about some of the legends about the house. The saddest one, in my opinion, is the story of Lady Harriet Bury. This is from Amy’s Crypt, “Among the many ghostly tales that circulate the castle, one tragic story stands out above all others. A young girl named Harriet, daughter of the 3rd Earl of Charleville is said to still roam the castle halls. Harriet’s life was cut short when, in a moment of innocent playfulness, she met with a fatal accident while sliding down the main staircase. Her fall onto the unforgiving stone floor claimed her life instantly, leaving her spirit behind to linger on. Harriet has been sighted on numerous occasions within the castle, and many visitors claim to have felt the presence of her helpful hand guiding them down the stairs.”
Another version of the story is that the governess sent 8-year-old Harriet upstairs to wash her hands before eating. Upstairs was on the fourth floor. Harriet went up, washed her hands, and then decided to try and slide down the banister of the great staircase. Her hands were wet, and she lost her grip and fell onto the hardwood floor below.
I looked to see if I could find the staircase’s actual height, but I couldn’t. However, if you figure that most ceiling heights in the castle were at least twelve feet, and she fell from the fourth floor, you’re probably talking about a 40-foot fall.
Sad as that is, Harriet is not the only child ghost at the castle. Her uncle, Lord Henry, died when he was seven years old from influenza. He and Harriet are often seen together and often play mischievous tricks on the folks who visit the castle.
When the Haunted Ireland crew visited the castle, they also came in contact with another ghost. They felt it was Harriet’s father who was riddled with grief. However, it wasn’t due to Harriet’s death- which was their conclusion – because he died two years before Harriet died. This entry from Offaly History Blog by Eleanor Ridley adds a little perspective to the story of the Burys:
“Grandma told us of the death of Lady Harriet over 150 years ago and how it was that her death brought more sadness on a family that suffered much in the Famine years in Ireland for want of money and not potatoes. Poverty is relative until you are starving, but in the case of the Burys, it was the loss of money due to the gambling disasters of the second earl, who literally went mad before his death in 1851. His eldest son came into possession in that year and great things were expected of him by the people of Tullamore. He had already married and, indeed, had sown some wild oats. That child, Grandma told us, was taken into a convent in some fashionable place in Germany or Belgium and never heard of again. The third earl married steady but certainly not for money and went on to have five children. The cold of the castle in winter killed his young wife in 1857 when she was only 30 years old, and her husband died in 1859 at the age of 37, leaving his five children without parents and in the care of their uncle Alfred. My grandmother said that at the funeral of the third earl, the large assemblage collected in front of the mansion house of Charleville were deeply and painfully affected by the appearance, at one of the windows, of the five young orphan children of the deceased earl. Alfred, the children’s uncle, was by all accounts a good man, but I suppose, like most men of that time and some since, spent little time with his charges.
It was one day, two years after the death of the third earl, that the young Harriet fell off the stairwell in Charleville Castle and died instantly of a broken neck. Her remains were ‘buried’ in the crypt of the Hophill church in Tullamore called St Catherine’s. My grandmother told us that such was the level of crime in Ireland in those years that guards had to be put on the gates of the great tomb until it could be properly sealed off. Harriet lies there with her parents and her grandparents. One of her brothers died in 1872 of natural causes. Her sister Katherine married in the same few weeks in 1873 as the only surviving brother came of age – the fourth earl. He, too, was afflicted with the miasma and died in New York at the age of only 22 in 1874. It was the uncle who had ‘taken care’ of the young children who then became the fifth and last earl. For he too died a year later, in 1875, and childless. The last of the girls of the third earl, then unmarried, inherited. She was Lady Emily, the mother of the mountaineer who died in the 1960s. To a few of the Burys, long life was given, but for many, it was all too short.”
Well, I’m not going to leave you all feeling depressed on a Friday morning. When the Haunted Ireland team went in and contacted both Harriet and Henry through EVP devices, both children said they were not trapped there at the castle. In fact, they liked playing together and playing tricks on the visitors. People often hear children laughing when they visit the castle.
The “terrible twins,” as they are now called, have locked people into rooms. But they might also hold your hand as you walk down the steep staircase—just to keep you safe. Other stories mention pranks on the stairs that aren’t so harmless, so the staircase is now closed to visitors. Smart move!
The castle has been featured as a film location for Becoming Jane (2007), Northanger Abbey (2007), The Knight Before Christmas (2019), and The Green Knight (2020).
I wonder if anyone in those films had an “experience” at the castle.
Anne Hathaway, anything you’d like to share?
Happy Friday!!!