Malahide Castle, set on 250 acres of park land in the pretty
seaside town of Malahide, was both a fortress and a private home
for nearly eight hundred years. The Talbot family lived here from
1185 to 1973, when the last Lord Talbot died. The house is
furnished with beautiful period furniture together with an
extensive collection of Irish portrait paintings, mainly from the
National Gallery. The history of the Talbot family is recorded in
the Great Hall, with portraits of generations of the family telling
their own story of Ireland's stormy history. One of the more
poignant legends concerns the morning of the Battle of the Boyne in
1690, when fourteen members of the family breakfasted together in
this room, never to return, as all were dead by nightfall.
As befits the oldest inhabited castle in Ireland, Malahide
Castle has many ghostly traditions. Many historic castles and
houses have one ghost, some have two or three, but Malahide Castle
has five.
First there is the spectre of young Lord Galtrim, Sir Walter
Hussey, son of the Baron of Galtrim, who in the 15th Century was
killed in battle on his wedding day. This Lord Galtrim wanders
through the Castle at night pointing to the spear wound in his side
and uttering dreadful groans. He is supposed to haunt the Castle to
show his resentment towards his young bride, who married his rival
immediately after he had given up his life in defence of her honour
and happiness.
The second spectre is that of the Lady Maud Plunkett who does
not appear as she did on the day of her marriage to Lord Galtrim,
but as she looked when she married her third husband, a Lord Chief
Justice. At this time she had become notorious as an un-equalled
virago, and in her ghostly appearances chases her husband through
the corridors of the Castle. The third ghost is that of the Chief
Justice himself, who merely appears to furnish his spectral spouse
with an opportunity of taking a little nocturnal exercise.
The fourth ghost is more interesting, historically speaking and
is that of Miles Corbett, the Roundhead to whom Cromwell gave the
Castle and property during his protectorate. At the Restoration
Miles was deprived of his property and made to pay the penalty of
the many crimes he had committed during his occupancy, and which
included the desecration of the chapel of the old abbey near the
Castle. He was hanged, drawn and quartered and when his ghost first
appears it seems to be a perfectly whole soldier in armour, but
then falls into four pieces before the eyes of anyone who has the
unpleasant experience of meeting it. .
The story of the fifth ghost has a certain amount of pathos. In
the 16th Century, as befitted a family of importance, the Talbots
always had a jester among their retinue of attendants. One of these
jesters, “Puck” by name, fell in love with a kinswoman of Lady
Elenora Fitzgerald, who was detained at the Castle by Henry VIII
because of her rebel tendencies. On a snowy December night the
jester was found close to the walls of the Castle stabbed through
the heart, a tragic figure in his gay jester suit and cap and
bells. Before he died he swore an oath that he would haunt the
Castle until a master reigned who choose a bride from the people,
but would harm no one if a male Talbot slept under the roof. .
Poor little Puck and his last appearance were reported during
the sale of the contents of the Castle in May 1976. His little
dwarf figure makes its appearance in many photographs of the Castle
and one outstanding photograph shows his old bewitching and
wrinkled face peering out of the ivy on the wall. The Castle with
its 800 year old family history is haunted with many unseen and
unknown spirits and their presence is felt in every room.
Park Opening Times
Nov. to Jan. |
10.00 am - 5.00 pm |
Feb. to Mar. |
10.00 am - 6.00 pm |
April |
10.00 am - 7.00 pm |
May |
10.00 am - 8.00 pm |
Jun. to Aug. |
10.00 am - 9.00 pm |
Sept. |
10.00 am - 8.00 pm |
Oct. |
10.00 am - 7.00 pm |
How to Get There:
By bus: Bus 42 from city centre.
By train: Suburban rail and DART from Connolly Station to
Malahide.
Car-parking (3 car-parks) The main car park is 140 metres from
Main Entrance, No 2 car park is just inside the main entrance gates
and No. 3 car park is on the north side of the estate close to the
Railway station
To log your visit take a photo of you and your gps at the above coordinates