Rich Hill Castle
Ulster, Northern Ireland

Investigated 17th July, 2008

Hidden Realms were lucky enough to be able to join up the Northern Ireland Paranormal Society (NIPS) to investigate this fine building in Northern Ireland. Built in 1664 is it thought that the building was the first house in Ulster not designed for defensive purposes. What would happen as we explored this wonderful location...?

On a recent trip to Belfast I had the good fortune to accompany the Northern Ireland Paranormal Society on an investigation at Richhill Castle, Co.Armagh. Unlike many paranormal groups they are mainly scientific based with equipment that would make you green with envy. The investigation was conducted in a very calm, controlled and professional manner with good scientific reasoning taking place throughout in an attempt to verify what otherwise might have been mistakingly seen as spirit contact.

The building was originally built by Francis Sacheverell around 1664 on its present hilltop site in what was then known as Legacorry. The building was then further extended by his son-in-law Edward Richardson and the town of Legacorry subsequently became known as Richardson's Hill which eventually became shortened to Rich Hill. It is a beautiful and atmospheric building with imposing Dutch Gables on projecting wings and is thought to be the earliest surviving example of its kind in Ulster.

On entering the building there was a very strong presence of a woman who appeared to be residual energy in the entrance area and on the staircase. She had the appearance of a maid in a long dark dress with a white apron and was about 50 years of age. She seemed to be busy going about what would have possibly been her daily chores and her presence felt a little austere and matronly but happy. I spoke to Darren about this energy and he told me that he had only seen spirit once and it was in this building. He also said that it was on the staircase and that the spirit he saw sounded very similar to the female one that was present on this night.

The building itself had a very light and happy feel about it as I moved from room to room. In one of the upper rooms I had the feeling that there was a family living in there at one time. There was a male and female and a young girl aged about 4/5 and a young boy just a little older. We turned the lights off and sat down in this room around a table that was equiped with a Microphone which in turn was connected to an EVP. We asked out for confirmation of spirit presence. Over a period of time there were a few knocks, taps and flitting lights and then the energy seemed to change. The presence of the young girl was felt quite strongly and was close to the chair on which I was sat. I sensed that she was happily playing with a small dog. The boy spirit was in a corner of the room and made no effort to make contact. At this point I could not sense the older male and female who were there earlier. The childrens presence felt like residual energy but we thought that we would ask a few questions using the EVP and see if we got any results. Whilst we were asking the little girl about her dog a sound was captured on the EVP. This coincided with a very sudden change in energy where a man in spirit seemed to step forward from the fireplace area where I was sat and demanded that we go. He was not happy with us being in the room. The EVP that was picked up suggests that a man is saying 'Leave it' or 'Leave her' and then 'Back off!'. Shortly after this the link with the child spirit was lost. I also sensed a tall elegant lady stood on my right hand side. I am not sure if she was from the same time span as the children.

The spirit man was asked politely to stand back so that the childs energy could come forward again and his energy appeared to subside. At this point a male member of the second team which was in another upstairs room across from the one we were in reported a scratch which appeared on his back. Unfortunately the childs energy was not sensed again that night.

The teams swopped rooms and my team concentrated on the room in which the scratch had taken place. This room had a very strong male feel to it. It was felt that the male who had lived in this room had been a semi-invalid, making frequent painful journeys across the room from his bed to the toilet area in the left hand corner of the room. Occassional noises were heard in that side of the room and his energy pathway was quite strong. Whilst sat on the bed in the room I could feel a heaviness in the chest and abdomen and a feeling of nausea. On the left hand side of the bed as you faced it, the presence of a female was felt. She seemed to be quite calm and it was felt that she was a maid who nursed the sick gentleman. It was also felt that she spent many hours in the room attending to him. Whilst sat in a chair which leant against the bottom of the bed I felt two thuds which eminated from the bed. When the other members returned to the room one of them said that he had sensed the presence of a female in this room. He was not present in this room when we sensed the female and we had all agreed that she was on the left hand side of the bed. On asking the member which side of the bed he sensed the female he confirmed it was the left hand side. Another member of the group said that she could faintly smell antiseptic in the room which then dissipated.

Earlier in the evening I walked round the outside of the building with another group member. At the front of the building I could feel the energy of a dog or dogs and around the back there was a very heavy feeling of sadness. I felt that someones life had ended there. It was a young male and I felt the energy as a sharp pain, then a sense of falling and then peace.

The EVP
With the kind permission of NIPS the EVP that was mentioned above is available for you to hear below.

"Leave it... back off!"