Here’s a property for sale that’s bound to spook the market – Loftus Hall, Ireland’s ‘most haunted house’.
The asking price is 2.5million euros (£2.2million) – and you can even view the rooms virtually, if you’re brave enough.
The 14th-century mansion’s reputation as a spine-chilling abode dates back to the mid-1700s, when the Devil is said to have visited.
Loftus Hall, Ireland’s ‘most haunted house’, has gone on the market for £2.2million (2.5million euros)
The mansion’s reputation as a spine-chilling abode dates back to the mid-1700s, when the Devil is said to have visited
According to legend, a dark stranger approached the hall, on Wexford’s Hook Peninsula, during a storm looking for shelter. He was taken in by the Tottenham family, who were living in the hall at the time, and a young Lady Anne Tottenham fell head over heels for him.
However, one night during a card game, Lady Anne is said to have dropped a card on the floor and when she went to retrieve it, she noticed the stranger had cloven hoofs – a sign of the Devil – instead of feet.
The hall’s website says that as soon as he realised what she saw, he shot up through the roof in a ball of flames – leaving Lady Anne in a state of shock from which she never recovered. She spent the rest of her life until her death locked in the hall’s tapestry room after allegedly going mad and her ghost is said to haunt the mansion.
The story goes that a local priest was brought in to exorcise the tapestry room, but he didn’t succeed.
The ghost of Lady Anne Tottenham, who allegedly went mad after seeing the Devil at Loftus Hall, is said to haunt the property. Pictured is the Long Walk corridor
And the spooky goings-on at Loftus Hall, which was built in 1350 and renovated in the 1870s, apparently continue to this day, with the current owner, Aidan Quigley, saying he senses a presence with him, even when he’s alone.
He told MailOnline Travel: ‘Being the custodian of the property I seem to be the one that the spirits seem least likely to interact with but there isn’t a day at Loftus Hall that I don’t feel that there is something or someone there with me even though most days I am at least half a mile from a living soul.
‘I have met with a lot of people who have had visual and audio experiences here that cannot be explained away.’
The house had been opened up for visitors to physically explore, but now this experience is a virtual tour via www.loftushall.ie. Pictured is the servants’ corridor
A portrait of Henry Loftus in one of the corridors. He was the first Loftus to live at the hall, in 1666. On the virtual tour, visitors can click green dots to hear commentary on the history behind various spooky features
This part of the tour shows what is known as the Devil’s door. It is through this door that the Devil is said to have entered Loftus Hall
One of the abandoned rooms at the hall that visitors can explore on the virtual tour
Mr Quigley has owned Loftus Hall, which has also been a home for nuns, a school for girls and a hotel, since 2011.
After putting the mansion up for sale, he is now seeking and interviewing potential buyers as he wants to make sure they will still allow visitors to enjoy the property.
For £2.2million, the new owner will get 63 acres of land, 22 bedrooms and 97 windows.
He said: ‘We did have a flurry of initial interest but due to Covid restrictions a lot of the interested parties were unable to travel from the U.S to view the property.’
Stunning location: Loftus Hall sits on Wexford’s Hook Peninsula on 63 acres of land
The current owner of Loftus Hall, Aidan Quigley, is now seeking and interviewing potential buyers for the hall as he wants to make sure they will still allow visitors to enjoy the property
The house had been opened up for visitors to physically explore, but now this experience is a virtual tour via www.loftushall.ie.
For €9.99 (£8.97) you can take a peek at the property’s eerie rooms and roam the corridors – and click green dots to hear commentary on the history behind various spooky features.
Visitors can glide virtually along the 120ft-long servants’ corridor, which ‘serves as the backbone of the house’, peek inside the bedroom the Devil is said to have stayed in and see the door where he is thought to have entered Loftus Hall. They can then explore the tapestry room, where Lady Anne is alleged to have been locked up following her descent into insanity.
The spooky goings-on at Loftus Hall, which was built in 1350 and renovated in the 1870s, apparently continue to this day, according to Mr Quigley
Mr Quigley said: ‘We did have a flurry of initial interest but due to Covid restrictions a lot of the interested parties were unable to travel from the U.S to view the property.’ Pictured is the garden
LOFTUS HALL’S FRIDAY THE 13TH PARANORMAL INVESTIGATION
Loftus Hall is set in 63 acres of land. It has 22 bedroom and 97 windows
Tonight, to mark Friday the 13th, paranormal investigations team Paranormal Researchers Ireland will conduct a three-and-a-half hour investigation at Loftus Hall.
The team will focus on the tiled floor, the stairs – the area with the highest amount of paranormal activity recorded – and Room 13.
According to Mr Quigley, Room 13 is the ‘deepest part of the house as you are as far as possible from exiting the hall when you are in Room 13’.
In this room, lead investigator Tina Barcoe will hold a lone vigil until midnight and try to ‘communicate with the spirits’.
Viewers can watch the investigation via 12 live web cams across the hall from £4.50 (€4.99). The cameras are live until midnight on Saturday. See www.loftushallafterdark.com for more information.
Meanwhile, tonight, to mark Friday the 13th, a paranormal investigation team called Paranormal Researchers Ireland will conduct a three-and-a-half-hour investigation in three areas of the hall.
Viewers can watch the investigation via 12 live webcams across the hall from £4.50 (€4.99).
The cameras are live until midnight on Saturday. See www.loftushallafterdark.com for more information.