In the early 1900s, a group of tenants experienced something so disturbing that they believed it must be paranormal. Even when journalists came to investigate what might be behind the Enniscorthy Poltergeist, no answer was found.
In the summer of 1910, in the Irish town of Enniscorthy, County Wexford, a strange commotion shook the peaceful existence of the Redmond family. Their idyllic life was shattered when they accidentally welcomed an uninvited guest of a ghostly nature. This disturbing presence baffled locals, baffled investigators, and earned its name in the annals of Irish ghost stories – the Enniscorthy Poltergeist.
Redmond Residence
The Redmonds, a respectable family living at No. 16 Court Street, Enniscorthy, lived a comfortable life in the so-called Sunny South East in the early 20th century. To supplement their income, the couple opened their doors to boarders by renting out rooms. They did not know that the decision to provide shelter would push them into a world of inexplicable phenomena.
In that fateful July 1910, the Redmonds rented a room above the kitchen to three tradesmen working in the area. Among these tenants was John Randall, a carpenter.
One night, as the clock was ticking towards the witching hour of July 7, John Randall was suddenly awakened by a strange phenomenon. In an instant the bedclothes were removed from him. Believing his roommates were playing a prank, he called out to them, demanding they stop their mischief.
To his surprise, the other two tenants denied any involvement in this amazing incident. Concerned and curious, they decided to investigate the inexplicable event by lighting a match. Their blankets were lying in a haphazard pile near the window. Confused and unable to see a logical explanation, they gathered up the sheets and returned to their restless sleep.
Soon after, an ominous knocking sound echoed throughout the room, growing steadily louder. Then, in a heartbreaking moment, the bed on which the other two occupants lay began to slide ominously across the floor. Fear gripped their hearts as they frantically lit the lamp, searching for any sign of rationality behind the inexplicable events.
The frightened tenants sought comfort from their landlord, Mr. Redmond, as each of them thought it was one of the others who was messing with them. To quell their growing fear, the owner instructed them to return the bed to its original position. John Randall, plagued by fear, steadfastly refused to sleep alone and joined his companions in a larger bed.
The huge bed they shared defied reason as it moved again, this time to the center of the room. The three men did not sleep and could not close their eyes for the rest of the night.
Throughout the night and the nights to come, the eerie sounds of footsteps echoed through the house, making sleep an elusive prospect.
An intriguing investigation into paranormal phenomena
There wasn't much sleep the next night either. On Monday, July 11, the bed started moving again with all three of them lying on it. There was a chair in the middle of the room that started rocking, and one of the occupants claimed he was lifted out of bed by hands he couldn't see.
News of these events quickly reached the local press, and reporters from the Guardian newspaper decided to investigate the Enniscorthy Poltergeist claims when one of the tenants was unable to stay even for the remaining time originally allocated and left the house.
With the permission of the Redmond family, reporters Murphy and Devereux ventured into the disturbing realm of the Enniscorthy Poltergeist.
They sat between two beds, with a full view of the room. Around midnight, they began to hear knocking noises, which the tenants complained about. Devereux mentioned that it sounded like rats chewing wood.
In a terrifying way, John Randall became the victim of a ghostly presence. He was wrapped in his own sheets and dragged from his bed, as bewildered reporters witnessed. As they watched in awe, they realized that this inexplicable force defied the laws of the natural world.
The Poltergeist of Enniscorthy
To this day, the Enniscorthy Poltergeist remains an unsolved mystery. Despite numerous investigations and analyzes by skeptics, no credible explanation has emerged to explain the supernatural phenomena that plagued the Redmond Mansion in 1910.
Randall spent three weeks with the nightmare and after nights of torture, he lost almost a stone in weight. Ultimately, the tenants couldn't stand it anymore and returned home after being dragged out of bed themselves.
The memory of the Enniscorthy poltergeist remains rich and is one of the most engaging incidents in Ireland involving poltergeist-like activity, a reminder that the world is full of mysteries that defy explanation.
What happened is still unclear to this day. Could it have been some kind of rat-like rodent? Perhaps the Redmonds wanted to get rid of the tenants? Maybe something darker and more sinister? Tenants said the bed was so weighty that it took two people to move it when no one was sleeping on it. When reporters checked it overnight, they found no wires or strings attached to it that could have caused it to move.
We may never know the truth behind the Enniscortha Poltergeist mystery. When asked now, residents claim that there are no more poltergeists in the house at address 16 to complain about.
Reference:
Poltergeist made headlines a hundred years ago | Independent.ie
Enniscorthy, Ireland's most chilling poltergeist story | Scary Islands
The Ghost of Enniscorthy | Irish ghost stories from the Emerald Isle Irish (true) story: Enniscorthy poltergeist – RANDOM Times •
Image Source: Pixabay.com
