Crumlin Road Gaol’s oppressive energy, ghostly apparitions and haunted history make it one of Belfast’s most terrifying locations, says guest writer HAUNTED CHARLIE HALL
Belfast’s terrifying Crumlin Road Gaol is one of the most haunted places in Northern Ireland, with ghosts of wardens and prisoners still roaming it holds plenty of chilling tales in its menacing walls.
Built in 1845, this remarkable gaol has a 150 year history of torture, executions, murder and break outs. In 1846 It’s first 106 inmates arrived from Carrickfergus Gaol, including men, women and children. 25000 prisoners were detained here, 17 of whom were executed by hanging until the last one, Robert McGladdery in 1961.
In C Wing, there is a strange space with a tall cabinet that when pushed aside reveals the dangling hangman’s noose from a wooden beam, that fills you with dread and sorrow, as it dauntingly swings above the basement drop where the bodies were lowered into after execution.
Visitors see a ghostly man walking in this wing and hear whispers, cries and choking in the condemned man’s cell, where the captives awaited punishment.
A photo was captured here of a worker who jokingly climbed into a prop coffin, when they looked at the picture an eerie second face was visible next to his.
Being led to the trap door, a hood was put on their head, legs bound and the noose placed around their neck, with the safety pin removed they dropped through the doors to their death. The executioners were meant to keep the rope used for hangings but some cut it into pieces to be sold and this is where the saying, ‘money for old rope’ comes from.
Children as young as 10 were imprisoned amongst the adults and in 1858, 13 year old Patrick Magee, was sentenced to 3 months for theft and was to endure 10 lashes. Causing immense fear this proved too much for him, sadly later he hung himself with part of his hammock. It is claimed that he is seen and heard running past people and has responded in paranormal investigations.
Suffragettes who fought for women’s right to vote, were incarcerated in the A wing after attempting to bomb Lisburn cathedral. The ladies went on hunger strikes in support of their cause which resulted in the government bringing in new legislation known as ‘The cat and mouse act’, that meant instead of being force fed they were released until well and then returned.
The prison contained republicans and loyalists from ‘The Troubles’, and some high-profile DUP and Sinn Fein members including Ian Paisley and Gerry Adams. Since the Northern Irish government took control in 1921, 52 prisoners escaped including nine republicans in 1971 and another 8 in 1981 who had smuggled arms in and held hostages.
My visits as a medium to Crumlin Road Gaol
I’ve visited a few times and being a medium, I could feel its sinister past, the energy was dense in the Governors corridor, I felt surrounded and was overwhelmed by the sound of chattering like the room was full.
I saw an older male spirit sat in the corner with several other men, they starred making me feel uncomfortable. I walked through a passage that led to some steps and the underground tunnel that links to the old derelict courthouse opposite.
Many distressed prisoners were accompanied through the tunnel after being sentenced, apprehensive of the horrors to come.
A grey apparition is seen walking along it, visitors legs are touched, footsteps heard and Prison wardens reported unusual activity.
As I ventured in a giggling spirit child ran past, I asked her name and heard it as Annabelle, shortly after the tour guide said it was well known they had the ghost of a wee girl down there called Isabelle. I told him what I had seen but heard the name slightly differently.
Ghost hunters documented compelling evidence of coughs, shadow figures and whistles whilst a student on a tour in 2016 was surprised to have taken a photo of a ghostly girl by a cell door.
They heard a bang and ringing, then as their guide spoke about spirit children, the name Isabelle was said on an EVP, (electronic voice phenomena), recorder. The next year a man claimed to have taken a picture of the same ghost girl.
In 2019, a visitor taking photos in B wing was shocked to have snapped a uniformed man in the corridor with chin strapped hat when no one was there. It is believed a prison warden continues to stride along this wing, his loud, heavy footsteps echoing.
Voices of people calling out are heard and a large dark shadow is seen going from cell to cell. Poltergeist activity occurs in D wing where new prisoners were taken, objects are said to be thrown and heavy steel doors close by themselves, a spectre also watches people from a cell doorway.
Many have glimpsed the vanishing phantom known to walk in the C wing which holds one of the most foreboding places in the gaol, a cell where violent prisoners and those deemed to be high risk to themselves and others were confined…The Padded Cell.
Used in asylums these rooms were a fundamental part of the prison system, I felt physically sick walking in, with its dim light and thick, off white, padded walls, still with staining from a vulgar past.
The rooms awful energy is of disorientation and despair, the walls feel like they are closing in on you and I saw a male energy sitting in the right corner in a strait jacket. I discovered when researching, that visitors have encountered a dark shadow in the corner of this cell whilst others felt unease and have been pushed and scratched.
I caught up with the Crum’s ex Paranormal Tour Guide and Saws Investigator Neal McMenamin to find out more about the happenings first hand: ”One night on a tour in B wing, people didn’t know but someone had previously hung themselves from a cell door we were stood by and everyone began swaying like they were off balance.
“There’s intense energy in there and people have thrown up. In D wing I’ve had a figure come in and out of a cell and we knocked on a door at the end and someone knocked back. There’s a Victorian lady that I’ve seen in the corridor, you see her silhouette going along the hall. Cell doors slam and you hear guards walking on the upper floors.
“In the tunnel five of us were doing a séance and I lifted my head and said why are there six people, as I was able to count six when there were only five of us down there. The padded cell is currently on C wing but it was originally on B wing, we used to sit in the padded cell and it feels like someone’s running around the cell and you can see them going across the spy hole that was scary.”
Previous security staff refused to work from a particular post as they felt it was haunted and a former police officer turned paranormal investigator was allegedly threatened through evp and called a ‘Peeler’, which is an old term for policeman.
I deeply felt the anger and frustration of an enraged male spirit pacing back and forth in an upper cell, I had to look away but he stopped still and glared at me. Suddenly an unexplainable energy shot down into my chest like he was trying to attach to me, I quickly moved away breaking the connection and hurried off to another cell that was covered in prisoners artwork and filled with sadness.
The grave sites are located by the outer boundary walls, part of the convict’s sentence was to be buried in an unmarked grave in unconsecrated ground, so their bodies are buried within the prison walls with only their initials etched in the stone as a record.
I really enjoyed it here even after some queasy happenings, the gaol certainly lives up to its frightening reputation, the documented paranormal phenomena is enough to make anyone’s spine tingle.
Would you dare visit Crumlin Road Gaol after dark? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
HAUNTED CHARLIE HALL is a paranormal writer and researcher, horror writer and short filmmaker, medium and musician. She’s Brand Ambassador of Haunted Magazine and has had many features published in the paranormal and horror worlds. Originally from Northern Ireland, her father Clive Culbertson is former member of Van Morrison and founder of the Ulster Druid Order.
