'Spooked Ireland' Hunts For The Ghost Of A Ruthless Guard At Wicklow's Historic Jail

In the fifth episode of 'Spooked Ireland', the team embarks on a ghostly investigation within the walls of the historically harrowing Wicklow Gaol. The site, which has loomed over the town of Wicklow for over three centuries, has a sinister reputation, once being known as "the gates of hell."

Vogue Williams has had to sit this one out due to illness, leaving Chris Fleming to lead the team into this foreboding place. He tells us a little about the jail's dark history — the dead decaying amidst the living, overcrowded cells, and the despair that permeated its walls.

The team meets Colleen Taylor, a jail supervisor, who provides a harrowing account of the jail's past, where the lack of basic comforts like heating and glass in windows was the norm. She shares horrific tales of children imprisoned for petty theft, such as stealing apples, and of destitute individuals committing crimes for the sake of shelter and sustenance.

Colleen's own ghostly experiences, including auditory and visual encounters with the spectral, give the team a starting point for their investigation. One chilling incident involves a light fixture mysteriously turning to face a window, despite being securely positioned in a locked room.

The investigators start in the northwest of the jail, where occurrences are said to be particularly intense. Armed with a Structured Light Sensor (SLS) camera, Chris seeks to capture visual evidence of spirits and engages with an apparition he believes was a victim of decapitation. The team's exploration extends to the upper chapel, where Chris senses a presence, possibly a soul in search of absolution.

However, their investigation is not without its technological tribulations. Investigator Ryan O'Neill's fully charged audio recorder inexplicably turns off. Ryan said, "It turned off. It turned the recorder off. It's never done that before. The battery is full, so something pushed that button and turned that off. I can't emphasise how crazy that is; it's never done that before. Whatever's here can physically touch things, and I'll be honest with you, I'm a bit blown away just now."

Throughout their investigation, the team experienced lots of auditory phenomena, including the sound of footsteps and the clanking of chains, but despite these experiences, the team is yet to establish contact with the entities the staff have reported.

Sarah Duffy, a cleaner at the jail, recounts her own unnerving experiences, from feeling an oppressive sadness to sensing an invisible pushing down on her shoulders. The touch of unseen hands further cements the jail's reputation as a hotbed for supernatural occurrences.

During their initial investigation, Evelyn Hollow uncovered tales of psychological torment inflicted by the jail's guards, bordering on torture. She recounted the macabre methods employed by one guard who would hoist prisoners off their feet by a noose, effectively turning his own stature into a tool for execution.

The team regroups and, intent on making contact with the spirit of this "walking gallows guard," they descended into the basement. The basement was lit with red light, Evelyn tells us, "One of the ideas is that it's easier to see potential visual paranormal phenomena such as apparitions, movement, things like that, in the red light."

The team was using trigger objects, including keys believed to have been discovered in that very space, which could potentially act as a catalyst for spectral activity.

The team's attempts to communicate with the beyond soon took a turn when Chris reported an overwhelming sensation of anger, a visceral response that he struggled to contain. It was as if the spirit of the guard, notorious for his cruelty, was attempting to assert his will once more, this time through the medium of the living.

Chris, addressing the spirits of both prisoners and guards, offered prayer, and words of liberation and forgiveness. He performed the last rites, an act he hoped would grant peace to those bound by the jail's grim legacy.

As the investigation drew to a close, Chris reflected on the evening's events. He expressed a sense of fulfilment, "To know that spirits that have been stuck here for a long period of time have crossed over, based not only on their freewill, but because we together have activated something in them to make them realise they don't have to be here, for me it's very rewarding."