This year marks 400 years since the Castle was built
Do you know the story of the ghost which haunts a 400-year-old Co Antrim castle named one of the ‘most haunted’ attractions in the UK?
A recent study revealed Ballygally Castle outside Larne as the UK’s fourth spookiest spot, making it the spookiest site in Northern Ireland.
With Halloween fast approaching, people who are fascinated with the paranormal or chase a good scare may be looking at places to explore this October.
READ MORE: Halloween 2025 fireworks displays taking place across Northern IrelandREAD MORE: NI Halloween events happening in 2025
This is why a little castle on the Antrim coast, now known for its top-class bistro and as a dazzling wedding venue, has come to be known as one of Northern Ireland’s most haunted spots.
Built in 1625 by John Shaw and now a hotel, Ballygally is famed for its haunted ‘Ghost Room’ and the spirit of Lady Isabella.
According to the Ballygally Castle Hotel website, the Shaws lived in the castle for several generations before the family suffered some business difficulties and subsequently lost their castle.
In 1814, Ballygally Castle was the residence of the Rev Thomas Alexander and by the 1830s, it was rented to the coastguard in an effort to “thwart smugglers” in the area.
As for why the castle garnered a haunted status, the hotel website shared the story of its famous ‘ghost room’, which guests can visit.
It said: “Ballygally’s most famous phantom is that of the tragic Lady Isabella Shaw. After giving birth to a daughter, she fell out of favour with her husband Lord James Shaw. He took the baby from her and locked her in a small room at the top with a turret.
“Starving and tormented by her baby’s cries, Isabella tried to escape through a window but fell to her death on the rocks below.
“Apparently she still wanders the hotel corridors at night knocking on doors, perhaps still searching for her little girl.
“Another reported apparition is that of a former nineteenth-century resident of the castle, Madame Nixon. Her silk skirts can be heard rustling as she walks the castle at night.”
You can find out more about Ballygally Castle Hotel’s haunted past here
For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage here and sign up to our What’s On newsletter
#real #ghost #story #castle #named #UKs #haunted #spots
