Stay at Ballygally Castle, Northern Ireland

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Ideally located on the scenic Antrim coast only 20 miles from Belfast and close to Larne, the Ballygally Castle hotel faces the soft, sandy beaches of Ballygally Bay and is an ideal base for touring. The Ballygally Castle dates back to 1625 and the hotel is unique in that it is the only 17th Century building still used as a residence in Northern Ireland today! This enchanting hotel is full of character and charm and has recently undergone extensive refurbishment, with the addition of 20 new deluxe bedrooms (including disabled access), bringing the total number of bedrooms to 44. The many original features and antique furnishings give the hotel a feeling of stylish living in the last century and add to the unique welcoming atmosphere. The castle is reputed to host a number of ghosts, the most active of which is the former resident, Lady Isobel Shaw, who has a habit of knocking the doors of the rooms and disappearing. She had reportedly fallen to her death from the window after her husband had locked her in her room and starved her. Madame Nixon is another ghost who lived in the hotel in the 19th century and can be heard walking around the hotel in her silk dress. The small room in the corner turret of the castle is known as "The Ghost Room" and is not used as a room in the hotel. In 2003, manager Olga Henry had said after spending some time in the hotel, "I'm sort of very skeptical about the whole supernatural thing and ghosts. But the more I stay here and work here, the more I think there's definitely something in this hotel." According to Henry, one guest was staying in one of the rooms in the tower beneath the "Ghost Room" and in the middle of the night he awoke and thought he was at home and one of his children had laid a hand on his back. He woke up and said that he could a hear a child running about the room and laughing but nothing could be seen so he ran into the lobby in his boxers shorts in fright. In December 2003, Henry had set up the "Dungeon Room" in the tower as they were expecting guests and ordered the table neatly in preparation for meal. She locked the room and later checked up on it and the table was now a mess with unfolded napkins and glasses with an unusual scum around them were now arranged in a circle on the table. Mediums spending the night at the castle have often reported that they've detected more ghosts than there were guests actually staying at the hotel.

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