Night of frights with Olga
Síofra Grant
If you’re interested in the spookier side of midlands history, you should listen to Olga Aughey’s podcast, Haunted Westmeath.
On the podcast, produced in collaboration with Westmeath and Longford County Councils, Olga explores the mythical stories people in both counties grew up hearing – and hears from people who have had actual encounters with the uncanny.
On Thursday last, October 29, Olga hosted a live showing of the podcast upstairs at Canton Casey’s in which she welcomed two guests and gave the audience a chance to tell stories of their own bone chilling encounters.
At the top of the room, there was a desk with a sign saying Haunted Westmeath. On the desk sat a skull and three microphones for, Olga and guests, historian Ruth Illingworth, and Dena Hayes a practising witch and midwife, who discussed the connections between the two.
Olga began with a spooky introduction: “As many of you know, I began the podcast about the strange, the unexplained, and all that lurks in the shadows, so it’s fitting that we’re here tonight coming together. We’re all story tellers by nature, we’re Irish, it’s in our blood, and for centuries we’ve gathered around the fire to share those oral histories, particularly at this time of year.
“Halloween or Samhain is an ancient Celtic festival that has been celebrated on these shores for more than 2000 years. It marks the midpoint between the autumn equinox and the winter solstice, the transition into the darker half of the year.
“Traditionally it was believed this was the time when the veil between our world and the other world grew thinner, a time when spirits and ancestors, the Aos Sídhe the fairies, would venture across the threshold into our world.
“And our fairies are not like Disney’s Tinkerbell… they’re mischievous, they can be friend or foe, and you certainly don’t want to cross them.
“That’s why on All Hallow’s Eve when we had to venture out, we would don scary masks and different disguises so we could pass unnoticed as if we were one of them lest the malicious spirits whisk us away to the other world.
“That’s why we would place jack-o-lanterns on our windows or doorsteps – to ward off evil spirits from entering our homes.”
Olga also spoke on how the festival has made its way all across the world following emigration during the Famine and after.
Having introduced her guests, she turned to Ruth Illingworth, who had a story of an interesting anniversary. The day of the live podcast was an 340th anniversary of an army of phantoms descending on the town of Mullingar.
“It’s exactly 340 years tonight that the people of Mullingar were thrown into a state of absolute panic, because they believed their town was being invaded,” said Ruth.
“They ran to the authorities at Mullingar Castle (on the site where the arts centre now stands) and the constable to report that about 300 men were marching into town, some of them armed, and they were in such a panic that the authorities sent out people to see what was happening.”
But when the authorities went to look, there was no trace of any invasion.
“A court of inquiry was held in Mullingar Courthouse,” continued Ruth. “It was to discover the truth or otherwise of certain alarming reports that had been spread around – that foreign troops had invaded Ireland and been seen passing in the night through Mullingar.
“They had more than a dozen witnesses who gave evidence on oath, describing how they’d seen cavalry and infantry passing along the roads during the night and crossing the river Brosna by the forge, just a little way down past what’s now Cusack Park.”
One man had said he’d seen around 100 horsemen, another stated he had seen 120 with carbines, a type of rifle, mounted in their hands.”
There were many theories as to what happened that night, some say fairies, others say mass hallucination, but Ruth believes it was what she called, “a time slip”.
“One of the things about this time of year is the veil between this world and the next and there’s also a sense that time can be turned around, it’s not always linear it can be swung around.”
She spoke of a ritual that used to be done on Samhain in which a girl would look into a basin of water and see her future husband.
Ruth believes it was a vision of the future because three years, later the town was invaded by armies of William of Orange.
Stories of phantom armies are common across the world but this is the only record of one in Ireland.
There were many other spooky stories recounted on the night, including the woman in the window on Mount Street forever watching an execution that took place 200 years ago.
The ghosts of the Mullingar arts centre were discussed as well… figures walking through walls, footsteps, music playing on its own, and a fire starting out of nowhere burning almost everything except a crown of thorns. Columb Barracks was discussed too, footsteps, and the sound of marching soldiers and former residents seeming to walk through rooms in front of a film crew.
They also discussed the banshee stories in town. Olga asked the audience if they had ever had an experience with the fairy known to warn of death and quite a few hands went up.
Following this, Dena Hayes spoke about her practise of midwifery and witchcraft as well as the traditions of Samhain. In addition to her skills Dena recounted the haunting story of growing up in her childhood home where unexplained events were common.
Olga then played a pre-recorded podcast featuring a Longford man by the name of Iain who is now living in Canada. He experienced a haunting in his home when his family moved to a house that dated to 1820. His podcast is available now.
Listen to Haunted Westmeath here and here.