Haunted House. Mum of 3 to be moved after spooky activities confirmed.
By John Cassidy.
Housing officials have agreed to transfer a family from their house – after the terrified mum convinced them it was haunted by a ghost. Mum-of-three Jennings McQuade has now been given priority status for a transfer after the authorities accepted that she was being intimidated by ‘paranormal behaviour’. The decision came just days after housing bosses received a report by ghostbuster experts.
Jennings and her three children – Colin, 4, Lewis, 3, and one-year-old Katie Lee – were being tormented by a ghostly spectre of a man. After weeks of being spooked, the family called for help from NIPRA, whose members set up a host of hi-tec equipment in their home to put their claims to the test. They came armed for their overnight stay with laser thermometers, night vision sights, electromagnetic field monitors called EMF meters, and specialised camcorders. Their report outlined the paranormal activity they say they experienced there. It said:
“We began to get temperature drops from 11 degrees to minus six degrees centigrade in the upstairs landing and front bedroom. Two of the group heard a groan of a man coming from the back bedroom and as they went to investigate there was a loud bang on the venetian blinds and window. The light shade in the front room was also swinging back and forth although we had been sitting down in the darkness for two hours. At 3.00 am, when we were thinking of leaving, we all became aware of a presence moving through the house. This was very unnerving to us all.
“We asked Jennings if ashe wanted us to bring a priest or minister but, through her tears, she told us she had had enough. She did not want to stay another night.”
The ‘ghostbuster’ report also outlined the family’s previous experiences at the hands of the ‘bogey man’ which date back to 2004. It added: “The children were being scared by a man they had played with outside their house. He had asked to come inside to play and they invited him in. It was at this time that the paranormal activity began, for example sudden drops in temperature and lights being switched on and off. Then one of the children told their mum about the man ordering him to jump off the top of the stairs.”
The Northern Ireland Paranormal Research Association (NIPRA) confirmed that the McQuade family is being driven from their home in Bangor, Co. Down by a so-called ‘bogeyman’. The North’s Housing Executive accepted their findings and are now moving Ms McQuade (22) to the top of its waiting list. A spokesman said: “We can confirm that we have just received a report from the Northern Ireland Paranormal Research Association regarding the activity at this property. We have considered the issues raised in the report and have advised Ms McQuade that we will transfer her to alternative permanent accommodation whenever a suitable property becomes available.”
The report by the spook hunters described how the young family are “terrified of sleeping, eating and just being” in their home on the sprawling Kilcooley estate. It claimed that even its own members experienced “a presence” in the house, and other inexplicable happenings like chilling temperatures and lights dimming. And in the report, they pleaded with local housing chiefs: “Please take this case seriously. It may seem funny and not real but if this was your home you would not be laughing. Jennings began to worry. When she first contacted NIPRA she cried as she told us what was happening to her family. She was worried that she was going mad. But we explained to her that we deal with this sort of thing all the time and we would conduct an investigation into her house. We returned to her home the next night and took readings with our equipment. We were aware of the presence of a man standing at the top of the stairs.”
NIPRA also said it did “clearing” in the house to “let the spirit move on” an dhow the McQuade home returned to normal for two years. The report added: “We heard from them again several weeks ago, when we were asked to come back to the house as the activity had returned. This time, as well as lights being switched on and off, there were bangs on the windows, doors slamming and the cooker being turned on. Jennings’ partner had also walked into the living room and felt as if he had walked into a fridge. He felt he was surrounded by a white light which made him feel dizzy. He had to get out of the room as fast as he could. As well as these frightening happenings the kids were being targeted more and more often. This ranged from them actually seeing the man to crying and saying they did not want to sleep in the house as he was scaring them.
And the NIPRA report concludes by pleading with staff at the Housing Executive’s Bangor office to treat the family’s claims seriously and help them to move house. “We are sure this case has caused you some amusement in your office but it is our opinion that what this family is experiencing is true, not imagination. This is no mum who wants to move house and had decided to use a haunting as the reason.”
Sunday World (Dublin) 30th April 2006.