We have a house near Dublin that is deserving of the attention of the Psychical Research Society – the Priory of Rathfarnham, once the home of John Philpot Curran, the famous orator, and often visited by Robert Emmet, who, as all the world knows, was deeply attached to Curran’s daughter, Sara. The house is haunted. Unaccountable sounds, such as loud knockings at doors, are frequently heard, and a ghostly figure has been seen moving through the rooms.
Lately, as part of the ’98 celebrations a visit in honour of Emmet was paid to the priory. That night Mr Taylor’s family, who now occupy the house, were kept awake by an extraordinary manifestation of these unaccountable phenomena, and a little dog manifested signs of the utmost terror. Do the spirits of the hero and his hapless love still linger where they once were so often together?
Dublin Daily Express, 2nd September 1898.
[…] It seems that every castle must have its own ghost story and Rathfarnham is no exception to this. For many years, it was said that Rathfarnham was haunted by the ghost of a dog. During the harsh winter of 1841, the pond at the castle had frozen over. A young man was skating across the pond when the ice cracked and he disappeared below the surface. His dog – a retriever – jumped in after him and both were drowned. For many years afterwards it was reported that the ghost of the dog was seen in and around the grounds of the castle. There was also a haunted room at the top of the north-east tower. Local tradition has it that the skeleton of a woman sitting in a chair was discovered behind false panelling in the room. […]
Evening Herald (Dublin), 10th March 2001.